Tim Lollar
Encyclopedia
William Timothy Lollar is a former professional baseball
pitcher
. He played all or part of seven seasons in Major League Baseball
from 1980-86 for the New York Yankees
(1980), San Diego Padres
(1981–84), Chicago White Sox
(1985) and Boston Red Sox
(1985–86), primarily as a starting pitcher
.
. He was drafted by the Yankees in the 4th round of the 1978 Major League Baseball Draft
and was immediately assigned to the Double-A West Haven Yankees
, just two steps below the majors. He made his major league debut two years later.
. Lollar was traded to the Padres near the end of spring training
along with three other players for outfielder
Jerry Mumphrey
and pitcher John Pacella
.
In 1982, Lollar was installed in the starting rotation permanently. He rewarded the Padres with a career-high 16 wins while lowering his ERA to 3.13. He was in turn rewarded by being made the Padres' Opening Day
starter in 1983, but he slumped badly, posting a record of 7-12 with an ERA of 4.61.
The Padres made the postseason for the first time as a franchise in 1984, with Lollar going 11-13 with a 3.91 ERA. He made two postseason starts -- one each in the NLCS
and the World Series
-- but did not make it out of the fifth inning in either one. In World Series Game 3 against the Detroit Tigers
, he pitched just 1.2 innings, giving up 4 home runs including a home run to Marty Castillo. After the season, he was traded to the White Sox along with Ozzie Guillen
, Bill Long and Luis Salazar
, primarily in exchange for LaMarr Hoyt
.
. In 1986, the Red Sox converted Lollar into a relief pitcher
, but it was a failure, as Lollar posted a 6.91 ERA while giving up nearly two baserunners per inning. He was released during spring training in 1987. He played that season in the minors, posting a record of 3-4 with an ERA of 5.87 while splitting the year between the Detroit Tigers
and St. Louis Cardinals
organizations. He retired after the season.
, and hitting eight career home run
s in four seasons in the National League
. He was even called upon to pinch-hit for position players twice while with the American League
Red Sox. The first was on August 13, 1985, when he pinch hit for shortstop
Jackie Gutiérrez
, popping out to third base. The second was on August 12, 1986. Lollar pinch-hit for shortstop Rey Quiñones
with two out in the 9th and the tying run on first base. Despite not having batted in a major league game in nearly a year, Lollar singled off Kansas City Royals
closer Dan Quisenberry
. Unfortunately for the Red Sox, the next batter, Wade Boggs
, grounded out to end the game.
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....
pitcher
Pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...
. He played all or part of seven seasons in Major League Baseball
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...
from 1980-86 for the 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...
(1980), San Diego Padres
San Diego Padres
The San Diego Padres are a Major League Baseball team based in San Diego, California. They play in the National League Western Division. Founded in 1969, the Padres have won the National League Pennant twice, in 1984 and 1998, losing in the World Series both times...
(1981–84), 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...
(1985) and 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"...
(1985–86), primarily as a 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....
.
Early career
Lollar played collegiately for the University of ArkansasUniversity of Arkansas
The University of Arkansas is a public, co-educational, land-grant, space-grant, research university. It is classified by the Carnegie Foundation as a research university with very high research activity. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and is located in...
. He was drafted by the Yankees in the 4th round of the 1978 Major League Baseball Draft
1978 Major League Baseball Draft
-First round selections:The following are the first round picks in the 1978 Major League Baseball draft.- Background :In 1978, four players made the jump from amateur baseball to the major leagues, including Arizona State third baseman Bob Horner, who was selected number one overall by the Atlanta...
and was immediately assigned to the Double-A West Haven Yankees
West Haven Yankees
The West Haven Yankees were a minor league baseball team located in West Haven, Connecticut from 1972 until 1982. The team played in the Eastern League. Their home stadium was Quigley Stadium....
, just two steps below the majors. He made his major league debut two years later.
New York Yankees
Lollar debuted for the Yankees on June 26, 1980. He made 14 appearances for New York, including one start. He went 1-0 with 2 saves and a 3.34 earned run averageEarned 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...
. Lollar was traded to the Padres near the end of spring training
Spring training
In Major League Baseball, spring training is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for roster and position spots, and gives existing team players practice time prior to competitive play...
along with three other players for outfielder
Outfielder
Outfielder is a generic term applied to each of the people playing in the three defensive positions in baseball farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder...
Jerry Mumphrey
Jerry Mumphrey
Jerry Wayne Mumphrey is a retired Major League Baseball outfielder who played for the St. Louis Cardinals , San Diego Padres , New York Yankees , Houston Astros and Chicago Cubs ....
and pitcher John Pacella
John Pacella
John Lewis Pacella was a Major League Baseball pitcher from to for the New York Mets, New York Yankees, Minnesota Twins, Baltimore Orioles, and Detroit Tigers. Pacella had such an unusual delivery that at times his cap would fall off after a pitch.From Brooklyn, Pacella moved to Suffolk County...
.
San Diego Padres
Lollar spent the strike-shortened 1981 season splitting time between the starting rotation and the bullpen for the Padres. He had a record of 2-8 in 24 games, including 11 starts, and an ERA of 6.10.In 1982, Lollar was installed in the starting rotation permanently. He rewarded the Padres with a career-high 16 wins while lowering his ERA to 3.13. He was in turn rewarded by being made the Padres' Opening Day
Opening Day
Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball and most of the minor leagues, this day falls during the first week of April. For baseball fans, Opening Day serves as a symbol of rebirth; writer Thomas Boswell once penned a book...
starter in 1983, but he slumped badly, posting a record of 7-12 with an ERA of 4.61.
The Padres made the postseason for the first time as a franchise in 1984, with Lollar going 11-13 with a 3.91 ERA. He made two postseason starts -- one each in the NLCS
1984 National League Championship Series
-Game 1:Tuesday, October 2, 1984 at Wrigley Field in Chicago, IllinoisBob Dernier led off the game for the Cubs with a homer, and things went steadily downhill for the Padres as Chicago romped to a crushing 13–0 win in their first postseason game since 1945. Gary Matthews also homered in the first...
and the World Series
1984 World Series
The 1984 World Series began on October 9 and ended on October 14, 1984. The American League champion Detroit Tigers played against the National League champion San Diego Padres, with the Tigers winning the series four games to one....
-- but did not make it out of the fifth inning in either one. In World Series Game 3 against the Detroit Tigers
1984 Detroit Tigers season
The Detroit Tigers won the 1984 World Series, defeating the San Diego Padres, 4 games to 1. The season was their 84th since they entered the American League in 1901 and their fourth World Series championship. Detroit relief pitcher Willie Hernandez won the Cy Young Award and was chosen as the...
, he pitched just 1.2 innings, giving up 4 home runs including a home run to Marty Castillo. After the season, he was traded to the White Sox along with Ozzie Guillen
Ozzie Guillén
Oswaldo José "Ozzie" Guillén Barrios is a Venezuelan-American former Major League Baseball player and current manager of the Miami Marlins. He managed the Chicago White Sox from 2004 to 2011 before asking for his release at the end of the 2011 season....
, Bill Long and Luis Salazar
Luis Salazar
Luis Ernesto Salazar Garcia is a former third baseman and outfielder in Major League Baseball, a right-handed batter who played from 1980 to 1992....
, primarily in exchange for LaMarr Hoyt
LaMarr Hoyt
Dewey LaMarr Hoyt is a former Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher who won the American League Cy Young Award.-Chicago White Sox:...
.
Later career
Lollar stayed with the White Sox for just a few months before being traded to the Red Sox for outfielder Reid NicholsReid Nichols
Thomas Reid Nichols is a former outfielder in Major League Baseball, playing mainly at center field from to for the Boston Red Sox , Chicago White Sox and Montreal Expos . Listed at 5' 11", 165 lb., he batted and threw right-handed...
. In 1986, the Red Sox converted Lollar into a 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...
, but it was a failure, as Lollar posted a 6.91 ERA while giving up nearly two baserunners per inning. He was released during spring training in 1987. He played that season in the minors, posting a record of 3-4 with an ERA of 5.87 while splitting the year between 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...
and 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...
organizations. He retired after the season.
As a hitter
Lollar was considered a particularly good hitter for a pitcher, being asked to occasionally pinch-hitPinch hitter
In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead ; the manager may use any player that has not yet entered the game as a substitute...
, and hitting eight career home run
Home run
In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...
s in four seasons in the National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
. He was even called upon to pinch-hit for position players twice while with the 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...
Red Sox. The first was on August 13, 1985, when he pinch hit for shortstop
Shortstop
Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball fielding position between second and third base. Shortstop is often regarded as the most dynamic defensive position in baseball, because there are more right-handed hitters in baseball than left-handed hitters, and most hitters have a tendency to pull the...
Jackie Gutiérrez
Jackie Gutiérrez
Joaquín Fernando "Jackie" Gutiérrez is a former Major League Baseball shortstop and right-handed batter...
, popping out to third base. The second was on August 12, 1986. Lollar pinch-hit for shortstop Rey Quiñones
Rey Quiñones
Rey Francisco Quiñones is a Puerto Rican baseball infielder who had a short career in Major League Baseball, primarily as a shortstop....
with two out in the 9th and the tying run on first base. Despite not having batted in a major league game in nearly a year, Lollar singled off Kansas City Royals
Kansas City Royals
The Kansas City Royals are a Major League Baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals are a member of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From 1973 to the present, the Royals have played in Kauffman Stadium...
closer Dan Quisenberry
Dan Quisenberry
Dan Raymond "Quiz" Quisenberry was an American right-handed relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who played primarily for the Kansas City Royals...
. Unfortunately for the Red Sox, the next batter, Wade Boggs
Wade Boggs
Wade Anthony Boggs is an American former professional baseball third baseman. He spent his 18-year baseball career primarily with the Boston Red Sox, but also played for the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Devil Rays...
, grounded out to end the game.