| Jack Meyer | |
|---|---|
| Pitcher | |
| Born:(1932-03-23)March 23, 1932 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
| Died: March 6, 1967(1967-03-06) (aged 34) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| April 16, 1955, for the Philadelphia Phillies | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| April 30, 1961, for the Philadelphia Phillies | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Win–loss record | 24–34 |
| Earned run average | 3.92 |
| Strikeouts | 375 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
John Robert Meyer (March 23, 1932 – March 6, 1967) was an American professionalbaseball right-handedpitcher, who appeared in all or parts of sevenMajor League (MLB) seasons (1955–1961) with thePhiladelphia Phillies.[1]
Born inPhiladelphia, Meyer came from a '"well-to-doNew Jersey family,"[2] was educated at the exclusiveWilliam Penn Charter School, and attended theUniversity of Delaware andWake Forest University. During his playing days, he was listed at 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m) tall, weighing 175 pounds (79 kg).
Meyer signed with the Phillies in 1951[1] and steadily rose through theirfarm system,winning 15 games for the 1954Syracuse Chiefs of theTriple-AInternational League (IL).[3] His most successful MLB season was his 1955 rookie campaign, when he led theNational League (NL) in bothsaves (16) andgames finished (36),[4] whilefanning 97 batters in 1101⁄3innings pitched.[1] Meyer also made fivestarts, and wound up finishing second toBill Virdon in NLRookie-of-the-Year Award balloting.[1] However, Meyer’s effectiveness then began to fade and he spent part of 1957 back in Triple-A.[3]
Meyer rebounded to post respectable seasons in both 1958 and 1959, largely in middle relief, but his career was negatively affected by his growing reputation as a drinker and late-night carouser. Nicknamed "The Bird," he was a member — along with fellow pitchersTurk Farrell andJim Owens — of the so-called "Dalton Gang", who received notoriety around baseball for multiple, and well-publicized, off-field incidents.[2]
Meyer went on thedisabled list with a herniated disk and was fined $1,200 (nine percent of his salary)[2] after a bout of post-game drinking inPittsburgh in May 1960. The evening ended with Meyer confronting two sportswriters and Phillies' broadcasterByrum Saam, then fighting with Farrell and several teammates.[2] Meyer's resulting back injury caused him to miss the remainder of the 1960 season.[5] He only pitched in one more game, in1961: arelief appearance in which he surrendered twoearned runs in twoinnings pitched against theSt. Louis Cardinals on April 30,[6] before leaving baseball.[1]
For his MLB career, Meyer compiled a 24–34record, with 21saves and fourcomplete games, in 202appearances, 178 of them as a relief pitcher, with a 3.92earned run average (ERA), and 375strikeouts. In 455 career innings pitched, he allowed 385hits and 244bases on balls.[1]
Meyer suffered aheart attack while watching a basketball game on television and died on March 6, 1967, atThomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia. Only 34 years old, he had a history of heart problems. Meyer left a wife and three children.
His nephew,Brian Meyer, pitched briefly in MLB, for theHouston Astros, from 1988 to 1990.[7]