James Louis Kremmel (February 28, 1949 – October 12, 2012) was an American left-handed

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the 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 ...

who spent two seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Texas Rangers (

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...

) and Chicago Cubs ( 1974). Born in Belleville, Illinois, on February 28, 1949, Kremmel was raised in nearby Columbia. He graduated from

Columbia High School Columbia High School may refer to: *Columbia High School (Huntsville, Alabama) *Columbia High School (Georgia) *Columbia High School (Florida) *Columbia High School (Idaho) *Columbia High School (Illinois) *Columbia High School (Mississippi), a Mis ...

. He attended the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...

, where he earned a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

in Finance and

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...

in 1971. A four-year letterman on the

Lobos Lobos is the headquarters city of the Lobos Partido in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It was founded on 2 June 1802 by José Salgado. Background Located 100 km from Buenos Aires, Lobos is currently a fertile agricultural area known ma ...

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 t ...

team, he threw the only documented nine- inning no-hitter in school history in a 1–0 win over

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

Tucson , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

on April 17, 1970. He had matched the school record for most strikeouts in a single game with 18 against

Eastern New Mexico University Eastern New Mexico University (ENMU or Eastern) is a public university with a main campus in Portales, New Mexico, and two associate degree-granting branches, one at Ruidoso and one at Roswell. ENMU is New Mexico's largest regional comprehensiv ...

less than three weeks earlier on March 30, 1970. His 356 career strikeouts are still a school record. Named the All-

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington, and Texas. Due to mos ...

pitcher in 1969 and 1970, he ended his college career with a 22–14 record."Senators sign college pitcher"
Associated Press, Tuesday, May 25, 1971 He was originally picked by the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

in the seventh round (146th overall) of the 1970 MLB draft, but chose not to sign. Selected ninth overall by the Washington Senators in the secondary phase of the January Free Agent Amateur Draft in 1971, he signed with the ballclub four months later on May 24. He is tied with

Duane Ward Duane may refer to: * Duane (given name) * Duane (surname) * Duane, New York, a US town * the title character of ''Duane Hopwood'', a 2005 film featured in the Sundance Film Festival * Duane Adelier, a main character of ''Unsounded'', a 2012 fantas ...

(1982) for the third-highest draft pick of players hailing from New Mexico, behind shortstop Alex Bregman, who was selected with the second pick in the first round of the

2015 MLB draft Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music *Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak album ...

, and third baseman D. J. Peterson was selected in the first round of the

2013 Major League Baseball draft The 2013 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was held from June 6 through June 8, 2013. The first two rounds were broadcast from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. Each team received one selection per round, going in ...

. He was traded by the Rangers to the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

for Don Durham on July 16, 1973. Kremmel was dealt twice after the conclusion of the 1973 season. He first went to the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

for Dennis O'Toole on October 26. He was then sent to the crosstown Cubs on December 18 to complete a transaction from a week earlier on December 11 in which Ron Santo was dealt to the White Sox for

Steve Swisher Steven Eugene Swisher (born August 9, 1951) is an American former professional baseball player and minor league manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals, and San Diego Padres from 1974 to ...

, Steve Stone and Ken Frailing. Kremmel died at age 63 in

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Cana ...

, on October 12, 2012.Price, Jim. "Former Indians pitcher Kremmel dies"
''The Spokesman-Review'' (Spokane, WA), Monday, October 22, 2012

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kremmel, Jim 1949 births 2012 deaths Major League Baseball pitchers Texas Rangers players Chicago Cubs players Spokane Indians players Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players New Mexico Lobos baseball players Sportspeople from Belleville, Illinois Baseball players from St. Clair County, Illinois People from Columbia, Illinois