| Balor Moore | |
|---|---|
| Pitcher | |
| Born: (1951-01-25)January 25, 1951 (age 74) Smithville, Texas, U.S. | |
Batted: Left Threw: Left | |
| MLB debut | |
| May 21, 1970, for the Montreal Expos | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| August 6, 1980, for the Toronto Blue Jays | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Win–loss record | 28–48 |
| Earned run average | 4.52 |
| Strikeouts | 496 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
Balor Lilbon Moore (born January 25, 1951) is an American former professionalbaseball player. He played in themajor leagues as a left-handedpitcher between 1970 and 1980. Moore was the first player drafted by theMontreal Expos expansion team in the1969 Major League Baseball draft (22nd overall). He also pitched for theCalifornia Angels and theToronto Blue Jays.
Moore went a combined 9-1 with a 0.41earned run average in theGulf Coast League andFlorida State League in his firstprofessional baseball season, at the Rookie and High A levels. After going 3–0 with a 0.72 ERA for the High AWest Palm Beach Expos to start the1970 season, Moore made the jump all the way to the Triple ABuffalo Bisons. He made his major league debut at the age of 19 on May 21, 1970 against thePittsburgh Pirates. He faced one batter,Willie Stargell, who lined out toleft field.[1] Moore pitched a total of 9.2 innings in the majors that season, going 0–2 with a 7.45 ERA.
Moore struggled in1972, going 2–11 with a 6.33 ERA for Triple A Winnipeg. After a year in the army, Moore went 5–3 with a 0.63 ERA for the Double AQuebec Carnavals in1972 to earn a second promotion toMontreal.
Moore was roughed up in his first four starts, going 0–3 with a 6.45 ERA. He turned his season around on July 14 with acomplete game 9–1 victory over theLos Angeles Dodgers.[2] From there, Moore went 9–6 with a 2.94 ERA, including a 25 inning scoreless-inning streak broken on September 16 byPhiladelphia Phillies rookieMike Schmidt's first major leaguehome run.[3] For the season, the left-hander made 22 starts and struck out 161 hitters in 147.2 innings.
That winter he pitched aperfect game for San Juan inPuerto Rico, the first nine-inning perfect game in that league's 36-year history.[4] Moore's record dipped to 7–16 in1973, mostly due to an increase inwalks (109 compared to 59 the previous season). Still Moore struck out an average of 7.71 batters per nine innings, second in theNational League, and held batters to a .233batting average, tenth in the league.
Moore injured his ankle duringspring training in1974, and his arm early in the season.[5] He went 0–3 with a 10.20 ERA in six rehab appearances with the Triple AMemphis Blues before undergoing major elbow surgery during that off-season.
Moore returned in1975, although he never attained the same form.
He was 1–3 with a 4.00 ERA for Memphis when his contract was sold to theCalifornia Angels. Moore earned a September call-up to the Angels in1977, going 0–2 with a 3.97 ERA. After just one season inCalifornia, Moore's contract was sold to theToronto Blue Jays.
Moore spent the final three seasons of his career with the Blue Jays, going 12–17 with a 4.96 ERA. He pitched four innings to earn the onlysave of his career on April 27,1980 against theMilwaukee Brewers.[6] He spent1981 in the minors with the Brewers andHouston Astros before officially retiring.
Moore had a 40–58 record and 4.01 ERA in eleven minor league seasons.