Edward Jack Roebuck (July 3, 1931 – June 14, 2018) 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 ...

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who pitches in the game after the starting pitcher or another relief pitcher has been removed from the game due to fatigue (medical), fatigue, injury, ineffectiveness, ejection ...

and

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

, who played 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) for 11 seasons (–; –) for the Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers, Washington Senators and

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 ...

. He appeared in the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...

with the Dodgers in

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 ...

and

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...

. During his playing days, Roebuck stood , weighing . He threw and batted right-handed.

Pitching career

Brooklyn

Roebuck was born in East Millsboro, located in the heart of Southwest Pennsylvania's

coal mining Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...

country. After attending

Brownsville Area High School Brownsville Area High School is a small, rural public high school serving students in southwestern Pennsylvania, near the Monongahela River. It serves students living in the Borough of Brownsville and Brownsville Township, Luzerne Township ...

, he began his 19-season playing career in the Dodgers' organization in 1949, and was called to the majors in after winning 45 games over three years for the Triple-A

Montreal Royals The Montreal Royals were a minor league professional baseball team in Montreal, Quebec, during 1897–1917 and 1928–1960. A member of the International League, the Royals were the top farm club ( Class AAA) of the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1939; pi ...

. Working out of the Brooklyn

bullpen In baseball, the bullpen (or simply the pen) is the area where relief pitchers warm up before entering a game. A team's roster of relief pitchers is also metonymically referred to as "the bullpen". These pitchers usually wait in the bullpen if ...

, the

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 ...

got into 47

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 ...

, second only to relief ace

Clem Labine Clement Walter Labine (August 6, 1926 – March 2, 2007) was an American right-handed relief pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) best known for his years with the Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers from 1950 to 1960. As a key member of the Dod ...

's 60 games pitched, and posted 12 saves to lead the pennant-winning team. His

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 ...

was an effective 2.57 as late as July 22, but a succession of rough outings inflated his final ERA for 1955 to a poor 4.71. Roebuck made one appearance in the 1955 World Series against the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

, pitching two scoreless innings in Game 6 in relief of

Russ Meyer Russell Albion Meyer (March 21, 1922 – September 18, 2004) was an American filmmaker. He was primarily known for writing and directing a successful series of sexploitation films featuring campy humor, sly satire and large-breasted women, wh ...

in a 5–1 Brooklyn defeat. But the Dodgers came back the next day, October 4, 1955, to win Game 7 and Brooklyn's only world championship, 2–0, behind

Johnny Podres John Joseph Podres (September 30, 1932 – January 13, 2008) was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in the majors from 1953 to 1969, spending most of his career with the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers. Podres ...

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 ...

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 ...

. The next season, Roebuck had only one save in 43 games and led the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

wild pitch In baseball, a wild pitch (WP) is charged against a pitcher when his pitch is too high, too short, or too wide of home plate for the catcher to control with ordinary effort, thereby allowing a baserunner, or the batter (on an uncaught third st ...

es, while the Dodgers repeated as league champions. In Game 2 of the 1956 World Series, he halted a five-run Yankee rally in the second inning against

starting pitcher In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pit ...

Don Newcombe Donald Newcombe (June 14, 1926 – February 19, 2019), nicknamed "Newk", was an American professional baseball pitcher who played ten non-consecutive seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He began his career in the Negro National League and en ...

by getting

Joe Collins Joseph Edward Collins (born Joseph Edward Kollonige; December 3, 1922 – August 30, 1989) was an American Major League Baseball player born in Scranton, Pennsylvania. On September 25, he began his major league career playing for the New York ...

to ground out, then left for a

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter (PH) is a substitute batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead (not in active play); the manager may use any player who has not yet entered the game as a substitute. Unlike basketball, A ...

in the Dodger half of the inning. Brooklyn scored six runs in that frame and went on to defeat the Yankees 13–8 behind the stellar, seven-inning relief work of

Don Bessent Fred Donald Bessent (March 13, 1931 – July 7, 1990) was an American pitcher in Major League Baseball. He pitched from 1955 to 1958 with the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers. He was signed by the New York Yankees out of high school, and in his ...

. Roebuck made two more appearances, in Games 4 and 7, surrendering a

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

Mickey Mantle Mickey Charles Mantle (October 20, 1931 – August 13, 1995), nicknamed "the Mick" and "the Commerce Comet", was an American professional baseball player who played his entire Major League Baseball (MLB) career (1951–1968) with the New York ...

in the former game, and pitching two shutout innings of mop-up work in the latter, both Yankee victories. In , the Dodgers' last season in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, Roebuck won eight of ten decisions and improved his earned run average to 2.71. He also made his only career MLB start, going five innings on June 5 against the

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 ...

and allowing two runs in an eventual 3–0 Dodger defeat.

Los Angeles

His first two seasons as a Dodger in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

were ruined by a sore arm (), then a year-long minor league demotion () that cost Roebuck the chance to earn a second World Series ring. Roebuck was able to return to form at Triple-A and spend the next six full seasons in the majors, although he again experienced arm trouble in , worked in only five games, and spent part of the year on the Dodgers' voluntarily retired list. But he rebounded again. In , he was the Dodgers' most successful bullpen ace, helping them to a first-place tie with their archrival, 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 ...

, after the full slate of 162 games. But Los Angeles dropped the

1962 National League tie-breaker series The 1962 National League tie-breaker series was a Playoff format#Best-of-three playoff, best-of-three playoff series that extended Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1962 Major League Baseball season, 1962 regular season to determine the winner of t ...

, two games to one. Roebuck worked in all three games, allowing no runs and only two

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 ...

in 4 innings pitched over his first two outings as the teams split, one game apiece. In the decisive third game, officially the 165th regular season contest each team would play in 1962, Roebuck relieved Podres in the sixth inning and held the Giants scoreless for the next three frames, as the Dodgers took a 4–2 lead. But in the top of the ninth inning, defensive lapses enabled the Giants to claw back against Roebuck. After being struck on the hand by a

Willie Mays Willie Howard Mays Jr. (May 6, 1931 – June 18, 2024), nicknamed "the Say Hey Kid", was an American professional baseball center fielder who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of ...

line drive single back through the box, he left the game with one out, a run in and the bases loaded. His successor on the mound, Stan Williams, then allowed a

sacrifice fly In baseball, a sacrifice fly (sometimes abbreviated to sac fly) is defined by Rule 9.08(d): "Score a sacrifice fly when, before two are out, the batter hits a ball in flight handled by an outfielder or an infielder running in the outfield in fair o ...

to tie the game and issued a bases-loaded walk to give the Giants the lead; an insurance run then scored on an error. San Francisco won the 1962 National League pennant, with Roebuck charged with only his second loss in 12 decisions on the season, although his 64 appearances and ten victories were career bests.

Washington and Philadelphia

That season-ending, ninth-inning collapse affected Roebuck in ; he struggled on the mound for the Dodgers, with his ERA climbing by over a run to 4.24, and he was traded to the Senators on July 30. He got into 28 games for Washington's

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

, former Dodger teammate

Gil Hodges Gilbert Raymond Hodges (born Hodge; April 4, 1924 – April 2, 1972) was an American first baseman and manager (baseball), manager in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played most of his 18-year career for the History of the Brooklyn Dodgers, Broo ...

, before he was sent back to the Senior Circuit early in . Teaming with Philadelphia's bullpen ace,

Jack Baldschun Jack Edward Baldschun (October 16, 1936 – June 6, 2023) was an American professional baseball pitcher. He was a relief pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) for all or part of nine seasons (1961–67; 1969–70), for the Philadelphia Phillie ...

, he responded with a standout season for the

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 ...

, notching 12 saves in 60 appearances and a career-best 2.21 ERA. But a disastrous, late-September losing streak cost the Phillies the National League title. In , Roebuck posted five relief victories and three saves, but his workload and effectiveness diminished. The Phillies assigned him to Triple-A

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

for and recalled him in midyear, but he dropped two decisions in six games and was released. During his big-league career, Roebuck had a very high

winning percentage In sports, a winning percentage or Copeland score is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the to ...

: a mark of 52 wins and 31 defeats (.627) with seasons of 8–2 (1957), 8–3 (1960) and 10–2 (1962) for the Dodgers. He compiled 62 career saves and an ERA of 3.35. He worked in 460 games, all but one in relief, and in 791 innings pitched, he allowed 753

and 302

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 477

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. A competent batsman, Roebuck collected 28 hits (including two home runs) and batted .204 lifetime in the majors. Roebuck was also known as one of the game's finest

fungo A baseball bat is a smooth wooden or metal club used in the sport of baseball to hit the ball after it is thrown by the pitcher. By regulation it may be no more than in diameter at the thickest part and no more than in length. Although histor ...

hitters, who endeavored to hit fungo

s from home plate in every MLB stadium. In 1964, still an active player with the rival Phillies, Roebuck was asked by

Roy Hofheinz Roy Mark Hofheinz (April 10, 1912 – November 22, 1982), popularly known as Judge Hofheinz or "The Judge", was a Texas state representative from 1935 to 1937 ( 44th legislature), county judge of Harris County, Texas from 1936 to 1944, a ...

, owner of the

Houston Colt .45s The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division. They are one of two major league clubs based in Tex ...

, to hit the highest fungo fly balls he could in order to determine the ideal roof height for baseball's first domed stadium, the

Astrodome The NRG Astrodome, formerly and also known as the Houston Astrodome or simply the Astrodome, was the world's first multi-purpose, domed sports stadium, located in Houston, Texas, United States. It seated around 50,000 fans, with a record atte ...

, still under construction at the time.

Longtime scout

After his playing career ended, Roebuck was a

for a number of teams, including the Dodgers, Phillies,

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 ...

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

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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

and

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) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

. He retired in 2004 and died June 14, 2018, at age 86 in

Lakewood, California Lakewood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 82,496 at the 2020 census. It is bordered by Long Beach on the west, northwest and south, Bellflower on the north, Cerritos on the northeast, Cypress on t ...

, where he had lived since 1958.Ed Roebuck, pitcher on the Brooklyn Dodgers 1955 championship team, dies at 86
/ref>

References

External links

Ed Roebuck
at SABR (Baseball BioProject) {{DEFAULTSORT:Roebuck, Ed 1931 births 2018 deaths Almendares (baseball) players American expatriate baseball players in Cuba American expatriate baseball players in Nicaragua American people of Polish descent Atlanta Braves scouts Baseball players from Fayette County, Pennsylvania Boston Red Sox scouts Brooklyn Dodgers players Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Long Beach) Cincinnati Reds scouts Elmira Pioneers players Fort Worth Cats players Los Angeles Dodgers players Los Angeles Dodgers scouts Major League Baseball pitchers Montreal Royals players Newport News Dodgers players Baseball players from Lakewood, California Philadelphia Phillies players Philadelphia Phillies scouts Pittsburgh Pirates scouts St. Paul Saints (AA) players San Diego Padres (minor league) players Washington Senators (1961–1971) players 20th-century American sportsmen