Vitautis Casimirus Tamulis (July 11, 1911 – May 5, 1974) was an American left-handed

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 ...

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 for 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 ...

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they p ...

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

and

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association (19th century), American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the ...

from 1934 to 1941.

Biography

A native of

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

of Lithuanian descent, Tamulis attended

The English High School The English High School of Boston, Massachusetts, United States, is one of the first public high schools in America, founded in 1821. Originally called The English Classical School, it was renamed The English High School upon its first relocation ...

, where he led the school's baseball team to the 1930

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

city championship. While still in high school in 1929, he played for the Osterville and Hyannis teams in the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...

. Tamulis was signed by the

as an 18-year-old, and began his professional baseball career in 1930 with the Chambersburg Young Yanks of the

Blue Ridge League The Blue Ridge League was the name of two minor league baseball organizations that operated in the first half of the twentieth century in the United States. History The first league operated for the better part of sixteen years, from 1915 throu ...

. He worked his way through the minor league system, and was called up by New York late in the 1934 season. Tamulis made his major league debut on September 25, getting the start on the mound for the Yankees against the

Philadelphia A's The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oakl ...

Shibe Park Shibe Park, known later as Connie Mack Stadium, was a ballpark located in Philadelphia. It was the home of the Philadelphia Athletics of the American League (AL) and the Philadelphia Phillies of the National League (NL). When it opened April 12, 1 ...

. The A's countered with hurler

Joe Cascarella Joseph Thomas Cascarella (June 28, 1907 – May 22, 2002) was a pitcher in Major League Baseball who played with four different teams between 1934 and 1938. Listed at , , Cascarella batted and threw right-handed. He was born in Philadelphia. C ...

, and featured a lineup that included

Baseball Hall of Famer The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-re ...

Jimmie Foxx James Emory Foxx (October 22, 1907 – July 21, 1967), nicknamed "Double X" and "The Beast", was an American professional baseball first baseman who played 20 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Red Sox, ...

batting cleanup. Tamulis pitched brilliantly, tossing a complete game shutout, scattering seven hits (two to Foxx), and striking out five. Yankees Hall of Fame slugger

Lou Gehrig Henry Louis Gehrig (born Heinrich Ludwig Gehrig ; June 19, 1903June 2, 1941) was an American professional baseball first baseman who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees (1923–1939). Gehrig was renowned f ...

homered, and Tamulis himself singled and scored on

Red Rolfe Robert Abial "Red" Rolfe (October 17, 1908 – July 8, 1969) was an American third baseman, manager and front-office executive in Major League Baseball. A graduate of Phillips Exeter Academy, Rolfe also was an Ivy Leaguer: a graduate, then long- ...

's triple. New York came away with a 5–0 win in Tamulis' only appearance of the season. Tamulis became a Yankee regular in

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude Franco-Italian Agreement of 1935, an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * ...

, posting a 10–5 record with a 4.09 ERA over 160.2 innings. Highlights of his 1935 season included a complete game shutout of the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

Yankee Stadium Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx, New York City. It is the home field of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball, and New York City FC of Major League Soccer. Opened in April 2009, the stadium replaced the origi ...

on May 16, and a 10-inning complete game performance in a hard-luck 2–1 loss to the

in the second game of a doubleheader in the Bronx on July 21, with Tamulis yielding the game-winning homer to Moose Solters in the 10th. Tamulis himself clouted his only major league four-bagger on June 11, a two-run homer off Browns hurler

Russ Van Atta Russell Van Atta (June 21, 1906 – October 10, 1986) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball with the New York Yankees and the St. Louis Browns over a seven-season career. After his career ended, he was ...

Sportsman's Park Sportsman's Park was the name of several former Major League Baseball ballpark structures in St. Louis, Missouri. All but one of these were located on the same piece of land, at the northwest corner of Grand Boulevard and Dodier Street, on the ...

. Tamulis had three RBI on the day, and went the distance on the mound in the Yankees' 9–3 victory. After the 1935 season, Tamulis was weakened by a prolonged bout of

pleurisy Pleurisy, also known as pleuritis, is inflammation of the membranes that surround the lungs and line the chest cavity (pleurae). This can result in a sharp chest pain while breathing. Occasionally the pain may be a constant dull ache. Other sy ...

, and as a result spent the 1936 and 1937 seasons with the

Newark Bears The Newark Bears were an American minor league professional baseball team based in Newark, New Jersey. They were a member of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball and, later, the Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball. T ...

of the

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ...

. After the 1937 season, he was traded to the St. Louis Browns for Harry Davis. Tamulis appeared in only three games for the Browns early in their 1938 season, taking losses in all three appearances with a 7.63 ERA. He was claimed off waivers by the

, and turned his season around, posting a 12–6 record in 159.2 innings with a 3.83 ERA for the 1938 Dodgers. He appeared in 39 games for Brooklyn in 1939, and 41 games in 1940. After the 1940 season, the Dodgers traded Tamulis to the

, who traded him back to the Dodgers after six lackluster performances early in the 1941 season. He appeared in 12 more games for the Dodgers that season, before being shipped off to the

Nashville Volunteers The Nashville Vols were a Minor League Baseball team that played in Nashville, Tennessee, from 1901 to 1963. Known only as the Nashville Baseball Club during their first seven seasons, they were officially named the Nashville Volunteers (often sh ...

of the

Southern Association The Southern Association was a higher-level minor league in American organized baseball from 1901 through 1961. For most of its existence, the Southern Association was two steps below the Major Leagues; it was graded Class A (1902–1935), Cl ...

in July. He never made another big-league appearance. Tamulis posted an impressive 20–8 record for Nashville in 1942, and entered military service after the season. With

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

over, Tamulis returned to Nashville for the 1946 season, and in 1948 became player-manager of the

Hopkinsville Hoppers The Hopkinsville Hoppers were a baseball team based in Hopkinsville, Kentucky between 1904 and 1954. The team initially played as the "Browns" in 1904, before adopting the "Hoppers" moniker. Hopkinsville teams played as exclusively as members of ...

of the

Kentucky–Illinois–Tennessee League The Kentucky–Illinois–Tennessee League (or ''KITTY League'') was a Class D level minor league baseball circuit that went through six different periods of play between 1903 and 1955. The League hosted teams in 29 cities from the states of Ill ...

, posting a 17–3 record on the mound in 1948. His last playing season for the Hoppers was 1951. At Hopkinsville, Tamulis was particularly renowned for his

Eephus pitch An eephus pitch (also spelled ephus) in baseball is a very high-arcing off-speed pitch. The delivery from the pitcher has very low velocity and often catches the hitter off-guard. The eephus pitch is thrown overhand like most pitches, but is char ...

, which he had used with success in the big leagues against sluggers such as

Johnny Mize John Robert Mize (January 7, 1913 – June 2, 1993), nicknamed "Big Jawn" and "The Big Cat", was an American professional baseball player, coach and scout. He played as a first baseman in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 15 seasons between 1936 an ...

. Tamulis remained in the

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

area after his baseball career, and died there in 1974 at age 62.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tamulis, Vito 1911 births 1974 deaths Albany Senators players American people of Lithuanian descent Baseball players from Massachusetts Binghamton Triplets players Brooklyn Dodgers players Cape Cod Baseball League players (pre-modern era) Chambersburg Young Yanks players Cumberland Colts players English High School of Boston alumni Hopkinsville Hoppers players Hyannis Harbor Hawks players Major League Baseball pitchers Minor league baseball managers Nashville Vols players Newark Bears (IL) players New York Yankees players Philadelphia Phillies players Sportspeople from Cambridge, Massachusetts St. Louis Browns players