Royle Eldon Stillman (born January 2, 1951) 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 ...

player whose major league career lasted for 3 seasons (1975–1977).

Beginnings

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

, he appeared in 75

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 ...

games A game is a Structure, structured type of play (activity), play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an Educational game, educational tool. Many games are also considered to be Work (human activity), work (such as p ...

, and played all or part of three seasons (– ) for 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 ...

and

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) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

. Stillman threw and batted

left-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to and causing it to be stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply l ...

; he stood tall and weighed .

Draft

Originally drafted out of North Torrance High School by the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

in during the 22nd round, the native of

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

, played in the Dodger

farm system In sports, a farm team (also referred to as farm system, developmental system, feeder team, or nursery club) is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful pl ...

for three years, rising to the Double-A level. He was acquired along with Doyle Alexander, Bob O'Brien and Sergio Robles by the

from the Dodgers for Frank Robinson and Pete Richert at the Winter Meetings on December 2, 1971.

Minor Leagues

Stillman spent 3 more seasons in the minors — batting over .300 twice — before his recall to Baltimore in June 1975. In his debut on June 22, he pinch hit for

Doug DeCinces Douglas Vernon DeCinces ( ; born August 29, 1950) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a third baseman from 1973 to 1987 for the Baltimore Orioles, California Angels and St. Louis Cardina ...

and struck out against

Luis Tiant Luis Clemente Tiant Vega () (November 23, 1940 – October 8, 2024), nicknamed "El Tiante", was a Cuban professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 19 years, primarily for the Cleveland Indians and the Boston R ...

of 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 ...

. He returned to the Triple-A

Rochester Red Wings The Rochester Red Wings are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They are located in Rochester, New York, and play their home games at Innovative Fie ...

until his September recall, and he collected six hits in 13

at bats 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 upon completion of his turn at bat, b ...

during that late-season trial to finish with a .429 MLB batting average.

Late career

Stillman played briefly in for the Orioles, his first major league appearance. Six times throughout the 1975 season, he was listed as the starting shortstop, but only to have plate appearances in the first inning before being replaced by light-hitting

Mark Belanger Mark Henry Belanger (June 8, 1944 – October 6, 1998), nicknamed "the Blade", was an American professional baseball player and coach. He played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball as a shortstop from through , most notably as a member of the B ...

. While Stillman never took the field as a shortstop, this gives him the unusual distinction of being the only left-hander in Major League history to start at shortstop more than once, with only four other known players having been such in one game. In this "pinch hitting in reverse" role, Stillman went 3-for-6. Stillman made the Orioles' roster in but collected only two hits in 22 at-bats in part-time duty, largely as a pinch hitter, before returning to Rochester. Signed as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

by the White Sox after the season, he spent all of with Chicago, getting into 56 games, making 137

plate appearance In baseball, a player is credited with a plate appearance (denoted by PA) each time he completes a turn batting. Under Rule 5.04(c) of the Official Baseball Rules, a player completes a turn batting when he is put out or becomes a runner. This ha ...

s, and hitting his only three Major League

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run ...

. His 33 MLB hits also included seven doubles and one triple.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stillman, Royle Major League Baseball outfielders Baltimore Orioles players Chicago White Sox players Ogden Dodgers players Bakersfield Dodgers players Albuquerque Dukes players 20th-century American sportsmen Asheville Orioles players Rochester Red Wings players San Jose Missions players Spokane Indians players Ogden A's players Salt Lake City Gulls players Baseball players from Santa Monica, California 1951 births Living people