James Eric Bullinger (born August 21, 1965) is an American former professional

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 ...

. He played for the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

(-),

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 ...

() and

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...

() of

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). He batted and threw

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to and causing it to be stronger, faster or more Fine motor skill, dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dext ...

. He is the brother of

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, ...

Kirk Bullinger. Jim Bullinger was converted to a pitcher in the Cubs'

farm system In sports, a farm team (also referred to as farm system, developmental system, feeder team, or nursery club) is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful pl ...

, after initially playing as a

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

. Before going pro, Bullinger played for the

University of New Orleans The University of New Orleans (UNO) is a Public university, public research university in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. First opened in 1958 as Louisiana State University in New Orleans, it is the largest public university and one of t ...

, where his team made it to the 1984

College World Series The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is a baseball tournament held each June in Omaha, Nebraska. It is the culmination of the NCAA Division I baseball tournament—featuring 64 teams in the ...

Career

He made his major league debut on May 27, 1992. On June 8 of that year, he hit 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 ( ...

on the first pitch he faced in his first at-bat in the majors, one of only five pitchers to accomplish this feat. In a seven-season career, Bullinger posted a 34–41 record with 392

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 and a 5.06

ERA An era is a span of time. Era or ERA may also refer to: * Era (geology), a subdivision of geologic time * Calendar era Education * Academy of European Law (German: '), an international law school * ERA School, in Melbourne, Australia * E ...

in 642.0

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 ...

. He was a better than average hitting pitcher, batting .188 (31-for-165) with 14 runs, 9 doubles, 4 home runs, 19 RBI, 13 walks, 20 sacrifice hits and 2 sacrifice flies in 186 games. He posted a perfect 1.000

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 ...

, handling 171 total chances (72 putouts, 99 assists) without a miscue in his major league career.

References

External links

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Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bullinger, Jim 1965 births Living people Adirondack Lumberjacks players Águilas de Mexicali players American expatriate baseball players in Canada American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Archbishop Rummel High School alumni Baseball players from New Orleans Camden Riversharks players Charlotte Knights players Chicago Cubs players Iowa Cubs players Long Island Ducks players Major League Baseball pitchers Mexican League baseball pitchers Memphis Redbirds players Montreal Expos players New Orleans Privateers baseball players Newark Bears players Orlando Cubs players Pastora de los Llanos players Petroleros de Cabimas players Pittsfield Cubs players Seattle Mariners players Somerset Patriots players Tacoma Rainiers players Toros de Tijuana players 21st-century American sportsmen Vero Beach Dodgers players Waterbury Spirit players Winston-Salem Spirits players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela 20th-century American sportsmen