Ray Culp

Raymond Leonard Culp Jr. (born August 6, 1941) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies (–), Chicago Cubs , and Boston Red Sox (–).

Early life Culp was born on August 6, 1941, in Elgin, Texas. He attended Stephen F. Austin High School (Austin, Texas). He ran track and played baseball and basketball in high school. As a junior pitcher in 1958, Culp won six postseason games, including a no-hitter, in leading the team to the state title. Over two seasons in 1958 and 1959, he had 18 consecutive wins, finally losing a 1–0 game in 1959 in the state tournament.

Danny Cater, an Austin high school baseball rival who attended William B. Travis High School, would become Culp's teammate on the Williamsport Grays, the 1964 Phillies and the 1972 Red Sox.

MLB career At 17, Culp was offered contracts with 15 of the 16 major league baseball teams, signing as an undrafted free agent with the Philadelphia Phillies for $100,000.

Philadelphia Phillies Culp began the 1963 season with the Phillies. His first appearance was as a relief pitcher (a win for him over the Cincinnati Reds), but soon became a starting pitcher. He was eighth in the National League (NL) in strikeouts, although his control was somewhat shaky, leading the league in walks with 102.

As a rookie, he made the NL All-Star squad and went on to retire Al Kaline, Frank Malzone, and Carl Yastrzemski (around a Leon Wagner single), in a scoreless fifth inning of the Senior Circuit's 5–3 victory. He was named the National League's Rookie Pitcher of the Year by The Sporting News.

In 1964, Culp suffered from a recurring sore arm. His ERA went up to 4.12, and he started only 19 games with an 8–7 record. His pitching problems may have been part of the Phillies collapse during the pennant race that year, where the team had a 6.5 game lead in first place with 12 games to play, and lost out in the pennant race to the St. Louis Cardinals. Despite the injury, he did pitch a one-hitter on June 23, 1964, against the Chicago Cubs. In 1965, Culp was much improved, starting 30 games, with a 14–10 record and a 3.22 ERA for the Phillies. He pitched one year for the Cubs, and was 8–11 with a 3.89 ERA. pitching a perfect ninth inning for the American League (AL). He retired Pete Rose (on a foul pop fly) and struck out Randy Hundley and Tony Pérez.

He strung together four steady seasons for the Red Sox from –, winning between 14 and 17 games in each. Named to the 1963 National League All-Star Team and the 1969 American League All-Star Team Led the National League in hit batsmen (tied at 12, with Jim Bunning and Don Drysdale, 1965) the American League (tied at 11 with Bob Johnson, 1970) Led the National League in walks allowed (102) (1963) Ranks 124th on the MLB career hits allowed per nine innings pitched list (7.95), as of 2024 Ranks 243rd on the MLB career strikeouts per nine innings pitched list (6.69)