Todd Everett Ritchie (born November 7, 1971) 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, ...

who played in the major leagues from -. Ritchie was drafted by the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

in the 1st round (12th overall) of the 1990 Major League Baseball draft and made his major league debut on April 3, 1997. He pitched in 57 games for the Twins in 1997 and . On October 3, , the Twins released him, and he signed with the

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

on December 22. Ritchie was used 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 pit ...

by the Pirates and in , he won a career-high 15 games. He was their Opening Day starter in , on in which he went 11-15; on July 13 of that year, in a scoreless game against 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) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...

PNC Park PNC Park is a baseball stadium on the North Shore (Pittsburgh), North Shore of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is the fifth location to serve as the ballpark of Major League Baseball's Pittsburgh Pirates. Opened during the 2001 Major League Baseb ...

, he had a

no-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter or no-hit game is a game in which a team does not record a hit (baseball), hit through conventional methods. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in ...

broken up with one out in the ninth by a

Luis Alicea Luis René Alicea de Jesús (born July 29, 1965) is a Puerto Rican former Major League Baseball second baseman and coach. Alicea played for the Kansas City Royals, Texas Rangers, Anaheim Angels, St. Louis Cardinals and Boston Red Sox. He pla ...

single. The Pirates won the game in the bottom of the ninth as Aramis Ramírez singled in

Brian Giles Brian Stephen Giles (born January 20, 1971) is an American former Major League Baseball outfielder. During his career he played for the Cleveland Indians, Pittsburgh Pirates and San Diego Padres. The left-handed Giles was a two-time All-Star an ...

with the winning run. After the 2001 season, on December 13, Ritchie was traded to 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) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

along with Lee Evans for

Kip Wells Robert "Kip" Wells (born April 21, 1977) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. In his Major League Baseball (MLB) career, he played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Texas Rangers, St. Louis Cardinals, Colorado Rockies, Chicago White So ...

, Sean Lowe, and Josh Fogg. He struggled in though, losing 15 games with a 6.06

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 ...

, and becoming 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 ...

after the season. On January 14, , he signed with 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 ...

, but missed nearly the entire season with an injury. Ritchie signed as a free agent with the

Tampa Bay Devil Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. They are one of two major league clubs based i ...

for 2004, but spent most of the season in the minors. He signed with the Pirates for the season, but retired from

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 ...

during

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 ...

. He came out of retirement in , signing a contract with the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. Th ...

. Assigned to Single-A

Modesto Modesto ( ; ) is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,069 according to 2022 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, it is the 19th-most populous city in California. Modesto is locate ...

, Ritchie had a 3.18 ERA in 4 appearances before being promoted to 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 ...

on June 25. In his one appearance for Tulsa, he gave up 8

earned run In baseball, an earned run is any run that was fully enabled by the offensive team's production in the face of competent play from the defensive team. Conversely, an unearned run is a run that would not have been scored without the aid of an erro ...

s in 5.2 innings and retired again.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ritchie, Todd Minnesota Twins players Pittsburgh Pirates players Chicago White Sox players Milwaukee Brewers players Tampa Bay Devil Rays players Baseball players from Portsmouth, Virginia Major League Baseball pitchers 1971 births Living people Sportspeople from Duncanville, Texas Duncanville High School alumni Salt Lake Buzz players Nashville Sounds players Charleston RiverDogs players Durham Bulls players Modesto Nuts players Tulsa Drillers players Nashville Xpress players Elizabethton Twins players Hardware City Rock Cats players Kenosha Twins players Montgomery Biscuits players Visalia Oaks players