Jerry Lee Robertson (October 13, 1943 – March 24, 1996) was an American 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, ...

Career

Born in Winchester, Kansas, the right-hander was drafted by 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 ...

in the 27th round of the 1965 amateur draft, and later drafted by 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 ...

from the Cardinals as the 38th pick in the 1968

expansion draft An expansion draft, in professional sports, occurs when a sports league decides to create one or more new expansion teams or sports franchising, franchises. This occurs mainly in Sports in North America, North American sports and closed leagues. O ...

. He played for the Expos (1969) 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 ...

(1970). Robertson started 27 of the 49 games he appeared in during his short MLB career. He pitched in the very first game in Montreal Expos history, contributing 1.1 innings of scoreless relief to an 11–10 victory over the

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

on April 8, 1969. He also had the best earned run average (ERA) (3.96) of any of the Expos pitchers who started 15 or more games during that inaugural season. After being used in relief during the early part of the season, Robertson joined the starting rotation on May 23. He pitched six or more innings in 17 of his 27 starts, but did not get much run support from his teammates. In his 16 losses, the Expos scored a ''total'' of just 20 runs, and were victims of a

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 ...

in seven of those games. On September 13, 1969, Robertson picked up his one and only save at the MLB level. He pitched 1 1/3 hitless innings to nail down a 7-5 Expos victory over the Phillies. Robertson was traded by the Expos to the Detroit Tigers on December 3, 1969, for veteran right-handed pitcher Joe Sparma. In 1970, he appeared in 11 games for the Tigers, all in relief, with an ERA of 3.68. He also spent time with the Triple-A

Toledo Mud Hens The Toledo Mud Hens are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They are located in Toledo, Ohio, and play their home games at Fifth Third Field. A baseball team nicknamed the ...

that year. On March 30, 1971, the Tigers traded him to the New York Mets, and he never again made it back to the big leagues. Robertson died in an automobile accident in 1996 in

Burlington, Kansas Burlington is a city in and the county seat of Coffey County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 2,634. History Burlington was founded in 1857. It was named after Burlington, Vermont, the native ho ...

References

External links

The Deadball Era
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson, Jerry 1943 births 1996 deaths American expatriate baseball players in Canada Arkansas Travelers players Baseball players from Kansas Detroit Tigers players Florida Instructional League Cardinals players Florida Instructional League Expos players Major League Baseball pitchers Montreal Expos players People from Jefferson County, Kansas Road incident deaths in Kansas Rock Hill Cardinals players St. Petersburg Cardinals players Tidewater Tides players Toledo Mud Hens players Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players Washburn Ichabods athletic directors Washburn Ichabods baseball players 20th-century American sportsmen

Career

See also

References

External links