Raymond Lee Prim (December 30, 1906 – April 29, 1995), nicknamed "Pop", was an American

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 dr ...

who played

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 (A ...

during the 1930s and 1940s. During his professional career, he also pitched for the

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team h ...

of the AAA-Class

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

(PCL). In 2005, the PCL Hall of Fame elected Prim as a member. Throughout the years 1933 and 1946 he appeared, during six the prior mentioned years, in at least one Major League game. He played for the Washington Senators, for 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) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

, and for 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 ...

while at the Major League level. While with the Cubs, Prim won the 1945

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 s ...

ERA

title A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the f ...

. Prim started one game in the

1945 World Series The 1945 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1945 season. The 42nd edition of the World Series, it matched the American League champion Detroit Tigers against the National League champion Chicago Cubs. Th ...

, appeared in another, and

lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography * Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland *Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...

his only decision. In 116 Major League games, he won 22 games and lost 21 games and recorded 161

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is den ...

s. As a minor league player, Prim won 150 games and posted a career ERA of 3.00 in over 2,000 games.

Early life

Prim was born in

Salitpa, Alabama Salitpa is an unincorporated community in Clarke County, Alabama. It has also been known as River Hill. History A post office called Salitpa has been in operation since 1855. The community took its name from nearby Satilpa Creek. An error in wri ...

, to Scots-Irish parents. As a youth, he

burned Burned or burnt may refer to: * Anything which has undergone combustion * Burned (image), quality of an image transformed with loss of detail in all portions lighter than some limit, and/or those darker than some limit * ''Burnt'' (film), a 2015 ...

his right hand. As result, though naturally right-handed, he threw with his left-hand, though he batted from the right side of the

home plate A baseball field, also called a ball field or baseball diamond, is the field upon which the game of baseball is played. The term can also be used as a metonym for a baseball park. The term sandlot is sometimes used, although this usually refers ...

. He was educated in

Jackson, Alabama Jackson is a city in Clarke County, Alabama, United States. The population was 5,557 at the 2020 census. It was one of three wet settlements in an otherwise-dry county. Geography Jackson is located along the western border of Clarke County at ...

, and attended college at

Alabama Polytechnic Institute Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...

, where he lettered in

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 ...

and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

Professional career

Early years

In 1928 Prim made his professional baseball debut. That year, he pitched with Alexandria of the Cotton States League; however, Alexandria cut Prim later that

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and ...

. He did not play professional baseball again until 1930. In 1931 Prim played with the Greensboro Patriots and the

Durham Bulls The Durham Bulls are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. They are located in Durham, North Carolina, and play their home games at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, which opened ...

of the C-Class

Piedmont League The Piedmont League was a minor league baseball league that operated from 1920 through 1955. The league operated principally in the Piedmont plateau region in the eastern United States. Teams The following teams were members of the Piedmont ...

. He won a combined 33 games that year and lost just 14. Prim began the 1933 season with the

Albany Senators The Albany Senators was a name used by multiple minor league baseball teams representing Albany, New York, that existed between 1885 and 1959. The mid-20th century club played at Hawkins Stadium. The various editions of the Senators generally pla ...

of 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 ( ...

where he went 14–10 with a 3.42 ERA. Shortly thereafter, the Chicago Cubs and

Boston Braves The Atlanta Braves, a current Major League Baseball franchise, originated in Boston, Massachusetts. This article details the history of the Boston Braves, from 1871 to 1952, after which they moved to Milwaukee, and then to Atlanta. During it ...

entered into a dispute over his rights.

Kenesaw Mountain Landis Kenesaw Mountain Landis (; November 20, 1866 – November 25, 1944) was an American jurist who served as a United States federal judge from 1905 to 1922 and the first Commissioner of Baseball from 1920 until his death. He is remembered for his ...

, the

Commissioner of Baseball The Commissioner of Baseball is the chief executive officer of Major League Baseball (MLB) and the associated Minor League Baseball (MiLB) – a constellation of leagues and clubs known as "organized baseball". Under the direction of the Commiss ...

, ruled that Albany had the right to sell them to the franchise of their choice. Although the dispute started with the Braves and the Cubs, it was the Washington Senators who won his rights.

The majors and the PCL

Prim made his major league debut on September 24, 1933, against the

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oakla ...

. Prim faced

Mickey Cochrane Gordon Stanley "Mickey" Cochrane (April 6, 1903 – June 28, 1962), nicknamed "Black Mike", was an American professional baseball player, manager and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the Philadelphia Athletics and Detro ...

and

Jimmie Foxx James Emory Foxx (October 22, 1907 – July 21, 1967), nicknamed "Double X" and "The Beast", was an American professional baseball first baseman who played 20 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Red Sox, ...

to start his major league career. He promptly struck out the two future

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...

members. After two games, Prim underwent surgery on his foot and missed the rest of the year. Over the next few years, Prim spent time with Albany, the

and the

Minneapolis Millers The Minneapolis Millers were an American professional minor league baseball team that played in Minneapolis, Minnesota, through 1960. In the 19th century a different Minneapolis Millers were part of the Western League. The team played first in ...

. In 1936, the Millers sold Prim to the Los Angeles Angels of the PCL. Prim pitched just one inning for the Millers. Prim spent the next six years with the Angels. In 1936 he won 16 games and lost just nine. Because he was 30 years old at the time, Prim received the nickname 'Pop' from his teammates. By 1943 the United States was deeply involved in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

and many major league players were drafted in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

. As a result, Prim had the opportunity to play at the major league level for a second time. After 1943 he returned to the Angels for the 1944 season. A year later, he returned to the Cubs. Prim helped the Cubs to make the

with a 13–8 record, an ERA of 2.40 and two

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. His earned run average was the lowest in the National League that year. Prim is the last Cub to lead the league in ERA as of 2014. During the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the Worl ...

versus 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 ...

, Prim pitched in two games. He lost his only decision. Prim pitched for the Cubs in 1946, it was his last season in the majors. Prim's last year in professional baseball was 1947. At the age of 41, he helped the Angels win another. Because of his outstanding performance while with the Angels, Prim joined the Pacific Coast League Hall of Fame in 2005.

Death

Prim died on April 29, 1995, in

Monte Rio, California Monte Rio (Spanish: ''Monte Río'', meaning "River Mountain") is a census-designated place (CDP) in Sonoma County, California along the Russian River near the Pacific Ocean. The town of Guerneville lies northeast of Monte Rio, and Jenner is to ...

, and was buried at the Calvary Cemetery in Los Angeles.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Prim, Ray 1906 births 1995 deaths People from Clarke County, Alabama Chicago Cubs players Philadelphia Phillies players Washington Senators (1901–1960) players Players of American football from Alabama Auburn Tigers baseball players Auburn Tigers football players Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from Alabama National League ERA champions Burials at Calvary Cemetery (Los Angeles) Albany Senators players Alexandria Reds players Durham Bulls players Greensboro Patriots players Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players Los Angeles Angels (minor league) players York White Roses players Youngstown Buckeyes players