View source for Ray Culp

{{short description|American baseball player (born 1941)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox baseball biography
|name=Ray Culp
|position=[[Pitcher]]
|image=Ray Culp 1969.jpg
|bats=Right
|throws=Right
|birth_date={{Birth date and age|1941|8|6}}
|birth_place=[[Elgin, Texas]], U.S.
|debutleague = MLB
|debutdate=April 10
|debutyear=1963
|debutteam=Philadelphia Phillies
|finalleague = MLB
|finaldate=September 3
|finalyear=1973
|finalteam=Boston Red Sox
|statleague = MLB
|stat1label=[[Win–loss record (pitching)|Win–loss record]]
|stat1value=122–101
|stat2label=[[Earned run average]]
|stat2value=3.58
|stat3label=[[Strikeout]]s
|stat3value=1,411
|teams=
* [[Philadelphia Phillies]] ({{Baseball year|1963}}–{{Baseball year|1966}})
* [[Chicago Cubs]] ({{Baseball year|1967}})
* [[Boston Red Sox]] ({{Baseball year|1968}}–{{Baseball year|1973}})
|highlights=
* 2× [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star]] ([[1963 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1963]], [[1969 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1969]])
}}
'''Raymond Leonard Culp Jr.''' (born August 6, 1941) is an American former professional [[baseball]] [[pitcher]]. He played in [[Major League Baseball]] (MLB) for the [[Philadelphia Phillies]]  ({{baseball year|1963}}–{{baseball year|1966}}), [[Chicago Cubs]] ({{baseball year|1967}}), and [[Boston Red Sox]] ({{baseball year|1968}}–{{baseball year|1973}}).

== Early life ==
Culp was born on August 6, 1941, in [[Elgin, Texas|Elgin]], Texas. He attended [[Stephen F. Austin High School (Austin, Texas)]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Ray Culp Stats, Height, Weight, Research & History {{!}} Baseball Almanac |url=https://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=culpra01 |access-date=2024-12-12 |website=www.baseball-almanac.com |language=en-us}}</ref> He ran track and played baseball and basketball in high school. As a junior pitcher in 1958, Culp won six postseason games, including a no-hitter, in leading the team to the state title. Over two seasons in 1958 and 1959, he had 18 consecutive wins, finally losing a 1-0 game in 1959 in the state tournament.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Armour |first=Mark |title=Ray Culp, Society for American Baseball Research |url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/ray-culp/ |website=SABR.org}}</ref>

[[Danny Cater]], an Austin high school baseball rival who attended [[Travis High School|William B. Travis High School]], would become Culp's teammate on the [[Williamsport Grays]], the 1964 Phillies and the 1972 Red Sox.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Engelhardt |first=Brian |title=Danny Cater, Society for American Baseball Research |url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/danny-cater/ |website=SABR.org}}</ref> 

==MLB career==
At 17, Culp was offered contracts with 15 of the 16 major league baseball teams, signing as an undrafted free agent with the [[Philadelphia Phillies]] for $100,000.<ref name=":0" /> While still 17, he was assigned to the [[Johnson City Cardinals|Johnson City Phillies]] of the [[Appalachian League]], where he played in four games. From 1960 to 1962, Culp pitched for four minor league teams, none higher than [[Single-A]] baseball. In 1962, he played for the Williamsport Grays of the [[Eastern League (1938–present)|Eastern League]], with a 3.20 [[earned run average]] (ERA), and a 13-8 [[Win–loss record|win-loss]] record.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ray Culp Minor Leagues Statistics |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=culp--002ray |access-date=2024-12-12 |website=Baseball-Reference.com |language=en}}</ref>

=== Philadelphia Phillies ===
Culp began the 1963 season with the Phillies. His first appearance was as a relief pitcher (a win for him over the [[Cincinnati Reds]]), but soon became a starting pitcher.<ref name=":0" /> His first year was an impressive one, starting 30 games as he compiled a 14–11 win–loss record for the Phillies and a 2.97 ERA. He also had five shutouts.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Ray Culp Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/culpra01.shtml |access-date=2024-12-12 |website=Baseball-Reference.com |language=en}}</ref> He was eighth in the [[National League (baseball)|National League]] (NL) in strikeouts, although his control was somewhat shaky, leading the league in walks with 102.<ref>{{Cite web |title=1963 National League Pitching Leaders |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/NL/1963-pitching-leaders.shtml |access-date=2024-12-12 |website=Baseball-Reference.com |language=en}}</ref>

As a rookie, he made the {{baseball year|1963}} NL [[1963 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star squad]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=1963 MLB All-Star Game Roster - Major League Baseball - ESPN |url=https://www.espn.com/mlb/allstargame/history/results/_/year/1963 |access-date=2024-12-12 |website=ESPN.com}}</ref> and went on to retire [[Al Kaline]], [[Frank Malzone]], and [[Carl Yastrzemski]] (around a [[Leon Wagner]] single),{{citation needed|date=December 2024}} in a scoreless fifth inning<ref>{{Cite web |title=1963 All-Star Game {{!}} Baseball Almanac |url=https://www.baseball-almanac.com/asgbox/yr1963as.shtml |access-date=2024-12-12 |website=www.baseball-almanac.com}}</ref> of the [[Senior Circuit|Senior Circuit's]] 5–3 victory. He was named the National League's Rookie Pitcher of the Year by ''[[The Sporting News]].''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rookie Pitcher of the Year Award by The Sporting News {{!}} Baseball Almanac |url=https://www.baseball-almanac.com/awards/aw_snrp.shtml |access-date=2024-12-12 |website=www.baseball-almanac.com}}</ref>

In 1964, Culp suffered from a recurring sore arm. His ERA went up to 4.12, and he started only 19 games with an 8-7 record. His pitching problems may have been part of the [[1964 Philadelphia Phillies season|Phillies collapse]] during the pennant race that year, where the team had a 6.5 game lead in first place with 12 games to play, and lost out in the pennant race to the [[St. Louis Cardinals]].<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Philadelphia Phillies' collapse of 1964 still stings 50 years later |url=https://www.foxsports.com/stories/mlb/philadelphia-phillies-collapse-of-1964-still-stings-50-years-later |access-date=2024-12-12 |website=FOX Sports |language=en-US}}</ref> Despite the injury, he did pitch a one-hitter on June 23, 1964 against the Chicago Cubs.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Couch |first=Dick |date=June 24, 1964 |title=Culp pitches one-hitter as Phillies split with Cubs |url=https://www.latimes.com/sports/story/2021-12-21/denny-lemaster-buddy-salinas-1963-milwaukee-braves-hank-aaron-joe-torre |work=Oxnard Press-Courier}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Chicago Cubs vs Philadelphia Phillies Box Score: June 23, 1964 |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PHI/PHI196406232.shtml |access-date=2024-12-12 |website=Baseball-Reference.com |language=en}}</ref> In 1965, Culp was much improved, starting 30 games, with a 14-10 record and a 3.22 ERA for the Phillies.<ref name=":2" /> 1966 was Culp's worst season in Philadelphia. He started only 12 of 34 games he appeared in, and had a 5.04 ERA.<ref name=":2" />

=== Cubs and Red Sox ===
In December 1966, he was traded (with cash) to the Chicago Cubs for pitcher [[Dick Ellsworth]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=Ray Culp Trades and Transactions by Baseball Almanac |url=https://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/trades.php?p=culpra01 |access-date=2024-12-12 |website=www.baseball-almanac.com}}</ref> He pitched one year for the Cubs, and was 8-11 with a 3.89 ERA.<ref name=":2" /> In November 1967 he was traded to the Boston Red Sox for [[Bill Schlesinger]] and cash.<ref name=":3" /> He played with the Red Sox from 1968-1973, ending his career there.<ref name=":2" />

Culp returned to the All-Star game in [[1969 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1969]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=1969 MLB All-Star Game Roster - Major League Baseball - ESPN |url=https://www.espn.com/mlb/allstargame/history/results/_/year/1969 |access-date=2024-12-12 |website=ESPN.com}}</ref> pitching a perfect ninth inning for the [[American League]] (AL). He retired [[Pete Rose]] (on a foul pop fly) and struck out [[Randy Hundley]] and [[Tony Pérez]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=July 24, 1969 |title=All-Star Play by Play |work=The Times (Shreveport, Louisiana) |pages=23}}</ref>

He strung together four steady seasons for the Red Sox from {{baseball year|1968}}–{{baseball year|1971}}, winning between 14 and 17 games in each.<ref name=":2" /> None of his teams during Culp's career appeared in a postseason game.<ref name=":0" />

In 11 seasons he had a 122–101 win–loss record, 322 games, 268 games started, 80 complete games, 22 shutouts, 21 games finished, 1 save, 1,898{{fraction|1|3}} innings pitched, 1,677 hits allowed, 863 runs allowed, 755 earned runs allowed, 188 home runs allowed, 752 walks allowed, 1,411 strikeouts, 70 hit batsmen, 73 wild pitches, 8,066 batters faced, 58 intentional walks, 3 balks, and a 3.58 [[earned run average|ERA]].<ref name=":2" />

== Career after baseball ==
After retiring from baseball, Culp became the successful owner of a real estate business in Austin.<ref>{{Cite web |last=ReadingEagle |date=2014-09-30 |title=1964 Phillies: Where are they now? |url=https://www.readingeagle.com/2014/09/30/1964-phillies-where-are-they-now/ |access-date=2024-12-12 |website=Reading Eagle |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":0" />

==Accomplishments and statistics==
*Selected by [[The Sporting News]] as National League Rookie Pitcher of the Year, 1963<ref>{{cite web|title=Rookie Pitcher of the Year Award|url=http://www.baseball-almanac.com/awards/aw_snrp.shtml|website=baseball-almanac.com|access-date=October 10, 2015}}</ref>
*Named to the 1963 National League All-Star Team and the 1969 American League All-Star Team
*Led the National League in [[hit by pitch|hit batsmen]] (tied at 12, with [[Jim Bunning]] and [[Don Drysdale]], 1965)<ref>{{Cite web |title=1965 Major League Baseball Pitching Leaders |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/majors/1965-pitching-leaders.shtml |access-date=2024-12-12 |website=Baseball-Reference.com |language=en}}</ref> the American League (tied at 11 with [[Bob Johnson (pitcher)|Bob Johnson]], 1970)<ref>{{Cite web |title=1970 American League Pitching Leaders |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/AL/1970-pitching-leaders.shtml |access-date=2024-12-12 |website=Baseball-Reference.com |language=en}}</ref>
*Led the National League in [[base on balls|walks]] allowed (102) (1963)
*Ranks 124th on the MLB career hits allowed per nine innings pitched list (7.95), as of 2024<ref>{{Cite web |title=Career Leaders & Records for Hits per 9 IP |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/hits_per_nine_career.shtml |access-date=2024-12-12 |website=Baseball-Reference.com |language=en}}</ref>
*Ranks 243rd on the MLB career [[strikeout]]s per nine innings pitched list (6.69)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Career Leaders & Records for Strikeouts per 9 IP |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/strikeouts_per_nine_career.shtml |access-date=2024-12-12 |website=Baseball-Reference.com |language=en}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{baseballstats|mlb=112931|espn=20643|br=c/culpra01|fangraphs=1002869|brm=culp--002ray|retro=C/Pculpr101}}
*[https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/49d66c10 Ray Culp] at SABR (Baseball BioProject)
*[https://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=culpra01 Ray Culp] at Baseball Almanac

{{Boston Red Sox Opening Day starting pitchers}}
{{Sporting News MLB Rookie of the year}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Culp, Ray}}
[[Category:1941 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Philadelphia Phillies players]]
[[Category:Chicago Cubs players]]
[[Category:Boston Red Sox players]]
[[Category:Major League Baseball pitchers]]
[[Category:Baseball players from Travis County, Texas]]
[[Category:National League All-Stars]]
[[Category:Johnson City Phillies players]]
[[Category:Des Moines Demons players]]
[[Category:Asheville Tourists players]]
[[Category:Williamsport Grays players]]
[[Category:Pawtucket Red Sox players]]
[[Category:People from Elgin, Texas]]
[[Category:20th-century American sportsmen]]