Bobby Witt

Robert Andrew Witt (born May 11, 1964), is a former professional baseball pitcher, who played all or part of sixteen seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers, Oakland Athletics, Florida Marlins, St. Louis Cardinals, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Cleveland Indians, and Arizona Diamondbacks.

Not to be confused with Bobby Witt Jr..
Bobby Witt
Pitcher
Born: (1964-05-11) May 11, 1964
Arlington, Virginia
Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
April 10, 1986, for the Texas Rangers
Last MLB appearance
October 7, 2001, for the Arizona Diamondbacks
MLB statistics
Win–loss record142–157
Earned run average4.83
Strikeouts1,955
Teams
Career highlights and awards
Bobby Witt
Medal record
Men's baseball
Representing  United States
Olympic Games
1984 Los Angeles Team

Professional career

Witt attended the University of Oklahoma, and in 1983 he played collegiate summer baseball with the Chatham A's of the Cape Cod Baseball League.[1] He was selected with the third pick of the first round by the Texas Rangers in 1985. His first professional win came in 1986 with the Texas Rangers as he had failed to win a game in the minor leagues. He was known as a hard-throwing right-hander with control problems throughout his career and many in Arlington began to call him "Witt 'n Wild" as a play on the waterpark Wet 'n Wild, which was located next to Arlington Stadium. Witt led the league in walks three times and wild pitches twice.[2]

Texas Rangers

Witt made his major league debut in 1986 and made 31 starts for the Rangers, finishing the season with an 11-9 record. Known for his control problems, he led the league with 143 walks in 157.2 innings pitched. The following season he led the league again in walks, this time with 140 in 143 innings.

On August 2, 1987, Witt struck out 4 batters in one inning.[3] He set the Texas Rangers club record set in 1990 with his 7th consecutive road win of the season, a feat that was not matched by a Rangers pitcher until Scott Feldman did it in 2009.[4][5]

In 1990, he had the best season of his career, going 17-10 with a 3.36 ERA, the lowest of his career. He also established dominance, striking out over 220 batters in 222 innings. He would continue on pitching for the Rangers till 1992 season, when he was traded to division rival Oakland.

Oakland Athletics

From 1992–1994, Witt compiled a 23-24 record with the Oakland Athletics.

On June 23, 1994, Witt lost his bid for a perfect game when first base umpire Gary Cederstrom called the Kansas City Royals' Greg Gagne safe in the 6th inning [6] on a close play at first base on a bunt. Replays showed that Gagne was out.[7] Witt went on to complete the game with only that one hit allowed and no walks.

Florida Marlins

During the 1995 season, Witt pitched half a season with the Marlins before being traded to Texas. He finished his tenure with Florida with a 2-7 record despite having an ERA of 3.90 and a WHIP of under 1.40.

Back to Texas

From 1995–1998, Witt had a 36-32 record with Texas. His best season during this timeframe was in 1996, when he finished with a 16-12 record despite having an ERA of 5.41.

On June 30, 1997, he became the first American League pitcher to hit a home run since Roric Harrison on October 3, 1972.[8][9] His home run was hit off of Ismael Valdes of the Los Angeles Dodgers in an interleague contest in the top of the sixth inning. The bat with which he hit this home run is now in the Baseball Hall of Fame.[10]

St. Louis Cardinals

During the 1998 season, Witt was traded to St.Louis. He pitched with the Cardinals in 17 games, only 5 as a starter.

Tampa Bay Devil Rays

Witt had one of his worst seasons of his career, going 7-15 with a 5.82 ERA in 32 starts for the Devil Rays.

Cleveland Indians

Due to injury, Witt was limited to just 7 appearances with the Indians, having pitched only 15 innings for the Tribe.

Arizona Diamondbacks

In his last season in the Majors, Witt pitched in 14 games for the Arizona Diamondbacks, 7 as a starter and finished with a 4-1 record for the World Series champion Diamondbacks. Witt appeared in Game 2 of the 2001 National League Championship Series against Atlanta, pitching in the eighth inning. He went a third of an inning while allowing three hits and a run. His next pitching appearance proved to be his last. It came in Game 6 of the 2001 World Series. He pitched the eighth inning in relief of Randy Johnson, with the Diamondbacks leading 15-2. He walked one and struck-out a batter while getting three outs before Troy Brohawn took over for the ninth inning.[11] After the season, Witt retired from baseball.

Personal life

As of April 2015, Witt lives in Colleyville, Texas, with his wife and four children and is now a player agent. His son, Bobby Witt Jr., was drafted with the second pick of the 2019 Major League Baseball draft and signed with the Kansas City Royals.[12]

See also

References
  1. "Major League Baseball Players From the Cape Cod League" (PDF). capecodbaseball.org. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
  2. "(Press Kits) Arlington History". arlington.org. Arlington Convention & Visitors Bureau. 2019. Retrieved June 5, 2019.
  3. "Four Strikeouts in One Inning". baseball-almanac.com. Baseball Almanac. Retrieved June 5, 2019.
  4. Palmer, Matt, "Rangers roll, trim Wild Card deficit to two: Feldman stifles Orioles for 11th road victory, 15th overall". MLB.com. Major League Baseball. September 4, 2009. Retrieved September 4, 2009.
  5. Ginzburg, David, "Feldman, Cruz lead Rangers over Orioles 5-1". Associated Press. September 4, 2009. Retrieved September 4, 2009.
  6. "Retrosheet Boxscore: Oakland Athletics 4, Kansas City Royals 0". retrosheet.irg. Retrosheet. June 23, 1994. Retrieved June 5, 2019.
  7. "A's Bobby, Nearly Perfect, Says It's Ump Who Wasn't". Associated Press. www.nytimes.com. The New York Times. June 24, 1994. Retrieved June 3, 2010.
  8. https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CLE/CLE197210032.shtml
  9. https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/LAN/LAN199706300.shtml
  10. ""Bobby Witt". BaseballLibrary.com. Baseball Library". Archived from the original on February 2, 2007. Retrieved January 9, 2007.. February 2, 2007. Retrieved June 5, 2019.
  11. https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/ARI/ARI200111030.shtml
  12. "Robert Witt Leagues Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2019. Retrieved June 5, 2019.
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