1947
Born March 5, 1947
Cincinnati, OH, USA
Kent Tekulve Marquee
b. March 5, 1947 · Pittsburgh Pirates 1974–1985, Philadelphia Phillies 1985–1988, Cincinnati Reds 1989
Kent Tekulve threw from so far below sidearm that his knuckles came close to scraping the mound, and he did it in 1,050 major league games without ever once being the starting pitcher. Only a handful of men have appeared in more.
The 1979 Pirates used him relentlessly: 94 appearances in the regular season, then three saves in the World Series, including the last out of Game 7. He had made the All-Star team the year after, in 1980, and was still pitching effectively for Philadelphia in his forties.
Born in Cincinnati in 1947, Tekulve saved 184 games, worked 1,436 innings entirely in relief, and finished with a 2.85 earned run average across sixteen seasons.
Honors
| Award | Times | Years |
|---|---|---|
| All-Star selection | 1 | 1980 |
| Pitcher of the Month | 1 | 1978 |
| Player of the Week | 1 | 1986 |
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | PIT | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1975 | PIT | 34 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 0 | .091 |
| 1976 | PIT | 64 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | .000 |
| 1977 | PIT | 72 | 12 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | .250 |
| 1978 | PIT | 91 | 21 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 0 | .095 |
| 1979 | PIT | 94 | 15 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 0 | .133 |
| 1980 | PIT | 78 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0 | .000 |
| 1981 | PIT | 45 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 |
| 1982 | PIT | 85 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | .071 |
| 1983 | PIT | 76 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | .000 |
| 1984 | PIT | 72 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | .000 |
| 1985 | PHI/PIT | 61 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 |
| 1986 | PHI | 73 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .000 |
| 1987 | PHI | 90 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| 1988 | PHI | 70 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 |
| 1989 | CIN | 37 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .500 |
| Career | — | 1050 | 121 | 8 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 61 | 0 | .083 |
Pitching, season by season
| Year | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | PIT | 1 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 9.0 | 12 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6.00 |
| 1975 | PIT | 1 | 2 | 34 | 0 | 5 | 56.0 | 43 | 14 | 23 | 28 | 2.25 |
| 1976 | PIT | 5 | 3 | 64 | 0 | 9 | 102.2 | 91 | 28 | 25 | 68 | 2.45 |
| 1977 | PIT | 10 | 1 | 72 | 0 | 7 | 103.0 | 89 | 35 | 33 | 59 | 3.06 |
| 1978 | PIT | 8 | 7 | 91 | 0 | 31 | 135.1 | 115 | 35 | 55 | 77 | 2.33 |
| 1979 | PIT | 10 | 8 | 94 | 0 | 31 | 134.1 | 109 | 41 | 49 | 75 | 2.75 |
| 1980 | PIT | 8 | 12 | 78 | 0 | 21 | 93.0 | 96 | 35 | 40 | 47 | 3.39 |
| 1981 | PIT | 5 | 5 | 45 | 0 | 3 | 65.0 | 61 | 18 | 17 | 34 | 2.49 |
| 1982 | PIT | 12 | 8 | 85 | 0 | 20 | 128.2 | 113 | 41 | 46 | 66 | 2.87 |
| 1983 | PIT | 7 | 5 | 76 | 0 | 18 | 99.0 | 78 | 18 | 36 | 52 | 1.64 |
| 1984 | PIT | 3 | 9 | 72 | 0 | 13 | 88.0 | 86 | 26 | 33 | 36 | 2.66 |
| 1985 | PHI/PIT | 4 | 10 | 61 | 0 | 14 | 75.2 | 74 | 30 | 30 | 40 | 3.57 |
| 1986 | PHI | 11 | 5 | 73 | 0 | 4 | 110.0 | 99 | 31 | 25 | 57 | 2.54 |
| 1987 | PHI | 6 | 4 | 90 | 0 | 3 | 105.0 | 96 | 36 | 29 | 60 | 3.09 |
| 1988 | PHI | 3 | 7 | 70 | 0 | 4 | 80.0 | 87 | 32 | 22 | 43 | 3.60 |
| 1989 | CIN | 0 | 3 | 37 | 0 | 1 | 52.0 | 56 | 29 | 23 | 31 | 5.02 |
| Career | — | 94 | 90 | 1050 | 0 | 184 | 1436.2 | 1305 | 455 | 491 | 779 | 2.85 |
On this day & linked events
1974
Major-league debut: Kent Tekulve
Kent Tekulve made a major-league debut on May 20, 1974.
1989
Final major-league game: Kent Tekulve
Kent Tekulve played a final major-league game on July 16, 1989.
Image: John Setzler, CC BY 2.0