THE 1966 BRAVES: #26 Jay Ritchie

#26 JAY RITCHIE
Right-handed Pitcher

What came before: A 6-foot-4 right-hander, he would have been imposing on the mound had he weighed more than 175 pounds. Signed originally by the Boston Red Sox as a teenager, he lived in the colorful sounding community of Granite Quarry, North Carolina.
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Ritchie spent seven seasons in the Sox system moving between starting and being a pretty darn effective set-up man. After surviving two seaons in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, he finally made his major league debut in August of 1964 at the age of 27.
He finally got to spend all of 1965 in the majors, where he had a mixed bag of success: 1-2 record, but with an ERA of 3.17 despite allowing 83 hits in 71 innings. He was brought on board to the Braves in January of 1966 when he was the player to be named latler in a five-man deal that also brought the Braves Lee Thomas and Arnie Earley.

That 1966 season: Frustratingly, Ritchie spend a big chunk of the year in Richmond, where he was 4-1, 1.73 in 43 appearances, all in relief. But with the Braves looking for something, anything, to help right the ship, he joined the big club long enough to make 22 appearances (0-1, 4.08 but with four saves on consecutive appearances in early September).

What happened next: That audition earned Ritchie a full season in the majors in 1967, where he held his own just fine. He was 4-6, but made 52 appearances, all in relief, with a pair of saves. His control, cited as one of his strong suits, and he had only 18 unintentional walks in 82 innings.
But the Braves were entering a major period of upheaval, and Ritchie was part of the price. He, Mack Jones and Jimi Beauchamp were packaged in one of many trades with Cincinnati, this one bringing notorious one-year bust Deron Johnson. Ritchie did a little bit of everything for the Reds (2-3, 4.61) in the three months he spent in the majors.
Ritchie's career continued in the minors through 1970, but with an odd twist. In 1969, pitching poorly for Class AAA Indianapolis (4-5, 7.42), he was sold to the Braves in June as insurance in their pennant race. But for Richmond, he pitched even worse (1-5, 5.12) and did not get a recall to share in the moment.
But early in the 1970 season, the Red Sox purchased his contract from the Braves, and while he found his form (5-6, 3.10, including seven saves), he was not called by Boston either, so Ritchie retired at the age of 33.
Ritchie retired to his birthplace of Salisbury, North Carolina, where he passed away in early January of 2016.