James Harlan York (born August 27, 1947) is an American former
professional baseball
Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world.
Modern professiona ...
pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("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 attempts to e ...
. In his six-year
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...
career, he played for the
Kansas City Royals
The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expa ...
, the
Houston Astros
The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...
, and the
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one o ...
.
Amateur career
York graduated from
Norwalk High School (California) in 1965 and then attended college at
UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...
and played in the
1969 College World Series
The 1969 NCAA University Division baseball tournament was played at the end of the 1969 NCAA University Division baseball season to determine the national champion of college baseball. The tournament concluded with eight teams competing in the Col ...
for the Bruins with
Chris Chambliss.
Professional career
In six years and 174 games, York posted a lifetime
record
A record, recording or records may refer to:
An item or collection of data Computing
* Record (computer science), a data structure
** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity
** Boot sector or boot record, ...
of 16–17, 194
strikeouts and an ERA of 3.79. His best season statistically came with Kansas City in 1971, when he had career bests with 103 strikeouts, a 2.89 ERA, and a 5–5 record, and earned $12,500. As a batter, he got three hits in 40
at bat
In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...
s in his career. He hit one home run, also in the 1971 season, against
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) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive ...
pitcher
Alan Foster. He was traded with
Lance Clemons
Lance Levis Clemons (July 6, 1947 – January 22, 2008) was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Kansas City Royals (), St. Louis Cardinals () and Boston Red Sox ().
Clemons was born in Philadelphia, Pennsy ...
from the Royals to the
Houston Astros
The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...
for
John Mayberry and minor league infielder Dave Grangaard at the
Winter Meetings
Representatives of all 30 Major League Baseball teams and their 120 Minor League Baseball affiliates convene for four days each December in the Winter Meetings to discuss league business and conduct off-season trades and transactions. Attendees in ...
on December 2, 1971.
Durso, Joseph. "White Sox Add Bahnsen, Ship McKinney to Yanks," ''The New York Times'', Friday, December 3, 1971.
Retrieved December 5, 2021
After being released by the Yankees in August 1976, York had a minor league stint with the Iowa Oaks in the Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...
organization. After not playing professionally in 1977, he retired in 1978.
His uniform numbers include 40, 42, and 43.
References
External links
Stats at Baseball Almanac
Major League Baseball pitchers
1947 births
Living people
Houston Astros players
Kansas City Royals players
New York Yankees players
People from Maywood, California
Baseball players from Los Angeles County, California
Denver Bears players
Elmira Pioneers players
High Point-Thomasville Royals players
Iowa Oaks players
Omaha Royals players
Oklahoma City 89ers players
Syracuse Chiefs players
UCLA Bruins baseball players
Winnipeg Goldeyes players
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