Art Ditmar

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Arthur John Ditmar (born April 3, 1929 in Winthrop, Massachusetts) is a former starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Athletics (Philadelphia, 1954 - Kansas City, 1955-56, 1961-62) and the New York Yankees (1957-1961). He batted and threw right-handed.

A finesse control pitcher, Ditmar divided his career between the Athletics and Yankees. He didn't consider himself a power pitcher, yet the variable-speed fastball was his most common offering. He also had a slider and a good curveball.

Ditmar won 47 games for the Yankees in a span of five years, with a career-high 15 in 1960, despite not getting to pitch on a regular basis in a rotation that included Whitey Ford, Bobby Shantz, Don Larsen and Bob Turley.

In a nine-season career, Ditmar compiled a 72-77 record with 552 strikeouts and a 3.98 ERA in 1268.0 innings.

[edit] Facts

• Ditmar defeated the Yankees 8-6, when the Athletics played their last game at Shibe Park in Philadelphia before moving to Kansas City. In the same game, Yankees regular catcher Yogi Berra played his only game at third base in his career, and his teammate Mickey Mantle appeared at shortstop (September 26, 1954).

• Ditmar started and lost both Game 1 and Game 5 of the 1960 World Series for the Yankees. He lasted only one-third of an inning in Game 1 and one and one-third inning in Game 5.

• After a Budweiser TV commercial of the 1980s incorporated the original radio broadcast of the 1960 World Series Game 7, with announcer Chuck Thompson incorrectly naming Ditmar instead of Ralph Terry as the pitcher off whom Bill Mazeroski hit his legendary home run, Ditmar sued Anheuser-Busch for $500,000, contending his reputation was tarnished. Resource: Clubhouse Lawyer, book written by Frederick J. Day[1].

[edit] External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference