Rick Gerald Austin (born October 27, 1946) is a former

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 ...

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 parts of four seasons between and . Austin attended

Washington State University Washington State University (WSU, or colloquially Wazzu) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Pullman, Washington, United States. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest Land-grant uni ...

, where he played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

for the

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in 1967 and 1968. In a game against

Gonzaga University Gonzaga University (GU) ( ) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit university in Spokane, Washington, United States. It is Higher education accreditation in the United States, accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges ...

on March 22, 1968, he pitched a

perfect game Perfect game may refer to: Sports * Perfect game (baseball), a complete-game win by a pitcher allowing no baserunners * Perfect game (bowling), a 300 game, 12 consecutive strikes in the same game * Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League, New Yo ...

. He was drafted by the

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) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

in the first round of the secondary phase of the

1968 Major League Baseball Draft The 1968 Major League Baseball draft took place prior to the 1968 MLB season. The draft saw the New York Mets take shortstop Tim Foli first overall. First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1968 Major League Base ...

, and began his professional career with the AA Waterbury Indians. In 1968, Austin had a 1–8 win-loss record and a 2.73

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 ...

(ERA), and in 1969 he split the season between Waterbury, the Indians' rookie team, and the

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 ...

. With Portland, he had a 5–6 record and a 3.66 ERA in 16 games. After the season, he, along with

Rich Hand Richard Allen Hand (born July 10, 1948) is an American former professional baseball player. A right-handed pitcher, he played for four seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Indians, Texas Rangers and California Angels. Born ...

, were noted as two of the Indians' top pitching prospects. Austin started the 1970 season with the

Wichita Aeros The Wichita Aeros were an American minor league baseball franchise based in Wichita, Kansas, that played in the Triple-A American Association from 1970 through 1984. The Aeros were established as an expansion franchise when the Association grew ...

, and pitched in six games before being promoted to the major leagues. He made his debut on June 21, and finished the season with a 2–5 record and a 4.79 ERA in 31 games. The following season, he had a 5.09 ERA in 23 games, and was sent back to Wichita to finish up the year. Partway through the 1973 season, the Indians released him, and he was signed by the

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

, finishing the year with the

Evansville Triplets The Evansville Triplets were a Minor League Baseball team of the Triple-A American Association (AA) from 1970 to 1984. They were located in Evansville, Indiana, and played their home games at Bosse Field. The Triplets served as a farm club for ...

. In 1974, Austin moved to Japan and played for the

Hankyu Braves The are a Nippon Professional Baseball team formed as a result of the 2004 Nippon Professional Baseball realignment by the merger of the Orix BlueWave of Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes of Osaka, Osaka Prefecture ...

Nippon Professional Baseball is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning simply ''Professional Baseball''; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league ...

. That year, he had one win, one loss, and a 2.33 ERA in eight games. After the season, the Braves noted that they had "purchased two mistakes" by signing him and Gene Ammann due to Austin's control problems. He returned to the states and rejoined the Brewers in 1975, and the next two seasons he split time between the majors and minors. He had a 2–3 record and a 4.05 ERA in 32 games in 1975, and a 5.06 ERA in three games in 1976, retiring after the season ended.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Austin, Rick 1946 births Living people Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from Seattle Cleveland Indians players Milwaukee Brewers players Hankyu Braves players American expatriate baseball players in Japan Washington State Cougars baseball players Waterbury Indians players 20th-century American sportsmen Spokane Indians players Sacramento Solons players Wichita Aeros players Tucson Toros players Evansville Triplets players San Antonio Brewers players Florida Instructional League Indians players Portland Beavers players