Jim McGlothlin

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

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

Early life McGlothlin was born on October 6, 1943, in Los Angeles. He met his future wife Janice at Reseda High.

Baseball career McGlothlin threw and batted right-handed and was listed as tall and . 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 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.

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).

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. 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.