Saturday, April 25, 2020

#118 Bob Bruce Sport Rookie Star




Bob Bruce  Detroit Tigers

Career: He pitched six seasons in the minors and spent over a year in the service before getting to debut in September 1959. After a nice rookie season, he regressed in 1961 and was traded to Houston where he went on to be a solid starter for four seasons. He peaked with a 15 win/2.86 ERA effort in '64. After an off-year in '66 he was dealt to the Braves where he finished his career splitting one season between Atlanta and AAA. Bruce was 49-71 with a 3.85 ERA while pitching for generally second division teams.

In 1960:  This was his rookie season and he made the most of it. His 4-7 record doesn't reflect better stats like his 3.74 ERA and 1.40 WHIP in a season of big-hitting in the AL.

Off The Charts: He was the starting pitcher for the Colt .45s in their last game at Colt Stadium and the starting pitcher for the Astros in their first NL game in the Astrodome.

3 comments:

  1. I like the comic because it pointed out his college. I started looking to see if any SJSU Spartans were featured on the backs of any Topps cards and I found two. The hunt is on. Love that I continue to learn stuff from this blog.

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    1. I had looked at Alma College on Baseball Reference and then forgot to include the fact that Jim Northrup also played there.

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    2. Very cool. Here's my latest blog post featuring one of the cards I found:

      http://sanjosefuji.blogspot.com/2020/04/spartan-spirit.html

      It's actually a reprint, but I'll eventually pick up a vintage copy too.

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