Justin Craig Duchscherer UKE-shur(born November 19, 1977) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

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, ...

. He pitched in

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 ...

for the Texas Rangers and

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...

Playing career

Early career

Duchscherer (nickname: "The Duke of Hurl") was selected by the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

in the 8th round (241st overall) of the 1996 Major League Baseball draft out of Coronado High School in

Lubbock, Texas Lubbock ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Lubbock County. With a population of 272,086 in 2024, Lubbock is the 10th-most populous city in Texas and the 84th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the ...

. His high-80s

fastball The fastball is the most common type of pitch (baseball), pitch thrown by pitchers in baseball and softball. Its distinctive feature is its high speed. "Power pitchers," such as former major leaguers Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, relied on the ...

made him one of the hardest throwers in the area, but his velocity soon ranked as only average as he entered the

minor leagues Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

. In , he went 7–12 with a 4.79

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 30 appearances (26 starts) for Single-A

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. As Duchscherer continued to struggle in the low levels of the minor leagues, he was beginning to look more like a roster filler than a big-league prospect. But in , he turned his career around. He went 6–3 with a 2.44 ERA in 12 starts for Double-A Trenton before being traded to the Texas Rangers for

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

Doug Mirabelli Douglas Anthony Mirabelli (born October 18, 1970) is an American former Major League Baseball catcher. He played for the San Francisco Giants (1996–2000), Texas Rangers (2001), Boston Red Sox (2001–2005), and San Diego Padres (2006) before r ...

. He finished the year pitching well with the Texas organization, going 4-0 for Double-A

Tulsa Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...

and sporting a 2.84 ERA after his call-up to Triple-A

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

. He received his first major league call-up in 2001, a very forgettable one. He went 1–1 with a 12.27 ERA for the Rangers.

Oakland Athletics

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

, Duchscherer was traded to the Oakland Athletics for Luis Vizcaíno. After suffering a lower back injury in 2002, Duchscherer bounced back in 2003, going 14–2 with a 3.25 ERA for Triple-A

Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...

. In his last year of Triple-A, he started the All-Star game even though the chosen starting pitcher was Harden. A few hours before the game, Harden got called up to the major leagues, clearing the way for Duchscherer to start the game. On September 9, 2003, he made a start for the A's in place of

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Mark Mulder against the

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in the heat of a tight division race. He pitched 7 scoreless innings to earn his first win. That same day, his wife gave birth to their first son, Evan Duchscherer. In the spring of , the A's chose Duchscherer over Chad Harville, and traded Harville to the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

for

Kirk Saarloos Kirk Craig Saarloos (born May 23, 1979) is an American baseball coach and former pitcher, who is the current head baseball coach of the TCU Horned Frogs. He played college baseball at Cal State Fullerton for coach George Horton from 1999 to 20 ...

. Duchscherer appeared in 53 games out of the bullpen, sporting an ERA of 3.27. In 2005, he was selected to the

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team, the A's lone representative, but did not pitch in the game. He finished the year with 7 wins out of the bullpen and a 2.21 ERA as the top setup man for rookie closer Huston Street. During the season, Duchscherer spent most of the season on the

disabled list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 Major League Baseball season, 2019 season, it was known as the disabl ...

with an injured right hip that required season-ending surgery. For the season, Duchscherer returned to the starting rotation for the A's. Duchscherer spent about three weeks on the disabled list with an inflamed biceps in April. After returning to the rotation, Duchscherer was outstanding and, at one point, led the major leagues in ERA. He was selected to the 2008 MLB All Star Game. Duchscherer missed the 2009 season due to shoulder and back injuries and a bout with

clinical depression Major depressive disorder (MDD), also known as clinical depression, is a mental disorder characterized by at least two weeks of pervasive low mood, low self-esteem, and loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities. Intro ...

. He became a free agent following the season, rejecting the A's arbitration offer. On December 30, 2009, Duchscherer signed a one-year contract with a base salary of $2 million, with another $3.5 million with incentives with the

Duchscherer made 5 starts for Oakland in the first month of the 2010 season, posting a 2–1 record with a 2.89 ERA, but went on the disabled list in May and missed the remainder of the season. He became a free agent on November 2.

Baltimore Orioles

On February 4, 2011, Duchscherer signed a one-year deal with the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

. He was released on August 1.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duchscherer, Justin Coronado High School (Lubbock, Texas) alumni American League All-Stars Oakland Athletics players Texas Rangers players Major League Baseball pitchers 1977 births People from Aberdeen, South Dakota Baseball players from South Dakota Living people Baseball players from Lubbock, Texas Gulf Coast Red Sox players Augusta GreenJackets players Sarasota Red Sox players Trenton Thunder players Tulsa Drillers players Oklahoma RedHawks players Sacramento River Cats players Stockton Ports players Sportspeople from Aberdeen, South Dakota