James Justin Acker (born September 24, 1958) is an American former

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 ...

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 from to . He played college baseball at the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

. Acker was drafted in the first round by the

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 ...

in the

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and was a member of the

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 ...

teams that won the , , and

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division. He also played for the

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Professional career

Toronto Blue Jays

He was drafted by the

in the first round (21st selection) of the

. On December 6, , he was drafted by the

from the Atlanta Braves in the

Rule 5 Draft The Rule 5 draft is a Major League Baseball (MLB) player draft that occurs each year in December, at the annual Winter Meeting of general managers. The Rule 5 draft aims to prevent teams from stockpiling too many young players on their minor lea ...

. He pitched for the Jays for four years performing mainly as a

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 ...

Atlanta Braves

On July 6, , Acker was traded by the Blue Jays to the

for pitcher Joe Johnson. He spent four years with the Braves, compiling a record of 7–27 with 16 saves and a 3.71 ERA in 169 games. On August 24, , Acker was traded by the Braves back to the Toronto Blue Jays for Francisco Cabrera and Tony Castillo.

Toronto Blue Jays (second tenure)

Acker spent part of the year and the complete and seasons back with the Blue Jays. In his entire seven-year career with the Jays he compiled a record of 26–22 with 14 saves and an ERA of 4.07 in 281 games. On October 31, , he was granted free agency.

Seattle Mariners

Acker signed as a free agent with the

on February 2, . He appeared in 17 games with the Mariners, compiling a 5.28 ERA, before he was released on July 21, .Baseball Reference
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Retirement

Acker ended his baseball career after six appearances with the Oklahoma City 89ers, the Texas Rangers Triple-A affiliate, in 1993.

Career statistics

In 467 major league games, Acker compiled a 33–49 record with 32

games started In baseball statistics, games started (denoted by GS) indicates the number of games pitched, games that a pitcher has starting pitcher, started for his team. A pitcher is credited with starting the game if he throws the first pitch to the first opp ...

, 159 games finished, 30 saves, 329 walks, 482 strikeouts and a 3.97 ERA. He was an excellent fielding pitcher, recording a .992

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a baseball positions, defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putout ...

with only two errors in 236 total chances in 904.1

innings pitched In baseball, the statistic innings pitched (IP) is the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of Batter (baseball), batters and baserunners that have been put out while the pitcher is on the Baseball field#Pitcher's mou ...

. Both his miscues were against the

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

on June 25, 1984, and September 24, 1989.

References

External links

, o
Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Acker, Jim 1958 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada Atlanta Braves players Baseball players from Texas Calgary Cannons players Cardenales de Lara players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Greenville Braves players Gulf Coast Braves players Major League Baseball pitchers Oklahoma City 89ers players People from Freer, Texas Richmond Braves players Savannah Braves players Seattle Mariners players Texas Longhorns baseball players Toronto Blue Jays players 20th-century American sportsmen