Randall James "Randy" Moffitt (born October 13, 1948) is an American athlete. He was a

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...

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 ...

for the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

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

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) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

. Born in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

, he is the younger brother of

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball c ...

star

Billie Jean Moffitt King Billie Jean King (née Moffitt; born November 22, 1943) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. King won 39 major titles: 12 in singles, 16 in women's doubles, and 11 in mixed doubles. King was a member of the victorious United States ...

Career

Moffitt was drafted by the Giants in the 1st round (18th pick) of the 1970 amateur draft. After a successful year as a

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 pitc ...

for the Class-A

Fresno Giants The Fresno Giants were a minor league baseball team that played in the California League from 1941 to 1988. The team was based in Fresno, California. First teams The city of Fresno had professional baseball as far back as 1898 when it had a tea ...

(9–6, 1.60) he was converted to relief with the Triple-A

Phoenix Giants Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

in 1971. He was called up to the big club in 1972, making his

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) ...

debut on June 11. In 1979, during his eighth year with the Giants, Moffitt contracted Cryptosporidia enteritis. By the end of the season, he was easily exhausted, vomiting frequently and lost around 25 pounds. His physicians were unable to determine what was causing his illness, with one suggesting that his problem was mental. Following a bloody stool incident during a plane trip in 1980, Moffitt had a colonoscopy done and a biopsy of a bleeding ulcer revealed the presence of ''Cryptosporidium'' parasites. According to a ''Sports Illustrated'' article, "it's reasonable to assume he caught it from a horse—although nobody knows how." Moffitt's recovery was slow and he was released from the Giants on August 4, 1981. He was a dependable

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as inclement weather d ...

for many years, and finished in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

Top Ten four times for saves and three times for

games pitched In baseball statistics, games pitched (denoted by Games G in tables of only pitching statistics) is the number of games in which a player appears as a pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the Baseball (ball), b ...

. During the 1970s he partnered first with

Elías Sosa Elías Sosa Martínez (born June 10, 1950) is a Dominican former professional baseball pitcher. He was signed by the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball (MLB) as an amateur free agent on March 4, 1968, and played for the Giants (1972–1 ...

and later with

Gary Lavelle Gary Robert Lavelle (born January 3, 1949) is a retired professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1974 to 1987. Career Lavelle grew up in Pennsylvania, where he attended Liberty High School in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania ...

to give the Giants one of the league's better bullpens. In 534 career pitching appearances (all but one in relief) he finished 306 games including 96 saves.

References

External links

o
Retrosheet
*1980 Baseball Register published by

The Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moffitt, Randy 1948 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada Baseball players from Long Beach, California Fresno Giants players Houston Astros players Long Beach State Dirtbags baseball players Major League Baseball pitchers Phoenix Giants players San Francisco Giants players Toronto Blue Jays players Tucson Toros players Vancouver Canadians players Long Beach Polytechnic High School alumni