Ron Locke was signed by the Met as an amateur free agent before the 1963 season. Locke had been scouted by the Reds, but was not offered a contract due to organizational beliefs that he was too short at 5'10". The Mets swooped in soon afterwards and offered him a contract, assigning him to Auburn for the '63 season. After a strong 18 win season with Auburn, Locke was promoted to the big league club for the 1964 season. He pitched very well for a 22 year old, posting a 3.48 ERA, but was used sparingly by Casey and only logged 41.1 innings pitched. Ron never pitched for a big league club again, despite pitching very well in the minors. Over 8 seasons his career 2.97 minor league ERA was exceptional and certainly should have earned him a second shot. I'm guessing his size may have been part of the issue, but being buried behind Seaver, Koosman, Gentry and others such as McAndrew didn't help.
Ron signed this Father's day ball through the mail in April of 2018 after being sent to his home.
No comments:
Post a Comment