Harold Lewis "Corky" Valentine (January 4, 1929 – January 21, 2005) was an American 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, ...

who worked in 46 career

games A game is a Structure, structured type of play (activity), play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an Educational game, educational tool. Many games are also considered to be Work (human activity), work (such as p ...

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 ...

as a member of the

1954 Events January * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown–IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head ...

and

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

Cincinnati Redlegs Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

. Born in

Troy, Ohio Troy is a city in and the county seat of Miami County, Ohio, United States. The population was 26,305 at the 2020 census, making it Miami County's largest city and Ohio's 55th-largest. Troy lies along the Great Miami River about north of Da ...

, Valentine threw and batted

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to and causing it to be stronger, faster or more Fine motor skill, dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dext ...

and was listed as tall and .

Career

Valentine entered professional baseball in 1948 in the Cincinnati

farm system In sports, a farm team (also referred to as farm system, developmental system, feeder team, or nursery club) is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful pl ...

. After spending three years in the low

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 ...

, and missing 1951 and 1952, he led the 1953 Sally League in

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 ...

(2.11) and helped the Columbia Reds win the league championship. The following year, he made the parent Redlegs' regular-season roster. Taking a turn in Cincinnati's

starting rotation This is an alphabetical list of selected unofficial and specialized terms, phrases, and other jargon used in baseball, along with their definitions, including illustrative examples for many entries. 0–9 0 :"Oh and ..." See count. 1 ...

, he appeared in 36 games as a

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience, a rookie is typically considered needing more tra ...

, with 28 starts. His 12 victories put him in a three-way tie (with Joe Nuxhall and Art Fowler) for most on the Redleg staff, and he paced all Cincinnati pitchers with three

shutouts In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usually seen as a result of ...

; he also threw seven

complete games 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 ...

, second-most on the club. However, plagued by arm miseries,Powell, Kay (24 January 2005): "Corky Valentine (obituary),"
''

Atlanta Journal-Constitution ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' (''AJC'') is an American daily newspaper based in metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merger ...

'' Valentine was demoted to the Redlegs' Triple-A

Havana Sugar Kings The Havana Sugar Kings () were a Cuban-based minor league baseball team that played from 1946 to 1960. From 1954 until 1960, they belonged in the Class Triple-A (baseball), AAA International League, affiliated with Major League Baseball's Cinci ...

affiliate after May 29, 1955. He never returned to the major leagues. In May 1956, Cincinnati traded him to the

Milwaukee Braves The Milwaukee Braves were a Major League Baseball club that played in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, from 1953 to 1965, having previously played in Boston, Massachusetts, as the Boston Braves. After relocating to Atlanta, Georgia, in 1966 they were rename ...

, who assigned Valentine to their Double-A club, the

Atlanta Crackers The Atlanta Crackers were a Minor League Baseball team based in Atlanta, Georgia, between 1901 and 1965. The Crackers were Atlanta's home team until the Atlanta Braves moved from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1966. History Atlanta played its inaugu ...

. He spent the rest of his career in the Braves' system, retiring in 1959 after ten pro seasons. Remaining in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, he entered law enforcement and community policing as member of the

Atlanta Police Department The Atlanta Police Department (APD) is a law enforcement agency in the city of Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. The city shifted from its rural-based Marshal and Deputy Marshal model at the end of the 19th century. In 1873, ...

, then the Fulton County Police Department,Rose, Steve (10 June 2011): "View From a Cop: Remembering the 'Good Old Days' and Corky Valentine," Patch.com
/ref> where he was commended for apprehending three armed robbery suspects. He retired from the force in 1992, and died in

Roswell, Georgia Roswell is a city in northern Fulton County, Georgia, United States. At the official 2020 census, the city had a population of 92,883, making Roswell the state's ninth largest city. A suburb of Atlanta, Roswell has an affluent National Registe ...

, of

congestive heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome caused by an impairment in the heart's ability to fill with and pump blood. Although symptoms vary based on which side of the heart is affected, HF typically pr ...

at age 76 on January 21, 2005. In his 46 big-league games (including 33 starts), he posted a 14–12 won–lost record and a 4.81 career earned run average. In addition to his seven complete games and three shutouts, he was credited with one save among his 13

relief Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...

appearances. Valentine allowed 240

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...

and 76

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), better known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches during a plate appearance that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The bas ...

, with 87

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...

s, in 221

MLB 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 ...

innings pitched In baseball, the statistic innings pitched (IP) is the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of Batter (baseball), batters and baserunners that have been put out while the pitcher is on the Baseball field#Pitcher's mou ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valentine, Corky 1929 births 2005 deaths Atlanta Crackers players Baseball players from Ohio Cincinnati Redlegs players Columbia Reds players Havana Sugar Kings players Major League Baseball pitchers Muncie Reds players Ogden Reds players Sportspeople from Troy, Ohio Rockford Reds players Seattle Rainiers players Sunbury Reds players Wichita Braves players American expatriate baseball players in Cuba 20th-century American sportsmen