Claude Edward (Skip) Lockwood Jr. (born August 17, 1946) is an American former

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), ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

. He pitched for the

Seattle Pilots The Seattle Pilots were an American professional baseball, professional baseball team based in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington during the 1969 Major League Baseball season. During their single-season existence, the Pilots played their ho ...

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

(1969–1973),

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

(1974),

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

(1975–1979) and

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

(1980). Lockwood was the last of the original Seattle Pilots to play for the Brewers, being traded to the California Angels prior to the 1974 season.

Baseball career

Third base

Lockwood attended

Catholic Memorial High School Catholic Memorial High School (or CMH) is a co-educational Catholic high school in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Established in 1949, it is a member of the National Catholic Educational Association and is a World School in thInternational Baccalaureate O ...

West Roxbury, Massachusetts West Roxbury is a neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts bordered by Roslindale and Jamaica Plain to the northeast, the town of Brookline to the north, the cities and towns of Newton and Needham to the northwest and the town of Dedham to the s ...

, where he earned 14 varsity letters in four years. His school record time in the 100-yard dash in 1964 still stands. Lockwood was a

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

when he signed with the

Kansas City Athletics The history of the Athletics Major League Baseball franchise spans the period from 1901 to the present day, having begun as a charter member franchise in the new American League in Philadelphia before moving to Kansas City in 1955 for 13 seas ...

out of high school in 1964 as an amateur free agent. The scout representing the Athletics came to the Lockwood home with a $35,000 contract. Lockwood said that he needed to make one change before signing, and added a "1" in front of the contract amount, changing the number to $135,000. The scout was nervous and asked to use the Lockwood's phone to call Athletics' owner

Charlie Finley Charles Oscar Finley (February 22, 1918 – February 19, 1996), nicknamed Charlie O or Charley O, was an American businessman who owned Major League Baseball's Oakland Athletics. Finley purchased the franchise while it was located in Kansas Cit ...

. Finley spoke to Lockwood directly, asking why he should give Lockwood the money. "Because I'll make you a winner," said Lockwood. The scout went back on the phone, and Finley approved the higher amount. Despite

batting Batting may refer to: * Batting (baseball), the act of attempting to hit a ball thrown by the pitcher with a baseball bat, in order to score runs * Batting (cricket), the act of defending one's wicket with the cricket bat while attempting to score ...

only .208 with the

Burlington Bees The Burlington Bees are a collegiate summer baseball team of the Prospect League. They are located in Burlington, Iowa, and have played their home games at Community Field since 1947. Founded in 1889, the Bees played in Minor League Basebal ...

, he showed decent power with five

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s in 236 at bats, and was brought up to the

majors Jonathan Michael Majors (born September 7, 1989)Majors in is an American actor. He rose to prominence after starring in the independent feature film ''The Last Black Man in San Francisco'' (2019). In 2020, he garnered wider notice for portraying ...

for the season. With the A's, he batted only .121 with eleven

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s in 33 at bats, and was back in the

minor leagues Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

the next two seasons. Lockwood could hit fastballs, but struggled with

breaking balls In baseball, a breaking ball is a pitch that does not travel straight as it approaches the batter; it will have sideways or downward motion on it, sometimes both (see slider). A breaking ball is not a specific pitch by that name, but is any p ...

Pitcher

On November 28, , Lockwood was drafted by the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

in the

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

Rule 5 draft, but, following

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

, he was returned to his original club, which had moved to

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

. Upon his return to the Athletics organization, Lockwood was converted to a

despite having only pitched one

inning In baseball, softball, and similar games, an inning is the basic unit of play, consisting of two halves or frames, the "top" (first half) and the "bottom" (second half). In each half, one team bats until three outs are made, with the other team ...

with the

Modesto Reds Modesto () is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,464 at the 2020 census, it is the 19th largest city in the state of California and forms part of the Sacramento-Stockton- ...

in . On October 15, , he was selected by the Seattle Pilots in the 1968 expansion draft. During their first and only season, he made his major league debut on the

mound A mound is a heaped pile of earth, gravel, sand, rocks, or debris. Most commonly, mounds are earthen formations such as hills and mountains, particularly if they appear artificial. A mound may be any rounded area of topographically higher el ...

with the Pilots, going 0–1 with a 3.52

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 number ...

in six games. Lockwood spent the next four years with the franchise following their move to

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

, and spent most of his time with the Brewers as a

starting pitcher In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pit ...

. In his final season in Milwaukee,

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

, he made 22 of his 37 appearances out of the

bullpen In baseball, the bullpen (or simply the pen) is the area where relief pitchers warm up before entering a game. A team's roster of relief pitchers is also metonymically referred to as "the bullpen". These pitchers usually wait in the bullpen if t ...

. Up to that point, he'd only made seven appearances in

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

Relief pitcher

Lockwood was involved in a nine-player transaction when he was sent along with

Ellie Rodríguez Eliseo Rodríguez Delgado (born May 24, 1946) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1968 to 1976 for the New York Yankees, Kansas City Royals, Milwaukee Brewers, California Angels ...

, Ollie Brown,

Joe Lahoud Joseph Michael Lahoud (born April 14, 1947) is an American former professional baseball player. He played all or part of eleven seasons in Major League Baseball, primarily as an outfielder and designated hitter, for the Boston Red Sox (1968–71) ...

and

Gary Ryerson Gary Lawrence Ryerson (born June 17, 1948) is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher. Ryerson was drafted in the thirteenth round of the 1966 Major League Baseball draft by the San Francisco Giants. In 1971, Ryerson was traded along wit ...

from the Brewers to the Angels for

Steve Barber Stephen David Barber (February 22, 1938 – February 4, 2007) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) left-handed pitcher. He pitched for the Baltimore Orioles and six other teams between 1960–74. Barber compiled 121 wins, 1,309 str ...

Clyde Wright Clyde Wright (born February 20, 1941), nicknamed "Skeeter", is an American former professional baseball player. A left-handed pitcher, he played all or part of ten seasons in Major League Baseball for the California Angels (1966–73), Milwauk ...

Ken Berry Kenneth Ronald Berry (November 3, 1933 – December 1, 2018) was an American actor, dancer, and singer. Berry starred on the television series ''F Troop'', ''The Andy Griffith Show'', ''Mayberry R.F.D.'' and ''Mama's Family''. He also appea ...

Art Kusnyer Arthur William Kusnyer (born December 19, 1945) is an American former catcher in Major League Baseball who was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the 37th round of the 1966 amateur draft. He played for the Chicago White Sox, White Sox (1970), L ...

and cash on October 23, 1973. He was used almost exclusively as a reliever by the Angels (35 relief appearances, two starts). With the Angels, he earned his first save. After a 2–5

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

, he was dealt from the Angels to the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

for

Bill Sudakis William Paul Sudakis (March 27, 1946 – September 15, 2021) was an American Major League Baseball infielder. He was primarily a third baseman, but also appeared as a catcher and first baseman. Early years During his senior year at Joliet Townsh ...

at the

Winter Meetings Representatives of all 30 Major League Baseball teams and their 120 Minor League Baseball affiliates convene for four days each December in the Winter Meetings to discuss league business and conduct off-season trades and transactions. Attendees in ...

on December 3, 1974. In 1975, Lockwood joined the New York Mets, with whom he blossomed as a reliever. In and , Lockwood earned 19 and 20 saves, respectively, and established a Mets season record for games pitched in 1977 with 63. According to the Mets blog, ''Amazin' Avenue'', Lockwood was in 2007 the forty-second best player in Mets history. Unfortunately Lockwood played for the Mets during one of the darker times in franchise history (98 losses in 1977, 96 in & 99 in ). He signed with the Boston Red Sox for the 1980 season, going 3–1 and making one start. The following Spring, he was released by the Red Sox, and retired shortly afterwards. In twelve seasons, Lockwood's career stats are:

Outside baseball

Lockwood attended several universities in the months between his MLB seasons, including

Merrimack College Merrimack College is a private Augustinian university in North Andover, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1947 by the Order of St. Augustine with an initial goal to educate World War II veterans. Its campus has grown to a campus with nearly 40 bu ...

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

, Bryant and Stratton Commercial School,

Marquette University Marquette University () is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Established by the Society of Jesus as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, it was founded by John Henni, John Martin ...

, and

Carroll College Carroll College is a private Catholic college in Helena, Montana. The college has 21 buildings on a 63-acre campus, has over 35 academic majors, participates in 15 NAIA athletic sports, and is home to All Saints Chapel. The college motto, in L ...

. He finally graduated with a ''cum laude'' bachelor's degree from

Emerson College Emerson College is a private college with its main campus in Boston, Massachusetts. It also maintains campuses in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California and Well, Limburg, Netherlands ( Kasteel Well). Founded in 1880 by Charles Wesley Emerson as a ...

in 1976, his eighth year in the majors. He has two master's degrees, one from Fairfield, and the other from MIT. He graduated from the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

with a S.M. in . He is one of the few MIT graduates who have played Major League Baseball. Lockwood was also an accomplished candlepin bowler. In 2018, Lockwood released a memoir entitled ''Insight Pitch'', which he wrote without using a ghostwriter.

References

External links

"Interview with Skip Lockwood Major League Baseball Player, Author, and MIT Graduate"
Fame Booking July 11th, 2019 {{DEFAULTSORT:Lockwood, Skip 1946 births Living people Kansas City Athletics players Seattle Pilots players Milwaukee Brewers players California Angels players New York Mets players Boston Red Sox players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball third basemen Baseball players from Massachusetts Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni Burlington Bees players Modesto Reds players Peninsula Grays players Birmingham A's players Elmira Pioneers players Portland Beavers players Tidewater Tides players Tucson Toros players Denver Bears players People from Norwood, Massachusetts People from Roslindale Catholic Memorial School alumni Emerson College alumni