Tom Acker

Thomas James Acker (born March 7, 1930, in Paterson, New Jersey) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. The right-hander was signed by the New York Giants before the 1948 season, and eventually ended up in the Cincinnati Redlegs organization before the 1954 season. He played for the Redlegs from 1956 to 1959.

The majority of his 153 appearances was as a relief pitcher, but he did start 23 games. During his career, he had 256 strikeouts in just 380.3 total innings. His K/9IP was 6.06, which was higher than the National League average at that time. He finished in the National League TOP TEN once each for games pitched, winning percentage, and hit batsmen, all in 1957.

Acker was an excellent fielder, handling 68 out of 69 total chances successfully for a fielding percentage of .986 during his four seasons.

Career highlights include:

• a 6-0 complete game shutout vs. Harvey Haddix and the Philadelphia Phillies (September 19, 1956)
• 3 innings of shutout relief, with 6 strikeouts, to earn the W in a win over the Chicago Cubs (May 11, 1957)
• winning pitcher in both games of a double-header against the Pittsburgh Pirates, pitching a total of 2.1 innings of relief with 4 strikeouts and just one run (unearned) allowed (May 19, 1957)
• a seven-hit, seven strikeout complete game against the Philadelphia Phillies, winning 8-3 (June 29, 1957)
• a seven-hit complete game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, winning 4-3 (August 17, 1958)
• held Hall of Famers Ernie Banks, Roy Campanella, Eddie Mathews, Bill Mazeroski, and Pee Wee Reese to a collective .190 batting average (11-for-58)

He finished his career with a total of 19 wins, 13 losses, 8 saves, 35 games finished, and an ERA of 4.12.

External links

• Career statistics from Baseball Reference