Balor Lilbon Moore (born January 25, 1951) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player. He played in the major leagues as a left-handed

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

between 1970 and 1980. Moore was the first player drafted by the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos () were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in the National League (baseball), National League ...

expansion team in the

1969 Major League Baseball draft The 1969 Major League Baseball 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 in the ...

(22nd overall). He also pitched for the

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

and 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) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

Expos phenom

Moore went a combined 9-1 with a 0.41

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 the

Gulf Coast League The Florida Complex League (FCL) is a rookie-level Minor League Baseball league that operates in Florida, United States. Before 2021, it was known as the Gulf Coast League (GCL). Together with the Arizona Complex League (ACL), it forms the low ...

and

Florida State League The Florida State League (FSL) is a Minor League Baseball league based in the state of Florida. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following ...

in his first

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season, at the Rookie and High A levels. After going 3–0 with a 0.72 ERA for the High A

West Palm Beach Expos The West Palm Beach Expos were a Florida State League minor league baseball team which existed from 1969 through the 1997 season in West Palm Beach, Florida. History The West Palm Beach Expos were a Class A affiliate of the Montreal Expos and pla ...

to start the season, Moore made the jump all the way to the Triple A

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fiel ...

. He made his major league debut at the age of 19 on May 21, 1970 against the

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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

. He faced one batter,

Willie Stargell Wilver Dornell Stargell (March 6, 1940 – April 9, 2001), nicknamed "Pops" later in his career, was an American professional baseball left fielder and first baseman who spent all of his 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) (1962– 1982 ...

, who lined out to

left field In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering syst ...

. Moore pitched a total of 9.2 innings in the majors that season, going 0–2 with a 7.45 ERA. Moore struggled in , going 2–11 with a 6.33 ERA for Triple A Winnipeg. After a year in the army, Moore went 5–3 with a 0.63 ERA for the Double A Quebec Carnavals in to earn a second promotion to

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Montreal Expos

Moore was roughed up in his first four starts, going 0–3 with a 6.45 ERA. He turned his season around on July 14 with a

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—pitche ...

9–1 victory over the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

. From there, Moore went 9–6 with a 2.94 ERA, including a 25 inning scoreless-inning streak broken on September 16 by

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

rookie

Mike Schmidt Michael Jack Schmidt (born September 27, 1949) is an American former professional baseball third baseman who spent his entire 18-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the Philadelphia Phillies from 1972 to 1989. Schmidt was a 12-time Al ...

's first major league

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

. For the season, the left-hander made 22 starts and struck out 161 hitters in 147.2 innings. That winter he pitched a

perfect game Perfect game may refer to: Sports * Perfect game (baseball), a complete-game win by a pitcher allowing no baserunners * Perfect game (bowling), a 300 game, 12 consecutive strikes in the same game * Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League, New Yo ...

for San Juan in

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, the first nine-inning perfect game in that league's 36-year history. Moore's record dipped to 7–16 in , mostly due to an increase in walks (109 compared to 59 the previous season). Still Moore struck out an average of 7.71 batters per nine innings, second in the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

, and held batters to a .233

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 is ...

, tenth in the league.

Later career

Moore injured his ankle during

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

in , and his arm early in the season. He went 0–3 with a 10.20 ERA in six rehab appearances with the Triple A

Memphis Blues The Memphis blues is a style of blues music created from the 1910s to the 1930s by musicians in the Memphis area, such as Frank Stokes, Sleepy John Estes, Furry Lewis and Memphis Minnie. The style was popular in vaudeville and medicine sho ...

before undergoing major elbow surgery during that off-season. Moore returned in , although he never attained the same form. He was 1–3 with a 4.00 ERA for Memphis when his contract was sold to the

. Moore earned a September call-up to the Angels in , going 0–2 with a 3.97 ERA. After just one season in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, Moore's contract was sold to the

. Moore spent the final three seasons of his career with the Blue Jays, going 12–17 with a 4.96 ERA. He pitched four innings to earn the only save of his career on April 27, against the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...

. He spent in the minors with the Brewers and

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

before officially retiring.

Career stats

Moore had a 40–58 record and 4.01 ERA in eleven minor league seasons.

References

External links

, o
Baseball Almanac
o

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Balor 1951 births Living people Baseball players from Bastrop County, Texas American expatriate baseball players in Canada Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players California Angels players El Paso Diablos players Florida Instructional League Expos players Gulf Coast Expos players Major League Baseball pitchers Memphis Blues players Montreal Expos players Peninsula Whips players People from Smithville, Texas Québec Carnavals players Salinas Angels players Salinas Packers players Salt Lake City Gulls players Syracuse Chiefs players Tigres de Aragua players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Toronto Blue Jays players Tucson Toros players Vancouver Canadians players West Palm Beach Expos players Winnipeg Whips players 20th-century American sportsmen