Stover William McIlwain (September 22, 1939 – January 15, 1966), nicknamed "Smokey", was an American professional baseball player. A right-handed pitcher, he appeared in two games for the

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th y ...

– 58 Chicago White Sox, making his Major League debut just three days after his 18th birthday. The native of Savannah, Georgia, batted right-handed, stood tall and weighed . He graduated from J. M. Tate High School in

Gonzalez, Florida Gonzalez is a census-designated place (CDP) in Escambia County, Florida. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 13,273. Gonzalez is a suburban community located north of Pensacola, and south of Cantonment. Tate High School, the ...

, and attended

Rollins College Rollins College is a private college in Winter Park, Florida. It was founded in November 1885 and has about 30 undergraduate majors and several graduate programs. It is Florida's fourth oldest post-secondary institution. History Rollins Colle ...

. McIlwain's two MLB games took place during consecutive Septembers, with a relief appearance in against the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

and a starting assignment against the Kansas City Athletics in . In the latter game, McIlwain allowed a home run to Lou Klimchock, the game's leadoff batter, but then settled down to pitch four

innings An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). Innings, in cricket, and rounders, is bot ...

without further scoring, allowing four

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...

and no

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...

. He left for a

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute Batting (baseball), batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the dead ball (baseball), ball is dead (not in active play); the manager (baseball), manager may use any player who has not yet ...

in the home half of the fourth inning with a 2–1 lead and Chicago eventually won 11–4. In his two big league appearances and five

innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one innin ...

, McIlwain did not record a win or a loss, gave up six hits and just the one earned run for a lifetime earned run average of 1.80. He notched four

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, all during his 1958 starting assignment. His

minor league 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 ...

pitching career, spent entirely in the White Sox'

farm system In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

, extended from 1957 through 1963, with 1961–62 spent in military service. McIlwain died in Buffalo, New York, from testicular cancer at the age of 26 and was interred in Spruell Memorial Cemetery, Cantonment, Florida.

References

External links

Baseball ReferenceSullivan, Josh, ''Stover McIlwain.''
SABR Biography Project * 1939 births 1966 deaths Baseball players from Savannah, Georgia Charleston ChaSox players Charleston White Sox players Chicago White Sox players Davenport DavSox players Deaths from cancer in New York (state) Deaths from testicular cancer Eugene Emeralds players Lynchburg White Sox players Major League Baseball pitchers Rollins Tars baseball players {{US-baseball-pitcher-1930s-stub