Wilfred Hillard Culmer (November 11, 1957 – October 14, 2003
[) was a ]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), ...
player for 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 ...
. He was inducted to the Bahamas Sports Hall of Fame in 2011.
Career
Culmer originally played baseball in the Bahamas after graduating high school, and was considered to be one of the country's best 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 ...
hitters. He was signed by the 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 ...
in 1977 as an amateur free agent and began his professional career the following year with the rookie-league Helena Phillies; he had a batting average
Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic.
Cricket
In cricket, a player's batting average is ...
of .358 in 55 games. The following year, he split the season between the Spartanburg Phillies
Spartanburg is a city in and the county seat, seat of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. The city of Spartanburg has a municipal population of 38,732 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the 11th-largest c ...
and the Peninsula Pilots
The Peninsula Pilots are an amateur baseball team in the Coastal Plain League, collegiate summer baseball league. The team plays its home games at the War Memorial Stadium in Hampton, Virginia. The Pilots first started participating in the Coa ...
. In 1980, Culmer spent the season with Peninsula and had a career year. He had a .369 batting average and 184 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 ...
, both of which led 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 unti ...
. He also had 18 home runs, 93 runs batted in
A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...
, and 26 stolen base
In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...
s; he was added to the Phillies' 40-man roster
A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, and ...
after the season as a result.
In 1981, he spent the season with the Reading Phillies
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...
, and had a .282 average in 120 games, but where were still questions about his fielding ability. Jayson Stark
Jayson Stark (born July 19, 1951) is an American sportswriter and author who covers baseball for ''The Athletic''. He is most known for his time with ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' and ESPN.
Biography
Stark grew up in Northeast Philadelphia and ...
noted that "he can be as good as he wants to be" but was making too many fundamental mistakes in the minors for his natural talent to transfer. Culmer spent 1982 with the Oklahoma City 89ers
Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...
, and had a .288 batting average and 14 home runs in 119 games. After the season, he was traded to 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 ...
with Jerry Reed
Jerry Reed Hubbard (March 20, 1937 – September 1, 2008) was an American singer, guitarist, composer, and songwriter as well as an actor who appeared in more than a dozen films. His signature songs included " Guitar Man", " U.S. Male", "A Thi ...
and Roy Smith for John Denny
John Allen Denny (born November 8, 1952) is an American former professional baseball right-handed pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals, Cleveland Indians, Philadelphia Phillies, and Cincinnati Reds, from ...
.[
Culmer made the Indians roster out of ]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 ...
, and in his debut on April 12 got two hits in three at-bat
In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a bat ...
s. He played in six more games after his debut but did not get any more hits, and was demoted to the Charleston Charlies
The Charleston Charlies were a Triple-A minor league baseball team located in Charleston, West Virginia. Two separate Charlies franchises played in the International League from 1971 to 1983. The team was the relocated Columbus Jets. In 1977 the ...
, where he had a .245 batting average in 87 games. After a 1984 season that was split between the Buffalo Bisons
The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fiel ...
and Maine Guides
The Maine Guides were an American minor league baseball franchise that played in Old Orchard Beach, Maine, between 1984 and 1988. The Triple-A International League (IL) club was named for a classification of registered hunting and wilderness gu ...
, Culmer retired and returned to the Bahamas until his death in 2003.[
]
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Culmer, Wil
1957 births
2003 deaths
Bahamian expatriate baseball players in the United States
Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players
Charleston Charlies players
Cleveland Indians players
Helena Phillies players
Maine Guides players
Major League Baseball outfielders
Major League Baseball players from the Bahamas
Oklahoma City 89ers players
Peninsula Pilots players
Reading Phillies players
Spartanburg Phillies players
Sportspeople from Nassau, Bahamas
Chipola Indians baseball players