The Angeles thought Bobby Darwin could be a dominant pitcher and he got his shot in 1962 where he got pounded—he faced 23 batters and gave up 8 hits and walked four. But he did fan six.
he didn't pitch in the big leagues again until 1969 and the outing was worse. His ERA in that game was 9.82 (in 1962 it was 10.80) and he ended his career with a 10.29 ERA which I don't think is good.
All those years in the minors he just didn't have the stuff, though he could throw it past some hitters (career K's per 9 innings was 8.1).
So Darwin worked on his hitting and made the big leagues as an outfielder in 1971 with the Dodgers then was traded to the Twins in 1972 where he had three near-All-Star quality seasons then faded.
From 1972-74 he found a home in right field and in those seasons he averaged 22 home runs, 88 RBIs, hit .261 but averaged 136 Ks as well. He did have 29 outfield assists those three seasons with that former pitching arm of his, and he was adequate in right (and some centerfield).
However, in 1975 Darwin was slumping badly, hitting .219, and was traded to the Brewers for John Briggs. With the Brewers, over the last half of the season he picked up the pace and hit more like he had with the Twins (.247), and if you prorate his at-bats it translates to about 24 home runs in 600 plate appearances.
However, in 1976 he slumped again and was traded to the Red Sox. Then in 1977, the Red Sox shipped him to the Cubs and it was all over for Darwin at age 34.
So, it's too bad he could keep it up, back then an outfield who hit .260 with 20-25 home runs and dove in 90 was a valuable player, but those strikeouts were just too much for the Twins coaches and brass to handle.
Still, we admire Darwin's effort to try and pitch for so long then making the effort to convert to a position player. That's a baseball player—do what you have to so you can get on the diamond.
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