Robert William Wolcott (born September 8, 1973) 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 ...

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, ...

. He played all or part of five seasons in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) for the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...

(1995–97),

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West Division. The franchise was established ...

(1998), and

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) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

(1999). He also played for the

Kintetsu Buffaloes The were a Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) team based in Osaka, Japan, which was in the Pacific League. In 2005 the team was merged with the Orix BlueWave to become the team now known as the Orix Buffaloes. The team played in Fujiidera Sta ...

Nippon Professional Baseball is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning simply ''Professional Baseball''; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league ...

(NPB) in 2000.

Career

Wolcott was a key member of the 1995 "Refuse to Lose" Seattle Mariner team, the first Mariner team to reach the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

. He was a late season call-up from 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 Nort ...

in August, where he was most impressive in his first MLB start against the Boston Red Sox, the team with which he would pitch his final MLB game in 1999. He started Game 1 of the

American League Championship Series The American League Championship Series (ALCS) is a best-of-seven playoff and one of two League Championship Series comprising the penultimate round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) postseason. The winner of the ALCS wins the AL pennant and ...

vs 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) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

in 1995 at the age of 22. He walked the bases loaded in the 1st Inning but settled down, scattering 8 hits and 2 runs over 7 innings in a Mariners 3-2 Game 1 win. After his season in NPB, he came back to pitch three games in the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...

organization in 2001. Wolcott was forced to retire due to shoulder surgery. After his baseball career ended, he continued his education at

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate degree programs and a variety of graduate and doctor ...

, where he majored in

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

References

External links

1973 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada American expatriate baseball players in Japan Arizona Diamondbacks players Bellingham Mariners players Boston Red Sox players Calgary Cannons players Lancaster JetHawks players Major League Baseball pitchers Modesto A's players Nippon Professional Baseball pitchers Oregon State University alumni Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes players Pawtucket Red Sox players Port City Roosters players Riverside Pilots players Seattle Mariners players Baseball players from Huntington Beach, California Tacoma Rainiers players Tucson Sidewinders players 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-baseball-pitcher-1970s-stub