Denny Riddleberger

Dennis Michael Riddleberger (born November 22, 1945 in Clifton Forge, Virginia) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. Listed at 6 feet 3 inches (1.91 m), 195 pounds (88 kg), Riddleberger threw left-handed and batted right-handed.

After pitching for Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, Riddleberger was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1967. He was 24-16 with a 3.22 earned run average over four seasons in their farm system when he was traded to the Washington Senators for George Brunet on August 31, 1970. That September, he was called up by the Senators, making his major league debut against the Baltimore Orioles.^[1]

Rittleberger spent the entire 1971 season in the majors, but after getting off to a slow start (11.12 ERA in April), found himself doing mostly mop-up duty. The Senators were 14-43 in games in which Rittleberger pitched. He ended the season with a 3-1 record and a far more respectable 3.23 ERA. He earned his only career save on July 5 against the Cleveland Indians.^[2]

Shortly after the Senators moved to Texas and were renamed the Rangers, Rittleberger, Del Unser, Terry Ley and Gary Jones were traded to the Indians for Roy Foster, Rich Hand, Mike Paul and Ken Suarez.^[3] Despite a below league average 2.50 ERA in 54 innings pitched in 1972, Rittleberger again found himself in mop up duty (the Indians were 4-34 in games in which he appeared). He spent 1973 with the Indians' triple A affiliate, the Oklahoma City 89ers before retiring.

References

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