James Clifton Wright (born December 21, 1950) is a former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

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 ...

. He played two seasons 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), ...

for the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

in 1978-79. Wright was born in

Reed City, Michigan Reed City is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,425 at the 2010 census. It is located in southwestern Osceola County and is the county seat. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total ar ...

Career

Wright was drafted out of high school by the Red Sox in the fourth round of the

1969 Major League Baseball Draft The 1969 Major League Baseball (MLB) draft took place prior to the 1969 MLB season. The draft featured future Hall of Famers Bert Blyleven (pick 55) and Dave Winfield (pick 882). First round selections The following are the first round picks ...

. He spent several years working his way up through their minor league organization, primarily as a starting pitcher. His breakthrough came in 1977 with the Triple-A

Pawtucket Red Sox The Pawtucket Red Sox, known colloquially as the PawSox, were a professional minor league baseball club based in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. From 1973 to 2020, the team was a member of the International League and served as the Triple-A affiliate ...

, where he went 12-8 with a 2.94

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

. Wright made the Red Sox out of spring training in 1978 and went on to pitch 3

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 24 games (16 of them starts) as a rookie. He posted an 8-4

win–loss record In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of matc ...

with an ERA of 3.57 by the end of the season. As a fielder, Wright committed one

error An error (from the Latin ''error'', meaning "wandering") is an action which is inaccurate or incorrect. In some usages, an error is synonymous with a mistake. The etymology derives from the Latin term 'errare', meaning 'to stray'. In statistics ...

in 17

total chances In baseball statistics, total chances (TC), also called ''chances offered'', represents the number of plays in which a defensive player has participated. It is the sum of putouts plus assists plus errors. ''Chances accepted'' refers to the total ...

. Wright pitched six shutout innings in his first start of 1979. However, it wound up as his only start of the year, as he was moved to the bullpen to make room in the rotation for rookie Chuck Rainey. He did not pitch at all after an arm injury in early June, playing his final game on June 6. He finished with a record of 1-0 and an ERA of 5.09. He also committed no errors that season. In 1980, Wright returned to the minor leagues, pitching for Pawtucket. He finished his professional career spending the 1981-82 seasons in the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

organization with the

Syracuse Chiefs Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York * Syracuse, Indiana *Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Jim Major League Baseball pitchers Boston Red Sox players Jamestown Falcons players Greenville Red Sox players Winston-Salem Red Sox players Anderson Giants players Bristol Red Sox players Pawtucket Red Sox players Rhode Island Red Sox players Syracuse Chiefs players Baseball players from Michigan People from Reed City, Michigan Living people 1950 births