Jeff Mutis (born December 20, 1966) is an American former professional baseball

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, ...

Formative years

Born in

Allentown, Pennsylvania Allentown (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Allenschteddel'', ''Allenschtadt'', or ''Ellsdaun'') is a city in eastern Pennsylvania, United States. The county seat of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh County, it is the List o ...

on December 20, 1996, Mutis was a graduate of Allentown Central Catholic High School. While pitching for Allentown Central, Mutis was recruited heavily by

Seton Hall University Seton Hall University (SHU) is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizab ...

Clemson University Clemson University () is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university near Clemson, South Carolina, United States. - The blue-shaded pattern denotes university property. This shows Clemson University is ''out ...

, and

Rollins College Rollins College is a Liberal arts college, private liberal arts college in Winter Park, Florida. It was founded in November 1885 and has about 30 undergraduate majors and several master's programs. Florida's fourth oldest post-secondary institut ...

. Although his stated preference was

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

, he chose

Lafayette College Lafayette College is a private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Easton, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter and other citizens in Easton, the college first held classes in 18 ...

for its academic reputation. Despite telling 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 ...

in the fifteenth round that his commitment to

was strong, Mutis was drafted by 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 ...

in the thirty-fourth round of the 1985 Major League Baseball draft; howeverm he chose not to sign at that time.

Career

Mutis was subsequently drafted by the Indians in the first round (27th pick) of the 1988 Major League Baseball draft. On July 17, 1993, Mutis pitched his first, and only, complete game shutout, allowing four hits and striking out two in a 3-0 Indians win over the Angels. In 1993, he was selected from waivers by the Florida Marlins, and he played his final major league game with the Marlins on July 31, 1994. Mutis was released by the Marlins on July 15, 1995, following a move from a starting pitcher to closer. Mutis recorded two saves in twenty-seven games, earning a 3.72 average with the Triple-A Charlotte Knights, but was pitching through back pain. He subsequently signed with the St. Louis Cardinals organization for the 1996 season, pitching with the Triple-A Louisville Redbirds. It was his last season in affiliated baseball. In 1997, Mutis signed with the independent Allentown Ambassadors of the Northeast League as the team's first former Major Leaguer, returning to play professionally for his home town's first professional team since 1962. Mutis joined the team as a part-time player following turning down invitations to pitch in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

so that he could raise his family. Mutis started two games for the Ambassadors before retiring. That same year, Mutis completed his Economics and Business degree at Lafayette.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mutis, Jeff 1966 births Living people Allentown Ambassadors players Allentown Central Catholic High School alumni American expatriate baseball players in Canada Baseball players from Allentown, Pennsylvania Burlington Indians players (1986–2006) Canton-Akron Indians players Charlotte Knights players Cleveland Indians players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Edmonton Trappers players Florida Marlins players Kinston Indians players Lafayette Leopards baseball players Louisville Redbirds players Major League Baseball pitchers