Ross Baumgarten

Ross Baumgarten
Pitcher
Born: (1955-05-27) May 27, 1955 Highland Park, Illinois
Batted: Left Threw: Left
MLB debut
August 16, 1978, for the Chicago White Sox
Last MLB appearance
August 23, 1982, for the Pittsburgh Pirates
MLB statistics
Win-loss record	22–36
Earned run average	4.02
Strikeouts	222
Teams
Chicago White Sox (1978–1981) Pittsburgh Pirates (1982)

Ross Baumgarten (born May 27, 1955) is an American former professional baseball player who was a pitcher in Major League Baseball for five seasons in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Baumgarten played for the Chicago White Sox from 1978 to 1981, and Pittsburgh Pirates in 1982.

Early years

Baumgarten was born in Highland Park, Illinois, and raised in a Jewish family.

College career

Baumgarten attended the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he was a left-handed starting pitcher for coach Jay Bergman's Florida Gators baseball team in 1977. He was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the twentieth round of the 1977 Major League Baseball Draft.

Professional career

While pitching for the White Sox's Appleton, Wisconsin minor league club in 1978, Baumgarten was 9–1 with a 1.82 earned run average (ERA) as a starting pitcher, and earned promotion to the White Sox major league club the following season.

Baumgarten posted a win-loss record of 13–8 in 1979, and was sixth in the American League with three shutouts. He finished fourth in American League Rookie of the Year voting, and was voted to the 1979 Topps All-Star Rookie Team. On July 2, 1980, Baumgarten pitched a one-hitter for the White Sox against the California Angels. The lone Angels hit was a single by Rod Carew in the top of the seventh inning, and the White Sox won the game, 1–0.

In March 1982, the White Sox traded Baumgarten, together with Butch Edge, to the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for Ernie Camacho and Vance Law. After one season in Pittsburgh, his major league career ended.

Life after baseball

Ross currently works at Robert W. Baird in Chicago on a team of financial advisers, as well as a baseball coach at New Trier High School.

See also

• List of Florida Gators baseball players
• List of select Jewish baseball players

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors)
• BR Bullpen profile
• Baseball Library profile