Jim Dwyer (baseball)

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James Edward Dwyer [Pig Pen] (born June 3, 1950 in Evergreen Park, Illinois) is a former outfielder in Major League Baseball who played for seven different teams between 1973 and 1990. Listed at 5' 10", 165 lb., he batted and threw left-handed.

A fastball hitter, Dwyer was used mostly against right-handed pitching and played all three outfield positions well. Selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1971 draft out of Southern Illinois University, he wasted little time in the minor leagues, debuting in the majors in 1973 with the Cardinals. He played for them through the 1975 midseason before joining the Montreal Expos (1975-76) and New York Mets (1976). Then, he rejoined the Cardinals (1977-78) and later played with the San Francisco Giants (1978) and Boston Red Sox (1979-80). Finally, he found a home with the Baltimore Orioles in 1981.

With Baltimore, Dwyer became a role player as a designated hitter, pinch-hitter, and a defensive replacement for outfielders Al Bumbry, Gary Roenicke and John Lowenstein, and for first baseman Eddie Murray as well. He enjoyed a good season in 1982, hitting .304 (74-for-260) in 71 games, but his most productive year came in 1983, when he appeared in 100 games while hitting .286 with eight home runs and 38 RBI, helping his team to reach the World Series, won by Baltimore in fives games. In Game One of the Series, Dwyer got the Orioles only run with a solo home run off Phillies pitcher John Denny. Then, during the 1987 season he hit a career-high 15 home runs in 241 at-bats.

From 1988-90 Dwyer was technically on five teams, playing with Baltimore (1988[start]) and Montreal (1989 [end]), but he did have three separate stints with Minnesota (1988[end]-1989 [start]; 1990).

In a 18-season career, Dwyer was a .260 hitter (719-for-2761) with 77 home runs and 349 RBI in 1328 games, including 409 runs, 115 doubles, 17 triples, 26 stolen bases, and a .353 on-base percentage. In four postseason games he hit .333 (4-for-12), including one home run, two doubles, four runs, and one RBI . He also collected a career 103 pinch-hits.

Following his majors career, Dwyer played for the 1990 Sun City Rays of the Senior Professional Baseball Association. He later has coached for the New Britain Rock Cats (1995-96) and Fort Myers Miracle (2006-07); coached (1991) and managed (1992-94) the Portland Beavers, and also has worked as a hitting coordinator in the Minnesota Twins minor league system (1997-2005). He also played from 1977 to 1980 with the Mayaguez Indians of the Puerto Rican Winter League.

[edit] Highlight

• Dwyer, who was one of the most extreme platoon players of the 1980s, started just 11 games in July 1983, playing a complete game just four times that month. He hit .452 in just 48 at-bats, ranking fifth for the Best Month Performance in the all-time list behind:

[edit] See also

• 1971 College World Series All-Tournament Team
• Boston Red Sox all-time roster
• MLB all-time pinch hit leaders

[edit] Sources

• Baseball Cube
• Baseball Prospectus
• Baseball Reference
• BR Bullpen
• Retrosheet