Scipio Ronald Spinks (born July 12, 1947) is a former right handed

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, who attempts to e ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

who played from 1969 through 1973 for the Houston Astros and St. Louis Cardinals.

Life and sports

Born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...

, Spinks was a promising prospect until injuries prematurely ended his career. Spinks graduated from Harlan High School in Chicago and was drafted by the Astros organization in 1966. That August, he set a record in the

Northern League Northern League may refer to: Sport Baseball * Northern League (baseball, 1902–71), a name used by several minor leagues that operated in the upper midwestern U.S. and Manitoba from 1902 to 1971 * Northern League (baseball, 1993–2010), an indep ...

by striking out 20 batters in a game.Costello, Rory
"Scipio Spinks"
''sabr.org''. Retrieved 2010-11-2. In 1968, he went 9–6 with a 2.27

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the numb ...

in the

Carolina League The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 un ...

. He was shuttled between Class AAA and the major league club for the next few seasons. The hard-throwing Spinks had control problems but also struck out an average of one batter per inning in the American Association. Spinks was traded along with Lance Clemons from the Astros to the Cardinals for Jerry Reuss on April 15, 1972."Cardinals Trade Reuss To Astros for 2 Pitchers," ''The Associated Press'' (AP), Saturday, April 15, 1972.
Retrieved December 24, 2021 He started the season with the major league club and pitched well. By midseason, he was third in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

in strikeouts, behind only Steve Carlton and Tom Seaver. Spinks finished with a 2.67 ERA.Neyer, Rob. ''Rob Neyer's Big Book of Baseball Blunders'' (2006), pp. 170-171. Spinks was exceptionally fast for a pitcher, and for that reason the Cardinals frequently used him as a pinch runner. Spinks' career was drastically altered on July 4, 1972. While scoring from first on a double, he ran into

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

catcher

Johnny Bench John Lee Bench (born December 7, 1947) is an American former professional baseball player. He played his entire Major League Baseball career, which lasted from through , with the Cincinnati Reds, primarily as a catcher. Bench was the leader of t ...

in a collision at home plate. While Spinks scored, he tore ligaments in his right knee during the collision, and missed the rest of the season. In 1973, he pitched just eight games before coming down with a shoulder injury. Just before spring training 1974, Spinks was traded to the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

for Jim Hickman. He spent the next three years in the Cubs,

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one o ...

and Astros organizations, but never recovered and finally retired in 1976. Meanwhile, Reuss would go on to pitch for another 18 years.

Post MLB career

After his playing career ended, Spinks became a

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement * Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement **Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

and a

pitching coach In baseball, a number of coaches assist in the smooth functioning of a team. They are assistants to the manager, who determines the starting lineup and batting order, decides how to substitute players during the game, and makes strategy decisio ...

in the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

and Houston Astros organizations. He currently lives in the

Houston Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...

area with his wife and as of 2016 is a pro scout for the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. ...

' organization. He is currently the head coach for the University of Houston-Downtown Gators baseball organization.

References

External links

, o
Retrosheet
o
SABR BioProjectPelota Binaria (Venezuelan Winter League)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spinks, Scipio 1947 births Living people African-American baseball players Amarillo Sonics players Arizona Diamondbacks scouts Baseball players from Chicago Bismarck-Mandan Pards players Cardenales de Lara players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Cocoa Astros players Florida Instructional League Astros players Florida Instructional League Astros/Senators players Greensboro Patriots players Houston Astros players Houston Astros scouts Iowa Oaks players Major League Baseball pitchers Oklahoma City 89ers players St. Louis Cardinals players San Diego Padres scouts West Haven Yankees players Wichita Aeros players Winter Haven Super Sox players 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople