Bob Gillespie

Robert William Gillespie
(Bunch)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 4", Weight 187 lb.
• High School South High School (Columbus)
• Debut May 11, 1944
• Final Game May 11, 1950
• Born October 8, 1919 in Columbus, OH USA
• Died November 4, 2001 in Winston-Salem, NC USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Bob Gillespie was signed as an amateur free agent by the Detroit Tigers before the 1940 season. He spent his first year in pro ball pitching for the Henderson Oilers of the class C East Texas League, winning 18 games and losing 9 with a 3.73 ERA. The big righthander would spend until 1944 in the minors, pitching for the class B Winston-Salem Twins in 1941, going 6-15 with a 4.14 ERA, the Beaumont Exporters in 1942, going 11-7 with a 2.98 ERA. Bob got his first look at the majors with the Tigers in 1944 when he went 8-9 with a 4.26 ERA for the Buffalo Bisons and appeared in 7 games for the Tigers, pitching 11 innings and going 0-1.

Gillespie spent 1945 with the Buffalo squad again, this time winning but 7 and losing 15 and pitching 161 innings. In 1946 he appeared with the Dallas Rebels in the Texas League, won 14 and lost 12 with a 3.21 ERA and was drafted by the Chicago White Sox from the Tigers in the 1946 Rule V Draft. Bob spent both 1947 and 1948 with the White Sox, appearing in 50 games, winning 5 and losing 12 over the two seasons with a combined 4.93 ERA.

The big righthander got back to the majors two years later on the strength of a 17-13 year with the Sacramento Solons of the Pacific Coast League in 1949, prompting the Boston Red Sox to purchase him from the White Sox on October 12th. He made one appearance in 1950 for the Red Sox with no decisions and this finished up his major league career with a 5-13 record in 58 appearances, pitching 202 innings with a 5.07 ERA.

Gillespie spent four more years in pro baseball (1950-1953), all in the minors, where he concluded his 13 active seasons with 306 appearances on the mound, winning 113 games and losing 116, while pitching 1,809 innings and giving up 1,673 base hits, along with 979 base on balls for a career 3.83 ERA.

After baseball Gillespie became a newspaper press-room supervisor for the Winston-Salem Journal, working there until his retirement. Bob died on November 4, 2001, at age 82 in Winston-Salem, NC.

Related Sites

• Bob Gillespie at the SABR Bio Project