Bobby Gene Tiefenauer was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 professional baseball

Professional baseball

Baseball is a team sport which is played by several professional leagues throughout the world. In these leagues, and associated farm teams, players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system....

 player. A knuckleball

Knuckleball

A knuckleball is a baseball pitch with an erratic, unpredictable motion. The pitch is thrown so as to minimize the spin of the ball in flight. This causes vortices over the stitched seams of the baseball during its trajectory, which in turn can cause the pitch to change direction—and even...

 relief pitcher

Relief pitcher

A relief pitcher or reliever is a baseball or softball pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed due to injury, ineffectiveness, fatigue, ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as being substituted by a pinch hitter...

, he pitched for six Major League

Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

 teams during a ten-year MLB career that stretched between and : the St. Louis Cardinals

St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won eleven World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to...

 (1952, 1955, 1961), Cleveland Indians

Cleveland Indians

The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field. The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona...

 (1960, 1965–67), Houston Colt .45s (1962), Milwaukee Braves (1963–65), New York Yankees

New York Yankees

The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...

 (1965) and the Chicago Cubs

Chicago Cubs

The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...

 (1968). Tiefenauer was born in Desloge, Missouri

Desloge, Missouri

Desloge is a city in St. Francois County, Missouri, United States. The estimated 2008 population was 5,190. It was 4,802 at the 2000 census.-History:...

.

In 1948 he was selected by the Cardinals as an amateur free agent. In 1964 with the Milwaukee Braves he had one of his better seasons, saving 13 games (8th best in the National League) with an ERA of 3.21. Like many pitchers, Tiefenauer was a notoriously bad hitter, having only 1 hit in 39 at-bats for a career batting average of .026. The one hit was an extra base hit, a double. And it was off of one of the best pitchers in baseball that year, Jack Sanford

Jack Sanford

John Stanley Sanford was an American right-handed starting pitcher in Major League Baseball, and later in his career a relief pitcher as well, for the Philadelphia Phillies, San Francisco Giants, and California Angels. He finished his career playing very briefly with the Kansas City...

of the San Francisco Giants. The hit occurred in the fourth inning of the game between the Houston Colt 45's and the San Francisco Giants on September 29, 1962. Bobby pitched 6 innings in relief that day for Houston, and also came up to bat in the sixth inning when he grounded out to shortstop.