David Clifford Wickersham (September 27, 1935 – June 18, 2022) was an American

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 ...

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 ...

who played ten seasons 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) ...

(MLB). He played for the Kansas City Athletics,

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 ...

, Pittsburgh Pirates, and

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expa ...

from 1960 to 1969.

Early life

Wickersham was born in

Erie, Pennsylvania Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 ...

, on September 27, 1935. He attended high school in East Springfield, where he excelled in several sports. He then attended Ohio University, where he played with the Ohio Bobcats for two years. He was signed as an amateur free agent by the Pittsburgh Pirates before the 1955 season.

Career

Wickersham played six seasons in the minor leagues from 1955 to 1960. He was acquired by the Kansas City Athletics in the 1959 minor league draft. He made his MLB debut for the franchise on September 18, 1960, nine days before his 25th birthday, pitching two innings, giving up an earned run, and striking out one in a 9–2 loss against 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) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive ...

. In 1962, he posted an 11–4 win–loss record and led

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

pitchers with a .733 winning percentage, and went 12–15 with a 3.78

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 ...

(ERA) the following year. At the end of that season, he was sent to the Detroit Tigers in the same trade that brought slugger

Rocky Colavito Rocco Domenico "Rocky" Colavito Jr. (born August 10, 1933) is an American former professional baseball player, coach and television sports commentator. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder from 1955 to 1968, most prominently as a me ...

to the Athletics. Wickersham enjoyed his most productive season for Detroit in 1964, when he went 19–12 with a 3.44 ERA and posted career-numbers in strikeouts (164), starts (36), complete games (11),

appearances Appearance may refer to: * Visual appearance, the way in which objects reflect and transmit light * Human physical appearance, what someone looks like * ''Appearances'' (film), a 1921 film directed by Donald Crisp * Appearance (philosophy), or p ...

(40), and innings pitched (254.0). He was in consideration that year in the

American League MVP The Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) is an annual Major League Baseball (MLB) award given to one outstanding player in the American League and one in the National League. Since 1931, it has been awarded by the Baseball Writ ...

vote. His 19 victories also was a career-mark, missing a 20-win season due to an ejection in his last start from a ballgame which was tied 1–1 in the 7th inning. Mickey Lolich relieved him and earned a 4–2 win. Wickersham was ejected after calling time out three times to try to keep a base runner from advancing as

Norm Cash Norman Dalton Cash (November 10, 1933 – October 11, 1986) was an American Major League Baseball first baseman who spent almost his entire career with the Detroit Tigers. A power hitter, his 377 career home runs were the fourth most by an America ...

argued with the call by Bill Valentine. Valentine later expressed regret for the call, saying he had been "too impulsive" in his ejection. However, Wickersham wrote him a letter in 2004, reassuring the ump that he made the right call, in an attempt to relieve him of his burden. Wickersham also pitched for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Kansas City Royals. He was traded by the Tigers to the Pirates for Dennis Ribant on November 28, 1967. He played his final major league game on July 26, 1969, at the age of 33. Over his 10-season MLB career, Wickersham posted a 68–57 record with 638 strikeouts and a 3.66 ERA in 1,123 innings, including 29 complete games, five

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 and 18 saves. Notably, he was one of three players (along with fellow pitchers Aurelio Monteagudo and

Moe Drabowsky Myron Walter Drabowsky (July 21, 1935 – June 10, 2006) was an American professional baseball pitcher, best-remembered for throwing scoreless innings of relief to win Game 1 of the 1966 World Series. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for ...

) to play for both Kansas City-based major league teams, the Athletics and Royals. In 1989, Wickersham was inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame.

Personal life

Wickersham married Carol Sue Larson in 1964. They remained married for 48 years until her death from cancer in 2012. Together, they had four children: Davey, Carey, Mandy, and Matthew. Wickersham died on June 18, 2022, at the age of 86.

References

External links

Dave Wickersham
- Baseballbiography.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Wickersham, Dave 1935 births 2022 deaths Baseball players from Pennsylvania Beaumont Pirates players Burlington-Graham Pirates players Columbus Jets players Columbus/Gastonia Pirates players Detroit Tigers players Grand Forks Chiefs players Kansas City Athletics players Kansas City Royals players Lincoln Chiefs players Major League Baseball pitchers Omaha Royals players Pittsburgh Pirates players Salt Lake City Bees players Shreveport Sports players Sportspeople from Erie, Pennsylvania