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Richard David Ruthven (born March 27, 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
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as a right-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, ...
from through for the
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 ...
,
Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...
, and
Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...
. The two-time National League
All-Star An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. Sports "All-star" as a sport ...
player was a member of the world champion Philadelphia Phillies team, as well as a member of the National League Eastern Division champion Chicago Cubs.


Major league career


Draft and early Philly years

Ruthven was born in
Sacramento, California Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat, seat of Sacramento County, California, Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento Rive ...
and attended Irvington High School in
Fremont, California Fremont () is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. Located in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay Area, Fremont has a population of 230,504 as of 2020, making it the fourth List of cities and towns in the San F ...
. He was selected out of high school by the
Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...
in the 20th round (469th overall) of the 1969 Major League Baseball draft, but opted to enroll at Fresno State.Fimrite, Ron. "So far so good so fast," ''Sports Illustrated'', April 30, 1973.
Retrieved August 1, 2021
The Philadelphia Phillies drafted him in the secondary phase of the 1st round of the 1973 Major League Baseball draft. Ruthven made his major league debut with the Phillies on April 17, 1973 at the age of 22.Dick Ruthven Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
/ref> He was described as looking "like a young
Lee Marvin Lee Marvin (February 19, 1924August 29, 1987) was an American film and television actor. Known for his bass voice and prematurely white hair, he is best remembered for playing hardboiled "tough guy" characters. Although initially typecast as th ...
" by Ron Fimrite in the April 30, 1973 issue of ''
Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...
''. In his rookie season of 1973, Ruthven pitched 25 games, starting 23. He finished the season 6-9 with a 4.21 earned run average for a team that finished in last place in the National League Eastern Division with a 71-91 record. In 1974, Ruthven started 35 games and pitched over 200 innings for the first time (212). He had a record of 9-13 with a 4.02 earned run average, as the Phillies improved their overall record to 80-82, good enough for third place. He also set his career record for strikeouts with 153. In 1975, injuries limited Ruthven to 11 games and seven starts. He went 2-2 with a 4.20 earned run average.


Atlanta Braves

Ruthven was traded twice within a span of three days in December 1975. First to the
Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...
with Alan Bannister and
Roy Thomas Roy William Thomas Jr."Roy Thomas Checklist" ''Alter Ego'' vol. 3, #50 (July 2005) p. 16 (born November 22, 1940) is an American comic book writer and editor. He was Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics and possibly bes ...
for
Jim Kaat James Lee Kaat (; born November 7, 1938), nicknamed "Kitty", is an American former professional baseball player and television sports commentator. A left-handed pitcher, he played Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Washington Senators / Minnes ...
and Mike Buskey on December 10. Then to the
Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...
with Ken Henderson and Dan Osborn for Ralph Garr and Larvell Blanks two days later on December 12. With the Braves, Ruthven had a solid 1976 season, being named to the National League All-Star team for the first time. He was the only Braves player selected to the All-Star Game that year, although NL manager Sparky Anderson never brought him in to pitch. On June 20, he threw a four-hit shutout in a 5-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs. He faded in the latter part of the season, finishing the season 14-17 with a 4.19 earned run average in 36 starts. The 17 losses and 36 starts were both career highs, however, the Braves finished last in the National League Western Division, going 70-92. Ruthven won three games to start the 1977 season, but suffered a torn ankle tendon after that and was out of action over two months, then after coming off the disabled list, lost eight straight games. He finished the year with 25 games (23 starts). Even though his earned run average did not change much (rising to 4.23), Ruthven finished with only a 7-13 record for a Braves team that lost 101 games.


Return to the Phillies

"I guess I have something to prove this year," Ruthven said, after a start on April 19, 1978. "Still, I could pitch very well and not have a good record, as I did last year. It would be nice if I could pitch back to 1976." He started with only a 2-6 record for the Braves, though his earned run average had improved some (4.10), when he was re-acquired by the Phillies on June 15. For Ruthven, the Phillies sent popular relief pitcher Gene Garber to Atlanta. Ruthven was stellar with the Phillies, going 13-5 from June 15 to the end of the regular season, with a 2.99 earned run average. For the entire season, Ruthven's record was 15-11 with a 3.38 earned run average. His contributions helped the Phillies win 90 games and capture the Eastern Division title, the team's third division title in a row. He pitched one game against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the
1978 National League Championship Series The 1978 National League Championship Series was a best-of-five matchup in Major League Baseball’s 1978 postseason between the West Division champion Los Angeles Dodgers and the East Division champion Philadelphia Phillies. It was the tenth e ...
, losing Game 2 of a series the Phillies lost in four games. 1979 started great for Ruthven, who sprinted out to a 6-0 record and a 1.65 earned run average as of May 9. Unfortunately, injuries would again plague Ruthven for the rest of the season as he would win only one more game through the last of the season, finishing 7-5 with a 4.27 average. Injuries hit other Phillies pitchers, and the three-time division champs fell to fourth place in the National League East, 14 games behind the eventual World Champion Pittsburgh Pirates. His best season may have been in 1980, a year he did not make the All-Star team. He finished the season with a career-high 17 wins, and had a 3.55 earned run average in 33 games started. Ironically, even though he started every game during the season, Ruthven came in as a relief pitcher in the pivotal 5th game of the National League Championship Series, pitching two shutout innings to earn the victory in the 10th inning, capping a Phillies comeback in a game in which the team faced a 5-2 deficit in the 8th inning against
Nolan Ryan Lynn Nolan Ryan Jr. (born January 31, 1947), nicknamed "the Ryan Express", is an American former professional baseball pitcher and sports executive. Over a record 27-year playing career in Major League Baseball (MLB), Ryan pitched for the New Yo ...
. Ruthven pitched the third game of the
1980 World Series The 1980 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) season. The 77th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the National League (NL) champion Philadelphia Phillies and the Amer ...
, won by the Royals, without a decision. The Phillies won that Series in six games. Ruthven charged from the gate in 1981, compiling an 8-3 record before the 1981 baseball strike began on June 12. He was the Phillies' representative to the
Major League Baseball Players Association The Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) is the labor union representing all current Major League Baseball (MLB) and Minor League Baseball (MiLB) players. All players, managers, coaches, and athletic trainers who hold or have held ...
. Because of his record, Ruthven was named to the National League All-Star team for the second time. Play resumed on August 10; Ruthven told reporters, "I played catch a little bit during the strike. I don't think I'm that far away. But I've never stopped in the middle of the season, just like anyone else, and I really don't know how long it will take" to get back to form. He struggled for the remainder of the season, going 4-4 the rest of the way. For the season, Ruthven finished 12-7 with a high 5.15 earned run average. Because of the strike, major league baseball split the 1981 season, and two teams from each division made an extra round of playoffs. The Phillies "won" the first-half title, though lost the 1981 National League Division Series to 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 ...
in five games, with Ruthven losing Game 2 to the Expos. In 1982, Ruthven pitched in 33 games (31 starts), accumulating more than 200 innings (204.1) for the fifth time, and his record was 11-11 with an earned run average of 3.79. The Phillies finished second in the division, three games behind the eventual World Champion St. Louis Cardinals.


Traded to Cubs and retirement

1983 started out terribly for Ruthven, starting out the season with a 1-3 record and a 5.61 earned run average for the Phillies. He was dealt along with Bill Johnson from the Phillies to the Cubs for Willie Hernández on May 22. While the Phillies won the National League pennant that season, the Cubs would finish fifth with a 71-91 record, 19 games behind the Phillies. Ruthven pitched better for the Cubs, going 12-9 with a 4.10 earned run average. 1983 was the last season in which Ruthven won ten or more games. In 1984, Ruthven began a downward slide in his effectiveness. He started the season as the opening day starter for the Cubs, winning on April 3 against the
San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...
. Even though the Cubs would win the division with 96 victories, Ruthven would win only six games against ten losses, compiled in 23 games (22 starts). His earned run average also ballooned, rising to 5.04. It was his lowest win total since 1975. Ruthven did not appear in the 1984 National League Championship Series, which the Cubs lost in five games to the San Diego Padres. In 1985, the Cubs slid to 77-84, and Ruthven slid to fifth in their starting rotation. He only made fifteen starts and five relief appearances. The team tried to trade him for Tommy John of 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 ...
, but the Angels decided not to make the trade, not wanting to pay Ruthven $400,000 in deferred salary. He finished with a 4-7 record, with a 4.53 earned run average. In 1986, Ruthven lost his starting spot in the Cubs' rotation. He finished up making only six relief appearances, and his earned run average had risen to 5.06. He appeared in his final major league game on May 1, 1986 at the age of 35. He was released by the Cubs five days later on May 6, ending his major league career.


Career statistics

In a fourteen-season major league career, Ruthven posted a 123-127 record with 1,145
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 and a 4.14
ERA An era is a span of time. Era or ERA may also refer to: * Era (geology), a subdivision of geologic time * Calendar era Education * Academy of European Law (German: '), an international law school * ERA School, in Melbourne, Australia * E ...
in 2,109
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 ...
, including 17
shutout In team sports, a shutout (North American English, US) or clean sheet (Commonwealth English, 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 basketba ...
s and 61
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 ...
s. He is the father of retired professional soccer player Tyler Ruthven.Roberson, Doug. "Soccer-playing son of ex-Brave leans on dad," ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'', Friday, August 10, 2012.
Retrieved March 4, 2021
He is also the brother-in-law of former MLB infielder / outfielder and former baseball television broadcaster Tommy Hutton.


See also

*
List of baseball players who went directly to Major League Baseball This is a list of baseball players who went directly to the major leagues. They are distinguished as a group by having made their North American professional baseball debut with a Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise without having previously pla ...


References


External links


Dick Ruthven
at
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Bio Project {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruthven, Dick 1951 births National League All-Stars Atlanta Braves players Chicago Cubs players Living people Major League Baseball pitchers Philadelphia Phillies players Baseball players from Fremont, California Baseball players from Sacramento, California Toledo Mud Hens players Lodi Crushers players Fresno State Bulldogs baseball players All-American college baseball players