Jim Lonborg
Encyclopedia
James Reynold Lonborg is a former Major League Baseball
right-handed starting pitcher
who played with the Boston Red Sox
(1965–71), Milwaukee Brewers
(1972) and Philadelphia Phillies
(1973–79). He was known as "Gentleman Jim" during his 15 year career for his fearlessness for pitching on the inside of the plate.
Born in Santa Maria
, California
, Lonborg graduated from Stanford University
.
He enjoyed his best year in the Carl Yastrzemski
-led Red Sox' "Impossible Dream" season, when he led American League
pitchers in win
s (22), games started
(39), and strikeout
s (246). That year, the Red Sox were involved in a four-way race for the American League pennant with the Detroit Tigers
, Minnesota Twins
and Chicago White Sox
; the race was reduced to three teams after the White Sox lost a doubleheader
to the Kansas City Athletics
on September 27. The Red Sox and Twins faced each other in the season's final series and entered the final day (October 1) tied for first place; the Tigers were 1/2 game out of first and needed to sweep a doubleheader from the California Angels
to force a playoff between the winner of the Red Sox-Twins game. Lonborg outdueled Twins ace Dean Chance
in that finale, while the Tigers defeated the Angels in the first game but lost the second, putting the Red Sox in the World Series
for the first time since . In that World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals
, Lonborg pitched Game Two in what was only the fourth one-hitter in Series history and followed that up with another victory in Game Five by limiting St. Louis to three hits. Called upon to pitch the seventh and deciding game with only 2 days rest, Lonborg lasted 6 innings, but allowed 6 earned runs in a 7-2 loss. In addition, he received the Cy Young Award
(becoming the first pitcher in Red Sox history to win the Cy Young Award), played in the All-Star
game, and finished prominently in voting for the MVP
award (6th in the voting, Yastrzemski winning the award).
Lonborg tore the ligaments in his left knee skiing in December 1967 and his pitching career thereafter was marked by many injuries.
In his 15-year career, Lonborg compiled a 157-137 record with 1475 strikeouts, a 3.86 ERA
, 90 complete games, 15 shutout
s, and 2464.1 innings in 425 games.
After retiring, Lonborg attended the Tufts University
Dental School and has worked as a dentist
in Hanover, Massachusetts
since. He is active in many nonprofit organizations including Catholic Charities
, Little League Baseball, and The Jimmy Fund
. He currently lives in Scituate, Massachusetts
.
Jim Lonborg was selected to the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame
in 2002.
On the Boston-based sitcom Cheers
, the photo of Sam Malone
pitching is that of Lonborg. Sam also wore Lonborg's number 16.
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...
right-handed starting pitcher
Starting pitcher
In baseball or softball, a starting pitcher is the pitcher who delivers the first pitch to the first batter of a game. A pitcher who enters the game after the first pitch of the game is a relief pitcher....
who played with the Boston Red Sox
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...
(1965–71), Milwaukee Brewers
Milwaukee Brewers
The Milwaukee Brewers are a professional baseball team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, currently playing in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League...
(1972) and Philadelphia Phillies
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...
(1973–79). He was known as "Gentleman Jim" during his 15 year career for his fearlessness for pitching on the inside of the plate.
Born in Santa Maria
Santa Maria, California
Santa Maria is a city in Santa Barbara County, on the Central Coast of California. The 2010 census population was 100,062, putting it ahead of Santa Barbara for the first time and making it the largest city in the county...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, Lonborg graduated from Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
.
He enjoyed his best year in the Carl Yastrzemski
Carl Yastrzemski
Carl Michael Yastrzemski is a former American Major League Baseball left fielder and first baseman. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1989. Yastrzemski played his entire 23-year baseball career with the Boston Red Sox . He was primarily a left fielder, with part of his later career...
-led Red Sox' "Impossible Dream" season, when he led American League
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...
pitchers in win
Win (baseball)
In professional baseball, there are two types of decisions: a win and a loss . In each game, one pitcher on the winning team is awarded a win and one pitcher on the losing team is given a loss in their respective statistics. These pitchers are collectively known as the pitchers of record. Only...
s (22), games started
Games started
In baseball statistics, games started indicates the number of games that a pitcher has started for his team. A pitcher is credited with starting the game if he faces the first opposing batter...
(39), and strikeout
Strikeout
In baseball or softball, a strikeout or strike-out occurs when a batter receives three strikes during his time at bat. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters....
s (246). That year, the Red Sox were involved in a four-way race for the American League pennant with the Detroit Tigers
Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are a Major League Baseball team located in Detroit, Michigan. One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in as part of the Western League. The Tigers have won four World Series championships and have won the American League pennant...
, Minnesota Twins
Minnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins are a professional baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They play in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The team is named after the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul. They played in Metropolitan Stadium from 1961 to 1981 and the...
and Chicago White Sox
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are a Major League Baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois.The White Sox play in the American League's Central Division. Since , the White Sox have played in U.S. Cellular Field, which was originally called New Comiskey Park and nicknamed The Cell by local fans...
; the race was reduced to three teams after the White Sox lost a doubleheader
Doubleheader (baseball)
A doubleheader is a set of two baseball games played between the same two teams on the same day in front of the same crowd. In addition, the term is often used unofficially to refer to a pair of games played by a team in a single day, but in front of different crowds and not in immediate...
to the Kansas City Athletics
Oakland Athletics
The Oakland Athletics are a Major League Baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From to the present, the Athletics have played in the O.co Coliseum....
on September 27. The Red Sox and Twins faced each other in the season's final series and entered the final day (October 1) tied for first place; the Tigers were 1/2 game out of first and needed to sweep a doubleheader from the California Angels
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are a professional baseball team based in Anaheim, California, United States. The Angels are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The "Angels" name originates from the city in which the team started, Los Angeles...
to force a playoff between the winner of the Red Sox-Twins game. Lonborg outdueled Twins ace Dean Chance
Dean Chance
Wilmer Dean Chance is a former American Major League Baseball pitcher. Over the right hander's 11-year major league career, he would play for the Los Angeles Angels, Minnesota Twins, Cleveland Indians, New York Mets, and Detroit Tigers...
in that finale, while the Tigers defeated the Angels in the first game but lost the second, putting the Red Sox in the World Series
1967 World Series
The 1967 World Series matched the St. Louis Cardinals against the Boston Red Sox in a rematch of the 1946 World Series, with the Cardinals winning in seven games for their second championship in four years and their eighth overall...
for the first time since . In that World Series against 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...
, Lonborg pitched Game Two in what was only the fourth one-hitter in Series history and followed that up with another victory in Game Five by limiting St. Louis to three hits. Called upon to pitch the seventh and deciding game with only 2 days rest, Lonborg lasted 6 innings, but allowed 6 earned runs in a 7-2 loss. In addition, he received the Cy Young Award
Cy Young Award
The Cy Young Award is an honor given annually in baseball to the best pitchers in Major League Baseball , one each for the American League and National League . The award was first introduced in 1956 by Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick in honor of Hall of Fame pitcher Cy Young, who died in 1955...
(becoming the first pitcher in Red Sox history to win the Cy Young Award), played in the All-Star
Major League Baseball All-Star Game
The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also known as the "Midsummer Classic", is an annual baseball game between players from the National League and the American League, currently selected by a combination of fans, players, coaches, and managers...
game, and finished prominently in voting for the MVP
MLB Most Valuable Player Award
The Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award is an annual Major League Baseball award, given to one outstanding player in the American League and one in the National League. Since 1931, it has been awarded by the Baseball Writers Association of America...
award (6th in the voting, Yastrzemski winning the award).
Lonborg tore the ligaments in his left knee skiing in December 1967 and his pitching career thereafter was marked by many injuries.
In his 15-year career, Lonborg compiled a 157-137 record with 1475 strikeouts, a 3.86 ERA
Earned run average
In baseball statistics, earned run average is the mean of earned runs given up by a pitcher per nine innings pitched. It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number of innings pitched and multiplying by nine...
, 90 complete games, 15 shutout
Shutout
In team sports, a shutout refers to a game in which one team prevents the opposing team from scoring. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball....
s, and 2464.1 innings in 425 games.
After retiring, Lonborg attended the Tufts University
Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university located in Medford/Somerville, near Boston, Massachusetts. It is organized into ten schools, including two undergraduate programs and eight graduate divisions, on four campuses in Massachusetts and on the eastern border of France...
Dental School and has worked as a dentist
Dentistry
Dentistry is the branch of medicine that is involved in the study, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases, disorders and conditions of the oral cavity, maxillofacial area and the adjacent and associated structures and their impact on the human body. Dentistry is widely considered...
in Hanover, Massachusetts
Hanover, Massachusetts
Hanover is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 13,164 at the 2000 census.-History:The area of Hanover was first settled by English settlers in 1649 when William Barstow, a farmer, built a bridge along the North River at what is now Washington Street...
since. He is active in many nonprofit organizations including Catholic Charities
Catholic Charities
Catholic Charities is a network of charities whose aim is "to provide service to people in need, to advocate for justice in social structures, and to call the entire church and other people of good will to do the same." It is one of the largest charities in the United States...
, Little League Baseball, and The Jimmy Fund
The Jimmy Fund
The Jimmy Fund raises vital funds to support adult and pediatric cancer care and research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1948 to raise funds for patient care and the fight against children’s cancer, the Jimmy Fund now supports the search for new cancer...
. He currently lives in Scituate, Massachusetts
Scituate, Massachusetts
Scituate is a seacoast town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States, on the South Shore, midway between Boston and Plymouth. The population was 18,133 at the 2010 census....
.
Jim Lonborg was selected to the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame
Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame
The Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame was instituted in 1995 to recognize the careers of former Boston Red Sox baseball players. A 15-member selection committee of Red Sox broadcasters and executives, past and present media personnel, and representatives from The Sports Museum of New England and the...
in 2002.
On the Boston-based sitcom Cheers
Cheers
Cheers is an American situation comedy television series that ran for 11 seasons from 1982 to 1993. It was produced by Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions, in association with Paramount Network Television for NBC, and was created by the team of James Burrows, Glen Charles, and Les Charles...
, the photo of Sam Malone
Sam Malone
Sam "Mayday" Malone is a fictional character on the American television show Cheers, portrayed by Ted Danson. The central character of the series, Sam is a former relief pitcher for the Boston Red Sox Major League Baseball team who owns Cheers and tends bar there. He is a recovering alcoholic and...
pitching is that of Lonborg. Sam also wore Lonborg's number 16.
See also
- List of Major League Baseball leaders in career wins
- List of Major League Baseball strikeout champions
- List of Major League Baseball wins champions
- MLB All-Time Hit Batsmen ListMLB All-Time Hit Batsmen ListThis is a list of top 100 Major League Baseball pitchers who have the most hit batsmen of all time. There is an of hitters who have been hit by pitch the most times.Active players are denoted in bold text.-The List:* Bold denotes active player...