Dale Roberts (baseball)

Dale Roberts (April 12, 1940 – October 8, 2010) was an American relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the New York Yankees in the 1967 season. Listed at 6-foot-4-inch (1.93 m), 180-pound (82 kg), Roberts batted right-handed and threw left-handed. He was nicknamed "Mountain Man".^[1]

Early life

Born in Owenton, Kentucky, Roberts was the son of Clarence A. and Julie E. Roberts (née Etherington).^[2][3] After graduating from Versailles High School, he served in the United States Naval Air Forces to a term of four and a half years.^[3]

Career

Roberts was signed by the Yankees as an amateur free agent in 1963, and initially assigned to the Harlan Yankees of the Appalachian League, a Rookie-class league.^[2][4] After pitching in 21 games, all but one as a relief pitcher, and a 4–3 record, he was promoted to the Shelby Colonels/Yankees of the class-A Western Carolinas League, and pitched in an additional two games, both of which he was credited with the loss.^[4] In 1964, he remained with the Shelby team, and pitched in 47 games while having a 3.53 ERA.^[4] For the 1965 season, he was assigned to the Binghamton Triplets of the class-A New York – Penn League. In 112 innings pitched in 45 appearances, he had a 6–4 record and a 3.21 ERA.^[4]

In 1966, Roberts was transferred to another class-A team, the Greensboro Yankees of the Carolina League. After appearing in 35 games for Greensboro, and having a 6–4 record and a 2.21 ERA, he was promoted the class-AAA Toledo Mud Hens of the International League.^[4] The Yankees switched affiliations for the 1967 season from the Mud Hens to the Syracuse Chiefs, also of the International League, and Roberts moved as well.^[4] For Syracuse, he had a 9–4 record and 2.97 ERA in 50 games pitched, when he was a late-season call-up by the Yankees to their Major League club.^[4] He appeared in two games for the Yankees; the first one occurred on September 9, when he pitched the final inning in a 7–1 loss to the Boston Red Sox, allowing one run on two hits and one base on balls.^[5] His second and last Major League appearance occurred on September 16, when he pitched the eighth inning in a 6–1 loss against the Cleveland Indians, and gave up one run on one hit, one intentional base on balls, and two hit batters.^[6] Roberts did not appear in another game for the Yankees, who traded him on December 7, 1967, along with Bob Tillman, to the Atlanta Braves for Bobby Cox.^[2]

His first assignment in the Braves organization began with the Shreveport Braves, a class-AA team in the Texas League.^[4] Toward the end of the season, Roberts was promoted to the Braves' class-AAA team, the Richmond Braves of the International League, and had a 1.93 ERA in eight appearances.^[4] He returned to Shreveport in 1969, and played the entire season with the club, appeared in 61 games, had a 2.29 ERA, and collected 14 saves.^[4] In 1970, his last season in professional baseball, Roberts began the season in Shreveport, made 33 appearances, and while his ERA was a low 2.80, he was moved to the Hawaii Islanders of the Pacific Coast League (PCL), the class-AAA affiliate of the California Angels.^[4] He played in four games with the Islanders before being moved again, landing with the Eugene Emeralds, also of the PCL. He retired after when the season was completed.^[4]

Personal life

After his playing days, Roberts worked as an industrial electrician for several companies, including Texas Instruments and Osram Sylvania.^[3] On October 8, 2010, he died in Lexington, Kentucky, aged 70, at Chandler Medical Center located on the campus of University of Kentucky.^[3] He was survived by a daughter, two granddaughters, three brothers, and a sister.^[3]

References

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• Retrosheet
• Venezuelan Professional Baseball League