Tom Carroll (pitcher)

Summary

Thomas Michael Carroll (born November 5, 1952) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds.

Tom Carroll
Pitcher
Born: (1952-11-05) November 5, 1952 (age 71)
Oriskany, New York, U.S.
Batted: Left
Threw: Right
MLB debut
July 7, 1974, for the Cincinnati Reds
Last MLB appearance
September 13, 1975, for the Cincinnati Reds
MLB statistics
Win–loss record8–4
Earned run average4.16
Strikeouts51
Teams

The Reds selected Carroll in the sixth round of the June 1970 Major League Baseball draft out of North Allegheny High School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at age 17. At 18, Carroll went 18–5 with a 2.39 earned run average and 148 strikeouts with the Florida State League's Tampa Tarpons. At 20, in 1973, Carroll went 15-9 for AAA Indianapolis.[1]

Carroll tossed a no-hitter against Omaha for the Indianapolis Indians in 1974 to improve his career minor league record to 51–33 with a 3.38 ERA when he received his first call to the majors.[2] He made his major league debut on July 7, 1974 at Riverfront Stadium. Facing Bob Forsch (who was also making his major league debut) in the first game of a doubleheader with the St. Louis Cardinals, he held the Cardinals to just two hits over seven innings while striking out six.[3] The Reds went on to win in each of Carroll's first seven starts and at that point, he was 4–0 with 3 no decisions. He left the game after seven innings of his eighth start, giving up 3 hits and one run. The Reds eventually lost 2–1.[4] He lost his final three decisions of the year, and ended the season 4–3 with a 3.68 ERA.

He began the 1975 season with the AAA Indianapolis Indians, but got a call to the majors when Reds starter Don Gullett fractured his left thumb.[5] Immediately starting upon his arrival, he won his first two games, beating Houston 4-3 and then throwing 8 shutout innings against Atlanta, giving up three hits.[6] On August 2, Carroll pitched 6+13 scoreless innings against the Dodgers in front of 52,015 fans. Clay Carroll came in in relief and together they beat Andy Messersmith and Mike Marshall 1–0. It would be his last major league win. He finished the season 4–1 with a 4.98 ERA in place of Gullett. Though he did not participate in the Big Red Machine's 1975 World Series victory over the Boston Red Sox, he was voted a three-quarter World Series share by his teammates.[7]

He struggled with arm problems for the rest of his career and spent the 1976 season with Indianapolis, going 9–15 with a 5.38 ERA. Following the season, the Reds traded him to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Jim Sadowski. He was then taken from the Pirates, the first selection in the 1976 Rule V draft by the Montreal Expos. He remained in Montreal's farm system until arm problems ended his career in 1977.[8] He attempted a comeback with the independent Alexandria Dukes of the Carolina League in 1980, but was unsuccessful.

Carroll earned Bachelor's and master's degrees from Georgetown University and spent 28 years (where he worked as Dept. Chief Analyst, Dept. Chief Engineer, Portfolio Division Manager and Sr. Principal) with MITRE Corporation.[9][10]

He is an adjunct professor in Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service where he teaches courses on international security.[11]

Career stats edit

W L PCT ERA G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER R HR BB K WP HBP Fld% BA
8 4 .667 4.16 28 20 0 0 0 125.1 120 58 72 12 70 51 6 2 .944 .100
As a hitter, one of his four career singles came on July 17, 1974, against Bob Gibson as Gibson stood with 2999 career strikeouts. The next batter, César Gerónimo, ended up being Gibson's 3000th career strikeout.[12]

References edit

  1. ^ "Tom Carroll Minor League Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2022-10-01.
  2. ^ "Studies Wait for Reds' Tom Carroll". Bangor Daily News. August 7, 1974.
  3. ^ "Cincinnati Reds 2, St. Louis Cardinals 1". Baseball-Reference.com. July 7, 1974.
  4. ^ "Cincinnati Reds 10, New York Mets 4". Baseball-Reference.com. August 11, 1974.
  5. ^ "Reds Lose Gullett". The Pittsburgh Press. June 18, 1975.
  6. ^ "Tom Carroll 1975 Pitching Game Logs". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2022-10-01.
  7. ^ "Series Share Announced". The Daily Sentinel. November 20, 1975.
  8. ^ admin. "Tom Carroll – Society for American Baseball Research". Retrieved 2022-10-01.
  9. ^ "Georgetown University Faculty Directory". gufaculty360.georgetown.edu. Retrieved 2022-10-02.
  10. ^ "Finding the Strike Zone in a Different Arena". October 2005. Archived from the original on 3 April 2012.
  11. ^ "Georgetown University Faculty Directory". gufaculty360.georgetown.edu. Retrieved 2022-10-01.
  12. ^ "Cincinnati Reds 6, St. Louis Cardinals 4". Baseball-Reference.com. July 17, 1974.

External links edit

  • Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors)