David Arthur Roberts (September 11, 1944 – January 9, 2009) was an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...

player. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

as a left-handed

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, who attempts to e ...

from 1969 to 1981 for eight teams. He was second in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

(NL) with a 2.10

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the numb ...

(ERA) in for the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

, after which he was traded to the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

, where he spent the four most productive years of his career. Roberts was also a member of the 1979 World Series winning

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. Founded as part o ...

team. Over his major league career he

won Won may refer to: *The Korean won from 1902–1910 *South Korean won, the currency of the Republic of Korea *North Korean won, the currency of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea * Won (Korean surname) * Won (Korean given name) * Won Buddhis ...

103 games. Roberts was one of the best Jewish pitchers all-time in major league history through 2010, ranking fourth in career

games A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (su ...

(445; behind only Scott Schoeneweis,

Ken Holtzman Kenneth Dale Holtzman (born November 3, 1945) is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a left-handed pitcher from through , most notably as a member of the Chicago Cubs for whom he pitche ...

, and John Grabow), fourth in wins (103) and strikeouts (957) behind

Sandy Koufax Sanford Koufax (; born Sanford Braun; December 30, 1935) is an American former left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played his entire career for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers from 1955 to 1966. He has been hailed as one of t ...

, Holtzman, and Steve Stone, and seventh in ERA (3.78).

Early and personal life

Roberts was born in

Gallipolis, Ohio Gallipolis ( ) is a chartered village in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Gallia County. The municipality is located in Southeast Ohio along the Ohio River about 55 miles southeast of Chillicothe and 44 miles northwest of Charles ...

, and was Jewish."Dave Roberts Stats" , Baseball-Reference.com
/ref> He attended George Washington elementary school, and then started high school at Gallia Academy, finally moving to and in 1963 graduating from Central High School in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, an ...

, where his parents had relocated.">"Dave Roberts" , Society for American Baseball Research
/ref> In basketball, he was All-Columbus.

Minor league career

Roberts was signed in June 1963 as an undrafted amateur

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

by the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has been Citize ...

. He played on farm clubs for the Phillies, Kansas City A's, and

(who claimed him on waivers in April 1964 for $8,000 ($ in current dollar terms), and was chosen by San Diego with the 39th pick in the 1968 Major League Baseball expansion draft. Pitching for the 1963 Spartanburg Phillies he was 9-3 with a 1.79 ERA, Class-A

Western Carolina League The original Western Carolina League was a Class-D circuit in Minor League Baseball which was ideated and created by John Henry Moss. The league ran from 1948 to 1952, then combined with the North Carolina State League to form the Tar Heel Leagu ...

and throwing three

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

s in his 17 starts. In 1966 he pitched for Aguilas in the Dominican Winter League, posting an ERA of 2.17 in 108

inning In baseball, softball, and similar games, an inning is the basic unit of play, consisting of two halves or frames, the "top" (first half) and the "bottom" (second half). In each half, one team bats until three outs are made, with the other tea ...

s. Roberts was 1968 Pitcher of the Year for the

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ( ...

Columbus Jets, after going 18–5. In the minor leagues from 1963–69, he was 65–32 with a 3.00 ERA.

Major league career

San Diego Padres

After debuting with the Padres in 1969, Roberts was sixth in the NL in walks per 9 innings (2.13) in 1970. He went 14–17 for the last-place 1971 Padres, finishing second to the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major leagu ...

Tom Seaver George Thomas Seaver (November 17, 1944 – August 31, 2020), nicknamed "Tom Terrific" and "the Franchise", was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 20 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the New York Mets, Cinc ...

with a 2.10 ERA. He was sixth in the voting for the NL

Cy Young Award The Cy Young Award is given annually to the best pitchers in Major League Baseball (MLB), one each for the American League (AL) and National League (NL). The award was first introduced in 1956 by Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick in honor of Ha ...

, seventh in walks per 9 innings (2.04), ninth in innings pitched (269.7), tenth in

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pit ...

s (14), and 24th in the voting for the NL

MVP Award In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

. He held batters to a .191

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average i ...

when runners were in scoring position.

Houston Astros

Roberts was traded from the Padres to the

for Derrel Thomas, Bill Greif, and Mark Schaeffer on December 3, 1971. His being traded by the Padres was just prior to the Padres signing another Dave Roberts (''see'' below), who joined the club in 1972. If this trade had not taken place, the Padres' roster would have featured two unrelated players named "Dave Roberts", making this among the few occasions where a team's roster featured two unrelated players with the same name. In 1972, Roberts was 12–7 for the Astros. In 1973, he recorded a career-best 17–11 record, setting a club record with a career-high six

s (second in the NL). Roberts was the August 25, 1974 NL Player of the Week. That season, he finished sixth in the NL in wins and sacrifice hits (12), seventh in games started (36), eighth in complete games (12), and tenth in ERA (2.85) and walks per nine innings (2.24).

Detroit Tigers

Roberts was dealt along with Milt May and Jim Crawford from the Astros to the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

for Leon Roberts,

Terry Humphrey Terryal Gene Humphrey (born August 4, 1949) is an American former professional baseball player. A catcher, he appeared in 415 games played over all or parts of nine Major League Baseball seasons for the Montreal Expos (1971–1974), Detroit ...

, Gene Pentz and Mark Lemongello on December 6, 1975. After a 16–17 season with the 1976 Tigers, in which he was fifth in the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

(AL) in shutouts (4), seventh in games started (36) and ninth in

s (18), he had surgery on his knee. On the final day of the 1976 season, Roberts gave up Hank Aaron's final career hit and RBI in the sixth inning. Aaron was lifted for a

pinch runner In baseball, a pinch runner is a player substituted for the specific purpose of replacing another player on base. The pinch runner may be faster or otherwise more skilled at base-running than the player for whom the pinch runner has been subs ...

. In 1977, Roberts was the

Opening Day Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball (MLB) and most of the American minor leagues, this day typically falls during the first week of April, although in recent years ...

starter for the Tigers. In July 1977 he was purchased by the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

Chicago Cubs

In 1978, Roberts batted .327 for the Cubs, with a .500

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at bats for a given player ...

, in 52

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

s. In February 1979 he signed as free agent with the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

1979: Giants and Pirates

Roberts was traded along with Bill Madlock and Lenny Randle from the Giants to the

for Al Holland, Ed Whitson and Fred Breining on June 28, . Combined, in 1979 he had a 2.90 ERA.

Later career

After pitching just two games for the Pirates in 1980, Roberts was purchased by the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

in April. He pitched the rest of the season in Seattle, going 2–3. Following that season, Roberts became a free agent, and in January 1981 he was signed by the Mets. He pitched just seven games for the Mets, going 0–3 with a 9.39 ERA, before being released in May. In June, Roberts was signed as a free agent by the Giants, but never pitched for them in the majors. Among Jewish pitchers all-time in major league history through 2010, Roberts ranks fourth in career

appearances Appearance may refer to: * Visual appearance, the way in which objects reflect and transmit light * Human physical appearance, what someone looks like * ''Appearances'' (film), a 1921 film directed by Donald Crisp * Appearance (philosophy), or p ...

(445; behind only Scott Schoeneweis,

, and John Grabow), fourth in wins (103) and strikeouts (957) behind

, Holtzman, and Steve Stone, and seventh in ERA (3.78).

Later life, and death

After his playing career, he worked for the

Allegany County, Maryland Allegany County is located in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 68,106. Its county seat is Cumberland. The name ''Allegany'' may come from a local Lenape word, ''welhik hane'' or '' ...

Detention Center, and served as an assistant baseball coach at Potomac State College from 1996 to 1998 in

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the ...

. On January 9, 2009, Roberts died of

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, malign ...

that he developed from asbestos exposure as a young man, at his home in Short Gap, West Virginia at the age of 64. According to his wife, Carol, he was exposed to carcinogenic chemicals while working for several offseasons as a boilermaker. He is buried at Frostburg Memorial Cemetery, not far from Lefty Grove's grave.

References

External links

Dave Roberts
at SABR (Baseball BioProject)
Dave Roberts
at Baseball Almanac

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Dave 1944 births 2009 deaths Baseball players from Ohio Detroit Tigers players Chicago Cubs players Deaths from cancer in West Virginia Deaths from lung cancer Houston Astros players Jewish American baseball players Jewish Major League Baseball players Major League Baseball pitchers New York Mets players People from Gallipolis, Ohio Pittsburgh Pirates players San Diego Padres players San Francisco Giants players Seattle Mariners players 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews Potomac State College of West Virginia University people