Darius Dutton Hillman (September 14, 1927 – November 20, 2022) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

player. A

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("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 attempts to e ...

, he played in

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) ...

between the 1955 and 1962 seasons. Listed at and , he batted and threw

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

. At the time of his death, he was the oldest surviving former

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

player and he was the oldest living member of the 1962

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 leagu ...

Pro baseball career

Hillman entered the majors in 1955 with 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 ...

, playing for them five years before joining the

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) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eig ...

(1960–61),

(1962) and

(1962). In 1956 he had a 21–7

record A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, ...

with a 3.38

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 numb ...

while playing most of the season for the

PCL PCL may refer to: Aviation *FAP Captain David Abenzur Rengifo International Airport, near Pucallpa, Peru (IATA code: PCL) *Pilot-controlled lighting, a system by which aircraft pilots can control the lighting of runways and taxiways via radio cont ...

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 ha ...

. On September 14, 1957, in the second game of a double-header 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 (NL) National League Central, Central division. Founded as part o ...

, Hillman pitched to Cub catcher

Jim Fanning William James Fanning (September 14, 1927 – April 25, 2015) was an American-Canadian catcher, manager and front office executive in Major League Baseball. Often called "Gentleman Jim", Fanning was the first general manager of the Montreal Expo ...

, playing on their shared 30th birthdays. In 1959 with the Cubs, he posted career-numbers in appearances (39), wins (8), starts (24),

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—pit ...

s (4), strikeouts (88), and

innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one inning ...

(191). On May 6, 1959, at

Forbes Field Forbes Field was a baseball park in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1909 to June 28, 1970. It was the third home of the Pittsburgh Pirates Major League Baseball (MLB) team, and the first home of the Pittsburgh Steelers ...

, he threw his only big-league

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 ...

against

Harvey Haddix Harvey Haddix, Jr. (September 18, 1925 – January 8, 1994) was an American professional baseball left-handed pitcher and pitching coach, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals (1952–1956), Philadelphia Phillies ...

and the

, 3–0, giving up two hits, walking one and striking out two. Strictly a reliever for the 1961 Red Sox, he went 3–2 with a 2.77 ERA in 78 innings and 28 games. In an eight-season career, Hillman posted a 21–37 record with 296 strikeouts and a 3.87 ERA in 188

games pitched In baseball statistics, games pitched (denoted by Games G in tables of only pitching statistics) is the number of games in which a player appears as a pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the Baseball (ball), b ...

, including 64 starts, eight

s, one shutout, 42

games finished In baseball statistics, a relief pitcher is credited with a game finished (denoted by GF) if he is the last pitcher to pitch for his team in a game. A starting pitcher is not credited with a GF for pitching a complete game. Mariano Rivera is the ...

, three saves, 185 walks, and 624 innings pitched. Along with his Cubs teammate Jim Marshall, Hillman was part of the first inter-league trade without waivers in MLB history, when he went to the

in return for

Dick Gernert Richard Edward Gernert (September 28, 1928 – November 30, 2017), was an American professional baseball first baseman, outfielder and coach, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Boston Red Sox (–), Chicago Cubs (), Detroit Tigers ...

. The November 21, 1959, transaction was the first during a three-week period of unrestricted trading permitted by a change in both leagues' rules.

Personal life and death

Hillman retired after many years of working in a clothing store and lived in

Kingsport, Tennessee Kingsport is a city in Sullivan and Hawkins counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, its population was 55,442. Lying along the Holston River, Kingsport is commonly included in what is known as the Mountain Empire, ...

. He died on November 20, 2022, at the age of 95.Dave Hillman's obituary
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References

External links

Dave Hillman
at SABR (Baseball BioProject) {{DEFAULTSORT:Hillman, Dave 1927 births 2022 deaths Baseball players from Virginia Boston Red Sox players Businesspeople from Tennessee Chicago Cubs players Cincinnati Reds players Des Moines Bruins players Los Angeles Angels (minor league) players Major League Baseball pitchers New York Mets players People from Kingsport, Tennessee People from Scott County, Virginia Portland Beavers players Rock Hill Chiefs players Springfield Cubs (Massachusetts) players