Thomas Earl Dukes (born August 31, 1942) is an American retired

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who is ...

. The native of

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Tennessee, Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Di ...

, was a

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue (medical), fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection (sports), ejection, or for other strategic ...

who appeared in 161

games A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (such ...

over six seasons (1967–1972) for 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 ...

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 ...

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

and

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 ...

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), ...

. He attended the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

and was listed as tall and . Dukes signed with 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 ...

in 1960 but never appeared for the Bombers, who traded him to the

Milwaukee Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bost ...

for veteran reliever

Bobby Tiefenauer Bobby Gene Tiefenauer (October 10, 1929 – June 13, 2000) was an American professional baseball player and coach. A knuckleball relief pitcher, he pitched for six Major League teams during a ten-year MLB career that stretched between and : the ...

in June 1965. The Braves passed him along to the Astros in a six-player trade at the end of 1966. In August 1967 he finally made the majors in his eighth pro season, and he pitched out of the Houston

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 ...

through the end of , working in 60 games and notching six saves. On October 14, he was the 33rd player selected by the Padres 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 s ...

portion of the

1968 Major League Baseball expansion draft The 1968 Major League Baseball expansion draft was conducted to stock up the rosters of four expansion teams in Major League Baseball created via the 1969 Major League Baseball expansion and which would begin play in the 1969 season. The expansi ...

. He appeared in 66 total games for San Diego during and , picking up 11 more saves. He was traded along with

Pat Dobson Patrick Edward Dobson, Jr. (February 12, 1942 – November 22, 2006) was an American right-handed starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Detroit Tigers (1967–69), San Diego Padres (1970), Baltimore Orioles (1971–72), Atla ...

to the defending World Series Champion Orioles for

Enzo Hernández Enzo Octavio Hernández (12 February 1949 – 13 January 2013) was a shortstop in Major League Baseball who played from 1971 through 1978 for the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers. Hernández was born in Valle de Guanape, Venezuela. Listed ...

Tom Phoebus Thomas Harold Stephen Phoebus (April 7, 1942 – September 5, 2019) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher from through , most notably as a member of the Baltimore Orioles dynas ...

Fred Beene Freddy Ray Beene (born November 24, 1942) is an American former professional baseball player. Beene was a right-handed pitcher who played in the Major Leagues between to . He was listed at tall and . Beene attended Brazosport High School in Fr ...

and

Al Severinsen Albert Henry Severinsen (November 9, 1944 – January 27, 2015) was a Major League Baseball pitcher who played in with the Baltimore Orioles and in and with the San Diego Padres. He batted and threw right-handed. Severinsen had a 3–7 record, ...

on December 1, 1970."Bob Aspromonte Joins New York," ''The New York Times'', Wednesday, December 2, 1970.
Retrieved March 5, 2020 While his San Diego teammate Dobson became one of the 1971 Orioles' four twenty-game winners—and the Baltimore staff threw 71

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

s—Dukes was credited with four saves, tied for second on the team, but he lost five of six decisions for a team that won 101 regular-season games. Baltimore breezed to its third consecutive

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

championship, but fell to the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

in the

1971 World Series The 1971 World Series was the championship round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1971 season and featured the first night game in its history. The 68th edition of the Fall Classic was a best-of-seven playoff between the defending World Series ...

; Dukes worked in Games 3 and 5 and allowed no runs and two

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 ...

in four

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 ...

, with one

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 ...

. Dukes' last Oriole appearance was in Game 5 on October 14, 1971. He was sent to Triple-A

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

to start , then traded to the Angels on May 29. In seven June games with the Angels, he posted a 1.64

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 ...

. He also appeared in six games for Triple-A

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

that year, his final campaign in pro ball. As a big leaguer, Dukes compiled a 5–16 ( .238) record and a 4.35 earned run average with 22 career saves. In 217

, he permitted 226 hits and 82

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 struck out 169.

References

External links

Tom Dukes
at Pura Pelota (Venezuelan Professional Baseball League) 1942 births Living people Atlanta Crackers players Auburn Yankees players Augusta Yankees players Austin Braves players Baltimore Orioles players Baseball players from Knoxville, Tennessee California Angels players Cardenales de Lara players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Columbus Confederate Yankees players Elmira Pioneers players Houston Astros players Major League Baseball pitchers Oklahoma City 89ers players Richmond Braves players Richmond Virginians (minor league) players Rochester Red Wings players St. Petersburg Saints players Salt Lake City Angels players San Diego Padres players Tennessee Volunteers baseball players Toledo Mud Hens players
{{US-baseball-pitcher-1940s-stub