Wilbur Scott "Jake" Striker (October 23, 1933 – March 7, 2013) was an American left-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, ...

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 ...

who played in and with 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) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

and

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 ...

. Originally signed by the Indians in , the , Striker enjoyed a promising start to his career. In his

MLB 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 ...

debut on September 25, , against the

Kansas City Athletics The Kansas City Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Kansas City, Missouri, from 1955 to 1967, having previously played in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as the Philadelphia Athletics. After moving in 1967, the team became the ...

at the age of 25, Striker tossed innings of solid baseball, allowing only two

earned run In baseball, an earned run is any run that was fully enabled by the offensive team's production in the face of competent play from the defensive team. Conversely, an unearned run is a run that would not have been scored without the aid of an erro ...

s for a 2.70

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 ...

and the

win Win or WIN most likely refers to: * A victory Win, Winning, WIN or Winner may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * '' Win!'', a 2016 American film Literature * ''Win'' (Coben novel), 2021 * WIN (pacifist magazine) * WIN (wrestling ma ...

. He went 0 for 1 with a

walk Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined as an "inverted pendulum" gait in which the body vaults over ...

at the plate in what would be the only game in which he would appear in 1959. The only player from

Heidelberg College Heidelberg University is a private university in Tiffin, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1850, it was known as "Heidelberg College" until 1889 and from 1926 to 2009. It is affiliated with the United Church of Christ and enrolled 1,000 students ...

to reach the major leagues, Striker was traded on December 6, with Dick Brown,

Don Ferrarese Donald Hugh Ferrarese (June 19, 1929 – November 4, 2024) was an American professional baseball pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians, Chicago White Sox, Philadelphia Phillies and St. Lo ...

and

Minnie Miñoso Saturnino Orestes "Minnie" Armas Arrieta Miñoso (, ; November 29, 1924 – March 1, 2015), nicknamed "the Cuban Comet", was a Cuban professional baseball player. He began his baseball career in the Negro leagues in 1946 and became an All-Sta ...

to the White Sox for

Johnny Romano John Anthony Romano Jr. (August 23, 1934 – February 24, 2019) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the Chicago White Sox (1958–1959, 1965–1966), Cleveland Indians (1960–196 ...

Bubba Phillips John Melvin "Bubba" Phillips (February 24, 1928 – June 22, 1993) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) third baseman from Macon, Mississippi. He played for ten seasons on the Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox, and Cleveland Indians, fro ...

and

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 Americ ...

. He only appeared in two games with the White Sox, both relief appearances. In 3+ innings of work, he posted a 4.91 ERA,

striking out ''Striking Out'' is an Television in the Republic of Ireland, Irish television legal drama television series, broadcast on RTÉ, that first aired on 1 January 2017, based on ''The Good Wife'' by Robert King (writer), Robert and Michelle King. Prod ...

one and walking one. His major league career ended on April 24, . Overall, he went 1 and 0 with a 3.48 ERA in 3 games in his career. He walked five, struck out six and gave up one

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 ( ...

(to

Casey Wise Kendall Cole "Casey" Wise (September 8, 1932 – February 20, 2007) was an American professional baseball player. He played parts of four seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), between 1957 and 1960, with the Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee Braves and ...

) in about 10 innings of work. Overall, he wore three uniform numbers in his short two-year career. He wore 23 with the Indians, and 20 and 31 with the White Sox.

External links

1933 births 2013 deaths Baseball players from Ohio Chattanooga Lookouts players Chicago White Sox players Cleveland Indians players Green Bay Bluejays players Heidelberg Student Princes baseball players Indianapolis Indians players Knoxville Smokies players Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Major League Baseball pitchers Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players Mobile Bears players People from Crawford County, Ohio Peoria Chiefs players Reading Indians players San Diego Padres (minor league) players 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-baseball-pitcher-1930s-stub