Robert Clifford Speck (born August 8, 1956) is a former

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 ...

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), ...

who played for the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...

in its 1986 season. Listed at 6' 4", 195 lb., Speck batted and threw right handed. He was born in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

.MLB Statistics
''Baseball Reference''. Retrieved on January 22, 2017. 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 league ...

selected Speck as their 17th pick in the first round of the 1974 MLB Draft. Nevertheless, he had to wait 12 years in the

Minor Leagues Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in No ...

before making his major league debut with his fifth organization. In his second MLB game, he made his only start and defeated the San Diego Padres at Jack Murphy Stadium. Speck posted a 2-1 record with a 4.13

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 number ...

in 13 pitching appearances (one start),

striking out ''Striking Out'' is an Irish television legal drama series, broadcast on RTÉ, that first aired on 1 January 2017. Produced by Bl!nder F!lms for RTÉ Television, ''Striking Out'' stars Amy Huberman as Dublin-based solicitor Tara Rafferty, who is ...

21 batters while

walking Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined by an ' inverted pendulum' gait in which the body vaults ...

15 in 28⅓ innings of work for the Braves. In addition, Speck went 90-104 with a 4.30 ERA in 377 minor league games from 1974–1988. Highlights of his minor league career included pitching in the longest game in the history of professional baseball, a 33 inning affair between Speck's Rochester Red Wings and the

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 ...

. Speck was summoned to replace Steve Grilli with the

bases loaded B backdoor breaking ball :A breaking pitch, usually a slider, curveball, or cut fastball that, due to its lateral motion, passes through a small part of the strike zone on the outside edge of the plate after seeming as if it would miss the p ...

and no out, but he failed, allowing an RBI- single to Dave Koza in a 2-2 count which gave Pawtucket a 3–2 victory.The Longest Game in Baseball History
''MiLB.com''. Retrieved on January 22, 2017.

Sources

External links

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Pelota Binaria (Venezuelan Winter League)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Speck, Cliff 1956 births Living people Atlanta Braves players Baseball players from Portland, Oregon Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Cardenales de Lara players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Charlotte O's players Columbus Clippers players Denver Zephyrs players Lynchburg Mets players Major League Baseball pitchers Marion Mets players Oklahoma City 89ers players Peninsula Pilots players Reading Phillies players Richmond Braves players Rochester Red Wings players Tidewater Tides players Wausau Mets players