Jim Dunegan

James William Dunegan (August 6, 1947 – October 20, 2014) was an American professional baseball player. Although he spent much of his early minor league career as an outfielder and first baseman,^[1] he converted to pitcher in 1970 and appeared in seven games, all as a relief pitcher, that season for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball. He threw and batted right-handed, stood 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m) tall and weighed 205 pounds (93 kg).

Dunegan was selected by Chicago in the second round of the 1967 Major League Baseball draft. He hit a career-high 18 home runs in 1968 for the Class A Quincy Cubs of the Midwest League. After appearing as a pitcher in 14 total games during 1967–1968, and none in 1969, he became a full-time hurler in 1970, splitting the year between the MLB Cubs and their two top farm system affiliates.

In his debut as a pitcher, on May 30, he entered a game against the San Diego Padres with the Cubs trailing, 4–0, and worked four innings of one-run relief, enabling Chicago to climb back into a 4–4 tie. But the Padres broke through for one run off Dunegan to take a 5–4 lead, eventually pinning Dunegan with the loss.^[2] He also lost his only other Major League decision, in June — and also against the Padres. Altogether, he pitched in 13⅓ innings, allowed 13 hits and 12 bases on balls, with three strikeouts. He left baseball after the 1972 season with a 16–19 pitching record, an earned run average of 4.44, a .246 batting average and 37 home runs as a minor leaguer.^[1]

References

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference
• Obituary