Stan Pitula Explained

Stan Pitula
Position:Pitcher
Bats:Right
Throws:Right
Birth Date:23 March 1931
Birth Place:Hackensack, New Jersey
Death Place:Hackensack, New Jersey
Debutleague:MLB
Debutdate:April 24
Debutyear:1957
Debutteam:Cleveland Indians
Finalleague:MLB
Finaldate:September 14
Finalyear:1957
Finalteam:Cleveland Indians
Statleague:MLB
Stat1label:Win–loss record
Stat1value:2–2
Stat2label:Earned run average
Stat2value:4.98
Stat3label:Innings pitched
Stat3value:59⅔
Teams:

Stanley Pitula Jr. (March 23, 1931 – August 15, 1965) was an American professional baseball player. A right-handed pitcher, he appeared in 23 Major League Baseball games for the Cleveland Indians during the 1957 season. Pitula stood 5feet tall, weighed, and batted right-handed.

Born in Hackensack, New Jersey,[1] he signed his first pro contract with Cleveland after a standout career at Hackensack High School, which would later induct him into its Sports Hall of Fame.[2] Pitula also was highly successful during the first five years of his professional career, going 81–43 (.653) in minor league baseball in leagues ranging from Class D to Triple-A.[3] In he made the Indians' Major League roster, and pitched in 23 games, starting five. However, he injured his arm in an early-season game while facing Yogi Berra,[4] and after pitching through pain for two months, he sustained a severe elbow injury while facing Roy Sievers of the Washington Senators on July 24, 1957. He never again pitched in the Major Leagues, making his last official appearance in MLB as a pinch runner late in 1957.

In his 23 MLB games and 59⅔ innings pitched, Pitula allowed 67 hits (including eight home runs) and 32 bases on balls, with 17 strikeouts. He tossed one complete game, a 17–4 thrashing of the Boston Red Sox on July 14, 1957, at Cleveland Stadium. Pitula collected two hits in five at bats to help his cause, knocking in two runs.[5]

Pitula returned to the minor leagues from 1958 to 1961 to try to regain his effectiveness, but he was unable to return to the Majors. After enduring personal difficulties, he died by suicide via carbon monoxide poisoning at the age of 34 in Hackensack.

External links

Notes and References

  1. https://www.baseball-reference.com/p/pitulst01.shtml Stan Pitula
  2. Staff. "Induction Night; New Jersey Sports", The New York Times, April 26, 1974. Accessed June 13, 2011. "The Hackensack High School Sports Hall of Fame will induct nine former graduates to morrow night, bringing its total to 323 men and women.... The late Stan Pitula pitched for the Cleveland Indians."
  3. https://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=pitula001sta Minor league statistics, from Baseball Reference
  4. http://bioproj.sabr.org/bioproj.cfm?a=v&v=l&bid=452&pid=11302 Smith, Steve, "Stan Pitula," The Baseball Biography Project, Society for American Baseball Research
  5. https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1957/B07142CLE1957.htm Retrosheet box score: 1957-07-14 (2)