Jim McGlothlin

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American baseball player (1943–1975)

title: "Jim McGlothlin" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1943-births", "1975-deaths", "american-league-all-stars", "baseball-players-from-los-angeles", "california-angels-players", "chicago-white-sox-players", "cincinnati-reds-players", "deaths-from-cancer-in-kentucky", "deaths-from-leukemia-in-the-united-states", "hawaii-islanders-players", "industriales-de-valencia-players", "20th-century-american-sportsmen", "major-league-baseball-pitchers", "nashville-vols-players", "quad-cities-angels-players", "seattle-angels-players"] description: "American baseball player (1943–1975)" topic_path: "science/astronomy" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_McGlothlin" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American baseball player (1943–1975) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox baseball biography"]

Field	Value
name	Jim McGlothlin
position	Pitcher
image	Jim McGlothlin.jpg
bats	Right
throws	Right
birth_date
birth_place	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
death_date
death_place	Union, Kentucky, U.S.
debutleague	MLB
debutdate	September 20
debutyear	1965
debutteam	California Angels
finalleague	MLB
finaldate	September 28
finalyear	1973
finalteam	Chicago White Sox
statleague	MLB
stat1label	Win–loss record
stat1value	67–77
stat2label	Earned run average
stat2value	3.61
stat3label	Strikeouts
stat3value	709
::

James Milton McGlothlin (October 6, 1943 – December 23, 1975), nicknamed "Red", was an American Major League Baseball pitcher. During a nine-year MLB career, he pitched for the California Angels (1965–1969), Cincinnati Reds (1970–73) and Chicago White Sox (1973).

He died of a rare type of leukemia at age 32.

Early life

McGlothlin was born on October 6, 1943, in Los Angeles. When he was in his early teens, McGlothlin's father died, and he worked nightly at a gas station to help support his mother. He graduated from Reseda High School in 1961, where he was a standout pitcher on the baseball team, winning All-Valley honors. He met his future wife Janice at Reseda High. He was signed as an amateur free agent the following year by the Los Angeles Angels.

Baseball career

McGlothlin threw and batted right-handed and was listed as 6 ft tall and 185 lb.

Minor league

McGlothlin played in the Angels' minor league system for all or parts of the 1962-66 seasons. In 1965, playing for the Seattle Angels of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League (PCL), he had a 14–8 record, with a 2.55 earned run average (ERA), and 180 strikeouts in 205 innings. He was second in the PCL in strikeouts and fifth in wins. He was one win behind future major league pitcher and NBA Hall of Fame player Dave DeBusschere, and was one place ahead of him in strikeout ranking.

California Angels

McGlothlin made his major league debut at age 21 on September 20, 1965, allowing four earned runs in five innings pitched in a 4–2 home loss against the Baltimore Orioles. He split the 1966 season between Seattle and Los Angeles, starting 11 games, with a 3–0 record in the American League (AL) that year.

He joined the Angels full time in 1967. He was named to the American League All-Star Team in , a season in which he tied for the AL lead in shutouts (with six), had a career-high nine complete games and posted a 12–8 record and a 2.96 earned run average. He pitched two innings in the All Star Game, giving up only one hit, allowing no runs, and striking out two. After having already started in 29 games that season, McGlothlin pitched in relief in the second games of both doubleheaders versus the Detroit Tigers on the final weekend of that season, and was the winning pitcher in the final game, which eliminated the Tigers from the American League pennant race.

The Angels had been one of five contenders in the 1967 race until a disastrous, mid-August stretch saw them lose 12 out of 15 games and drop from 1 games behind to 8 lengths out of the league lead. They finished 1967 at 84–77, but then slumped to losing marks in both (67–95) and (71–91). McGlothlin's record suffered with his team's, as he dropped 31 of 49 decisions and posted above-3.00 earned run averages. On November 25, 1969, he was included in one of the off-season's high profile interleague trades when the Angels sent him and fellow pitchers Pedro Borbón and Vern Geishert to the Cincinnati Reds for hard-hitting outfielder Alex Johnson and utility infielder Chico Ruiz.

Cincinnati Reds

In his first season in the National League, McGlothlin proceeded to win a career-high 14 games for the pennant-winning 1970 "Big Red Machine", leading the staff with three shutouts and finishing third on the Reds in innings pitched (210). McGlothlin did not pitch in the 1970 National League Championship Series against the Pittsburgh Pirates, and started Game 2 of the 1970 World Series against the Baltimore Orioles. In Game 2, he did not earn a decision after working 4 innings. The Reds dropped that game, 6–5, en route to a five-game Series loss.

In , he lowered his earned run average from 3.59 to 3.22 and remained on the team's top ten players in wins above replacement, but he dropped 12 of 20 decisions as Cincinnati won 23 fewer games than in 1970 and fell back in the standings. In strike-shortened , McGlothlin's final full season with the Reds, he started 21 regular-season games and posted a winning record (9–8) for a pennant-winning club. But his effectiveness diminished: his ERA rose to 3.91 and, for the first time as an MLB starting pitcher, he allowed more hits (165) than innings pitched (145).

He also started a game in the 1972 World Series. In Game 5, he allowed four earned runs in three full innings against the Oakland Athletics and Catfish Hunter. The Reds would win the game in the ninth, 5–4. McGlothlin received a no decision.

Used sparingly in , he made nine starts among his 24 appearances and split six decisions, but his ERA ballooned to 6.68 in 63 innings pitched.

Late career

McGlothlin was traded back to the American League, to the Chicago White Sox, on August 29, 1973. He last pitched for the White Sox at age 29 on September 28, 1973. His final game was the only game he started in a Chicago uniform, and he absorbed a 4–1 defeat at the hands of the Oakland Athletics. The White Sox released McGlothlin in March 1974, ending his baseball career.

Career

In 256 regular-season games pitched, including 201 starts, McGlothlin compiled a 67–77 won–lost mark, with 36 complete games, 11 shutouts, and a 3.61 earned run average. In 1,300 career innings pitched, he permitted 1,247 hits and 418 bases on balls, striking out 709. He earned three career saves. In the postseason, he went unscored upon in one inning pitched during the 1972 National League Championship Series (his only LCS appearance), and in his two World Series starts, he allowed eight hits, four bases on balls, and eight earned runs in 8 innings pitched without earning a decision.

Personal life

In 1973, McGlothlin purchased a two-story home with 12 acres of farmland (for the family's two horses) in Union, Kentucky, near Cincinnati.

Illness and death

Less than a year after leaving the game, McGlothlin became gravely ill. Although an initial diagnosis of late-stage stomach cancer was incorrect, he proved to have an untreatable form of leukemia. In April of 1975, former teammate Johnny Bench organized a stage-show to help raise funds to be used towards McGlothlin's huge medical bills, as McGlothlin had no income at that point. McGlothlin died at age 32 on December 23, 1975, at his home in Union, Kentucky, near Cincinnati. He was survived by his wife and three children.

References

Dyer, Mike. (December 22, 2015). "One of the saddest moments in Reds' history, 40 years later".
(March 15, 1963). "Batters Meet Hawaii-Olei!". Sundial (Northridge, Los Angeles).
"Jim McGlothlin Trades and Transactions by Baseball Almanac".
"Jim McGlothlin Minor Leagues Statistics".
"1965 Pacific Coast League Pitching Leaders".
"The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame :: Dave DeBusschere".
"Dave DeBusschere Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More".
"Jim McGlothlin Stats".
"Baltimore Orioles vs California Angels Box Score: September 20, 1965".
"1967 American League Pitching Leaders".
"1967 All-Star Game Box Score, July 11".
"California Angels vs Detroit Tigers Box Score: September 30, 1967".
"California Angels vs Detroit Tigers Box Score: October 1, 1967".
Armour, Mark. "October 1, 1967: Tigers drop season finale to give Red Sox the AL pennant".
"1967 Major League Scores, Standings, Box Scores for Sunday, August 13, 1967".
"1967 Major League Scores, Standings, Box Scores for Tuesday, August 29, 1967".
Andres, Andy. "The 1967 AL Pennant Race: The 30,315,229 to 1 Possibility".
"1967 MLB Standings and Records: Regular Season".
"1968 MLB Standings and Records: Regular Season".
"1969 MLB Standings and Records: Regular Season".
Ardaya, Fabian. (May 28, 2020). "The Angels’ worst trades ever with each team in Major League Baseball". The New York Times.
"1970 Cincinnati Reds Statistics".
[[Retrosheet]] [https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1970/B10110CIN1970.htm box score: 1970-10-11]
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[[Baseball Reference]]: [https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CIN/1971.shtml 1971 Cincinnati Reds season]
"1971 Cincinnati Reds Statistics".
"1972 Cincinnati Reds Statistics".
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"Chicago White Sox vs Oakland Athletics Box Score: September 28, 1973".
"1972 National League Championship Series (NLCS) Game 3, Pittsburgh Pirates vs Cincinnati Reds: October 9, 1972".
"1972 World Series - Oakland Athletics over Cincinnati Reds (4-3)".
"Living in Union".
[https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/c5cc1071 Faber, Charles F., ''Jim McGlothlin.''] [[Society for American Baseball Research]] Biography Project
Hertzel, Bob. (March 19, 1975). "Reds Aiding McGlothlin". The Cincinnati Enquirer.
"Kentucky New Era - Google News Archive Search".
"TheDeadballEra.com :: Jim McGlothlin's Obit".

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