Dave Baldwin (baseball)

David George Baldwin (born March 30, 1938) is an American former professional baseball pitcher.

Dave Baldwin
Dave Baldwin in 1968
Pitcher
Born: (1938-03-30) March 30, 1938
Tucson, Arizona
Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 6, 1966, for the Washington Senators
Last MLB appearance
August 7, 1973, for the Chicago White Sox
MLB statistics
Win–loss record6–11
Earned run average3.08
Strikeouts164
Saves23
Teams

Life and career
Dave Baldwin in 2007

Born in Tucson, Arizona, on March 30, 1938, Baldwin pitched for three years for the University of Arizona. In the 1959 College World Series he beat Fresno State 5 to 1 on a two-hitter and lost the final game of the series 5 to 3 to Oklahoma State.[1] He signed with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1959 and pitched on three pennant winners in his first four years of pro ball.[2]

Later, he was a relief specialist for the Washington Senators (1966–69), Milwaukee Brewers (1970), and Chicago White Sox (1973). In 176 games he compiled a record of 6 wins and 11 losses, with 23 saves and an ERA of 3.08. The combined batting average of opponents against him was .234. In 1967, he ranked 3rd in the American League and 5th in the major leagues (of pitchers with 10 or more appearances) with an ERA of 1.70.[3] That season he ranked 5th in the American League for relief runs saved (11.8), ranked 7th in saves (12), and ranked 9th in pitching appearances (58).[4] In 1970, Baldwin led major league pitchers in range factor per nine innings (a measure of fielding proficiency) with a value of 5.094, the seventh highest value ever compiled.[5]

In 1974, Baldwin, at age 36, was the second oldest player in both the Pacific Coast League and the American Association.[6] Baldwin did not commit an error during his six-year major league career, handling 64 total chances (15 putouts, 49 assists) and committed only three errors throughout the 16 years he played professional baseball. But he was arguably the worst hitter in major league history. He achieved the only base hit of his career by beating out a bunt.

After he retired from baseball in 1974 he earned a Ph.D. in genetics and an M.S. in systems engineering from the University of Arizona.[7] He worked as a geneticist, engineer, and artist until his retirement in 2003.[8] Subsequently, he has collaborated with other researchers studying the physics, physiology, and psychology of baseball.[9] In addition, he has published his baseball memoir, Snake Jazz, and (under the pen name "DGB Featherkile") a collection of his poetry, Limbic Hurly-Burly. Many of his poems have appeared in such journals as American Poetry Journal, Blue Unicorn, and Evansville Review.[10] His poetry won the Atlanta Review's 2007 International Publication Prize and the 2009 Fluvanna Prize from The Lyric.

Baldwin's painting "Fugue for the Pepper Players" is in the collection of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, and was featured in Treasures of the Baseball Hall of Fame by John Thorn (1998) pp. 188–189.[11][12]

Baldwin has been inducted into the University of Arizona Sports Hall of Fame (class of 2015) and the Pima County, Arizona, Sports Hall of Fame (class of 2011). He received the Professional Achievement Award from the University of Arizona Alumni Association in 2009.

Selected publications
  • Bahill, A. T. & Baldwin, D. G. (2007) "Describing baseball pitch movement with right-hand rules", Computers in Biology and Medicine, 37:1001–1008.
  • Bahill, A.T. & Baldwin, D. G. (2004) "The rising fastball and other perceptual illusions of batters." In Biomedical Engineering Principles in Sports. G. K. Hung and J. M. Pallis, eds. NY: Kluwer Academic / Plenum. pp. 257–287.
  • Bahill, A. T., Baldwin, D. G., & Venkateswaran, J. (2005) "Predicting a baseball's path", American Scientist, 93(3):218-225.
  • Baldwin, D. (2008) Snake Jazz. Philadelphia: Xlibris (self-published).
  • Baldwin, D. G. (2001) "How to win the blame game", Harvard Business Review, 79(7):55-62.
  • Baldwin, D. G. and Bahill, A.T. (2004) "A model of the bat's vertical sweetness gradient." In The Engineering of Sport (5). M. Hubbard, R.D. Mehta, and J. M. Pallis, eds. Proceedings of the 5th International Engineering of Sport Conference, September 13–16, 2004, Davis, California, International Sports Engineering Association (ISEA), Sheffield, UK, 2:305–311.
  • Baldwin, D. G., Bahill, A.T., and Nathan, A. (2007) "Nickel and dime pitches", Baseball Research Journal, 35:25-29.
  • Featherkile, DGB. (2009) Limbic Hurly-Burly: Poems of Humor and Paradox. Yachats, Oregon: Stillman & Hyla.
  • Mangan, R. L. and Baldwin, D. (1986) "A new cryptic species of Odontoloxozus (Neriidae: Diptera) from the cape region of Baja California Sur (Mexico)." Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington (D.C.), 88:110-121.
  • McBeath, M. K., Nathan, A. M., Bahill, A. T., and Baldwin, D.G. (2008) "Paradoxical pop-ups: Why are they difficult to catch?" American Journal of Physics, 76(8):723-729.

Selected Solo Art Exhibits
Dave Baldwin's painting "Fugue for the Pepper Players"

References
  1. Greg Hansen (29 April 2008). "Ex-pitcher authors a gem". Arizona Daily Star. Archived from the original on 1 December 2008. Retrieved 28 June 2009.
  2. Ian Quillen (28 June 2008). "Author Dave Baldwin recalls his Williamsport Grays days". Williamsport Sun-Gazette. Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
  3. Shecter, Leonard (17 July 1967). "A side-door entrance to the major leagues". Sports Illustrated. 27 (3): 61–66. Archived from the original on 2 December 2012. Retrieved 5 July 2009.
  4. Thorn, John; Pete Palmer (1989). Total Baseball. New York: Warner Books. pp. 875, 1585. ISBN 0-446-51389-X.
  5. "Range Factor / 9 Innings". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 3 February 2011.
  6. "Dave Baldwin". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 4 July 2009.
  7. Paul White (31 August 2009). "Intelligence report: Baseball's whiz kids stand out, to a degree". USA Today. Retrieved 3 September 2009.
  8. Mirsky, Steve (May 2000). "Fields of dreams". Scientific American. 282 (5): 122. doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0500-122. Retrieved 5 July 2009.
  9. Dan Raley (15 April 2008). "Where are they now? Dave Baldwin, former Seattle Pilot". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved 5 July 2009.
  10. "DGB Featherkile". Stillman & Hyla. Retrieved 28 June 2009.
  11. "Art by David G. Baldwin". Retrieved 28 June 2009.
  12. Cohen, Joanna (12 August 1996). "A Hall of Fame career". Sports Illustrated. 85 (7).
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