James Riley Turner (August 6, 1903 – November 29, 1998) was an American

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, ...

and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

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 ...

. As a member of the

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

and

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 ...

, he was a member of nine

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...

Championship teams between 1940 and 1959, two as a player and seven as a coach. Most notably, he was pitching coach for the Yankees under

Casey Stengel Charles Dillon "Casey" Stengel (; July 30, 1890 – September 29, 1975) was an American Major League Baseball right fielder and Manager (baseball), manager, best known as the manager of the championship New York Yankees of the 1950s and later, t ...

from 1949 to 1959, during which time they won seven titles. Apart from his baseball career, Turner was a lifelong resident of

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

Career

From 1937 through 1945, he played for the

Boston Bees The Boston Braves were a Major League Baseball club that originated in Boston, Massachusetts, and played from 1871 to 1952. Afterwards they moved to Milwaukee (and became the Milwaukee Braves). Then in 1966 they were relocated to Atlanta, whe ...

(1937–39),

(1940–42) and

(1942–45). Turner's Major League career got off to a late start, as he did not reach the big leagues until he was 33 years old, after 14 seasons of minor league ball. He led the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

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 won 20 games in 1937 as a rookie with

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. He surrendered a league-high 21 home runs in 1938. Because he worked for his family's dairy farm in the offseason in

Antioch, Tennessee Antioch is a neighborhood of Nashville located approximately southeast of Downtown Nashville. It is served by the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County. History 19th century The community known as Antioch began at the ...

, he was known as "Milkman Jim" to his fans. For his career, Turner compiled a 69–60 record in 231 games, with a 3.22

and 329

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. He was a member of two

championship teams, the

1940 A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280. Events Below, events related to World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January *Janu ...

Reds and the

1943 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured. * January 4 � ...

Yankees, as well as the

1942 The Uppsala Conflict Data Program project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 4.62 million. However, the Correlates of War estimates that the prior year, 1941, was th ...

Yankees team that won the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

pennant. In two postseason appearances, Turner was 0–1 with a 6.43 ERA and 4 strikeouts in 7

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 ...

. Turner was a better than average hitting pitcher, posting a .218

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

(87-for-399) with 32 runs, one home run and 22 RBI. After his pitching career ended, Turner served the Yankees (1949–59; 1966–73) and Reds (1961–65) as their

pitching coach In baseball, a number of coaches assist in the smooth functioning of a team. They are assistants to the manager, who determines the starting lineup and batting order, decides how to substitute players during the game, and makes strategy decision ...

, working for ten pennant-winning clubs over that 24-year span. He also managed the

Beaumont Exporters The Beaumont Exporters was the predominant name of a minor league baseball team located in Beaumont, Texas that played between 1920 and 1957 in the Texas League and the Big State League. Beaumont rejoined the Class AA Texas League (1983-1986) and ...

(1946),

Portland Beavers The Portland Beavers was the name of separate minor league baseball teams, which represented Portland, Oregon, in the Pacific Coast League (PCL). The team was established in 1903, the first year of the PCL. Franchise history Many baseball teams h ...

(1947–48) and

Nashville Volunteers The Nashville Vols were a Minor League Baseball team that played in Nashville, Tennessee, from 1901 to 1963. Known as the Nashville Baseball Club during their first seven seasons, they became the Nashville Volunteers (regularly shortened to Vols) ...

(1960). Turner was criticized by

Jim Bouton James Alan Bouton (; March 8, 1939 – July 10, 2019) was an American professional baseball player. Bouton played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a pitcher for the New York Yankees, Seattle Pilots, Houston Astros, and Atlanta Braves between 196 ...

in his book, ''

Ball Four ''Ball Four: My Life and Hard Times Throwing the Knuckleball in the Big Leagues'' is a book by Major League Baseball pitcher Jim Bouton, edited by Leonard Shecter and first published in 1970. The book is a diary of Bouton's 1969 season, sp ...

''. Bouton claimed Turner (his pitching coach with the Yankees from 1966 to 1968) was a front-runner, who only wanted to be associated with successful pitchers.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Jim 1903 births 1998 deaths Baseball players from Nashville, Tennessee Beaumont Exporters players Boston Bees players Cincinnati Reds coaches Cincinnati Reds players Greensboro Patriots players Hollywood Stars players Indianapolis Indians players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball pitching coaches Nashville Vols managers National League All-Stars National League ERA champions New York Yankees coaches New York Yankees players Norfolk Tars players Paris Parisians (KITTY League) players Portland Beavers managers Portland Beavers players Portsmouth Truckers players Selma Cloverleafs players Winston-Salem Twins players People from Antioch, Tennessee Sportspeople from Davidson County, Tennessee 20th-century American sportsmen Burials at Woodlawn Memorial Park Cemetery (Nashville, Tennessee)

Career

See also

References

External links