Paul Douglas Creek (March 1, 1969 – July 28, 2024) 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 played ten 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) from 1995 to 2005 for the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

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 ...

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

Tampa Bay Devil Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. They are one of two major league clubs based i ...

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 ...

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

, and

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 club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

. He also played one season in

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) for the

Hanshin Tigers The are a Nippon Professional Baseball team playing in the Central League. The team is based in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, next to their main stadium, Hanshin Koshien Stadium. The Tigers are owned by Hanshin Electric Railway Co., ...

in .

Amateur career

Creek attended

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

, and in 1990 he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

with the

Cotuit Kettleers The Cotuit Kettleers are a collegiate summer baseball team based in the village of Cotuit, Massachusetts, which is in the southwest corner of the town of Barnstable, Massachusetts, Barnstable. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over 1,000 forme ...

. Upon being selected in the fifth round of the 1990 MLB draft by 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 ...

, Creek opted to not sign with them, returning to the draft pool the following season.

Professional career

Minor leagues

In , he was selected by the

in the seventh round of the draft and was signed to a deal shortly thereafter. After signing a contract with the Cards, Creek bounced around A-ball in 1991 and 1992, playing for four teams (

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

Savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...

, Springfield, and

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

) in that span. He was used primarily as a starting pitcher. Despite some early career struggles with Hamilton and Savannah in 1991, his performance improved upon joining Springfield the following season. Creek registered a career low 2.58

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 ...

to go along with his 4-1 won-loss record with the Springfield squad. He then continued his strong 1992 pitching with St. Petersburg and started each of the 13 games he appeared in, going 5–4 with a still impressive ERA at 2.82. After playing in AA and compiling a career record of 18–22 with a 4.00 ERA as a Double-A pitcher, Creek had three separate stints playing with the AAA team out of

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

. He alternated between Louisville and

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

, the AA team that was affiliated with St. Louis.

St. Louis Cardinals

After a solid showing at both the AA and AAA levels, the Cardinals decided it was time to see what Creek could offer to their big league team. On September 17, , he faced the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

for his first taste of big league action. He threw one inning and struck out two batters as the Dodgers could not register a hit off Creek. He appeared in five more games for St. Louis, throwing a total of six

innings An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). In cricket and rounders, "innings" is ...

in six games and did not permit any runs to score. After the 1995 year ended he was dealt in the off-season to the

in a multi-player deal that also sent

Rich DeLucia Richard Anthony DeLucia (born October 7, 1964) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher who played for several teams between and . Biography A native of Reading, Pennsylvania, DeLucia attended Wyomissing High School and the Un ...

and

Allen Watson Allen Kenneth Watson (born November 18, 1970) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals, San Francisco Giants, Anaheim Angels, New York Mets, Seattle Mariners, and New Yor ...

to the Giants. The Cardinals received

Royce Clayton Royce Spencer Clayton (born January 2, 1970) is an American former professional baseball shortstop. He played in Major League Baseball for the San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Texas Rangers, Chicago White Sox, Milwaukee Brewers, Colo ...

and

Chris Wimmer Chris Wimmer (born June 23, 1979) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He has raced mostly in short track competition and as high as the NASCAR Busch Series (now Xfinity Series). Wimmer competed in the ASA Midwest Tour (now ARCA ...

in return.

San Francisco Giants

Creek tried to pitch well for his new team and the then-27-year-old hurler threw 48 innings and finished the season with a 6.52 ERA in 63 appearances. He also had an 0–2 win–loss record. He spent the following season on the Giants AAA team in Phoenix where, in 25 games (18 of them starts), he went 8–6 with two

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 and one

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 ...

. His showing at Triple-A in earned him a quick promotion back to San Francisco. He went 1-2 and compiled a 6.75 ERA, while striking out 14 of the batters he faced.

Hanshin Tigers

On November 7, 1997, 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 ...

purchased Creek's contract from the Giants. Creek never played for the White Sox as his contract was purchased again less than a month later (December 4, 1997), this time by a team in Japan. The

of the Japan

Central League The or , also known as the for sponsorship reasons, is one of the two professional baseball leagues that constitute Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship plays against the winner of the Pacific League i ...

bought his contract from Chicago and he went to play out the baseball season in Japan. For the Tigers he split the season between the Central League and Western League teams spending the majority of the campaign with the Western League squad. In 17 games (16 starts) he went 9–1 with a 2.16 ERA for the Western League's Hanshin Tigers. Creek led the league in earned run average and

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 with 101. He was less stellar playing in the Central League though as he went 0–4 with 5.65 ERA in his seven appearances.

Chicago Cubs

Creek returned from his one-year stint in Japan by signing a contract with the

on January 29, . He pitched most of the season with

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

, then the AAA team for the Cubs. He went 7–3 in 25 games (20 starts) and held his ERA to 3.79. He was also able to pick up a save. Chicago decided to call up the southpaw and he struggled in the six games he pitched in ending the season with a 10.50 ERA.

Tampa Bay Devil Rays

On February 1, the

signed Creek to a contract, and Creek would play out the next two and a half seasons of his MLB career with the cellar-dwelling Devil Rays. In 2000, he saw action in 45 games (all in relief) as he posted a 1–3 mark for Tampa Bay. Creek also picked up his first (and only) career save to go along with his 4.60 ERA. The following season Creek was able to lower his earned run average to a 4.31 mark as he pitched in a career-high 66 games and had a won-loss record of 2–5. He also threw a career-high 62 innings. Creek spent the first four months of the regular season with the Devil Rays, where he appeared in 29 games, winning two of them and dropping one. His ERA however was at a 6.27 clip. On July 24, , Tampa Bay and the

consummated a deal that sent Creek to Seattle for cash considerations.

Seattle Mariners

Creek played in 23 games for the Mariners going 1–1 with a 4.91 ERA. His 2002 combined totals were 52 games, 3–2 record, 55.0 IP, and a 5.82 ERA.

Toronto Blue Jays

In October 2002 Creek was signed by the

to be a key member of their bullpen. However, things did not go as planned in the 2003 season as he pitched just 13 innings in 21 appearances to go along with his 3.29 ERA for the Jays, as he underwent

Tommy John surgery Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, sometimes referred to as Tommy John surgery is a surgical graft procedure where the ulnar collateral ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with either a tendon from elsewhere in the patient's body, ...

in June 2003.

Back to the Cardinals

Creek was then signed in February , returning to the Cardinals. At St. Louis, he was only used as a reliever in Triple-A, going 2–1 with a 4.71 ERA in 33 games for Memphis.

Detroit Tigers

The

signed Creek in January to add pitching depth to their roster. He played on the Tigers' AAA affiliate in

Toledo Toledo most commonly refers to: * Toledo, Spain, a city in Spain * Province of Toledo, Spain * Toledo, Ohio, a city in the United States Toledo may also refer to: Places Belize * Toledo District * Toledo Settlement Bolivia * Toledo, Or ...

pitching 28 games (one start) as he chalked up a record of 2–2 to go along with an ERA of 4.61. Unlike in St. Louis, Creek was able to crack the lineup and appear in 20 games for the Tigers. He threw 22 innings in those 20 games for Detroit, finishing the year with a 6.85 ERA.

Illness and death

Creek was diagnosed with

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of ...

in April 2024. He died due to complications the disease on July 28 at the age of 55.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Creek, Doug 1969 births 2024 deaths American expatriate baseball players in Canada American expatriate baseball players in Japan American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Arkansas Travelers players Baseball players from Virginia Chicago Cubs players Cotuit Kettleers players Deaths from pancreatic cancer in the United States Detroit Tigers players Durham Bulls players Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets baseball players Hamilton Redbirds players Hanshin Tigers players Iowa Cubs players Louisville Redbirds players Major League Baseball pitchers Memphis Redbirds players Nippon Professional Baseball pitchers Pastora de Occidente players People from Winchester, Virginia Phoenix Firebirds players San Francisco Giants players Savannah Cardinals players Seattle Mariners players Springfield Cardinals players St. Louis Cardinals players St. Petersburg Cardinals players Tampa Bay Devil Rays players Tigres de Aragua players Toledo Mud Hens players Toronto Blue Jays players Deaths from pancreatic cancer in Maryland 20th-century American sportsmen