Bob Greenwood

Robert Chandler Greenwood
(Greenie)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 5", Weight 200 lb.
• School Saint Mary's College of California
• High School Oakland Technical High School
• Debut April 21, 1954
• Final Game April 21, 1955
• Born March 13, 1928 in Cananea, Sonora Mexico
• Died September 1, 1994 in Hayward, CA USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Bob Greenwood started out in pro baseball as a free agent in 1949 out of St. Mary's University in California where he also played basketball. Greenwood was the first player born in Mexico who played college baseball in the USA. The first ethnic Mexican to do so would be Luis Gomez, two decades later.

He pitched for the Phoenix Senators of the Arizona-Texas League in 1949 going 5-5 with a 5.69 ERA. Bob was there again in 1950, this time winning 13 and losing 12 with a 6.82 ERA. He was then picked up by the Philadelphia Phillies before the 1951 season.

The Phillies assigned Greenwood to the Salt Lake City Bees of the Pioneer League, where he won 21 and lost but 7 in 32 appearances while pitching 256 innings for a 3.30 ERA. He pitched two more seasons in the minors with minimal success but still got two brief looks with the Phillies in 1954, when he appeared in 11 games and went 1-2 with a 3.19 ERA, and again in 1955, when he made only one appearance with no decisions. These two years were all he saw of the big leagues, finishing up at 1-2 with a 3.92 ERA.

In 1954, he was in an auto accident with teammate Willie "Puddin' Head" Jones. The two were coming home from the ballpark when a car ran a stop sign and hit them. Greenwood's arm never fully recovered from the accident and he struggled for the next four seasons, finally retiring from the game in 1960. Greenwood had put in 11 tough years in his minor league career but he did manage to appear in 328 games, winning 113 and losing 118 while pitching 1,794 innings, giving up 1,753 base hits and 934 base on balls for a lifetime 4.48 ERA.

Greenwood was a one handicap golfer. After baseball he was a club pro at the Skywest Golf Club in Hayward, CA, and later at the Montclair Golf Club and Galbraith golf courses in Oakland, CA. Greenwood died on September 1, 1994, at age 66 in Hayward from pneumonia. He had battled asthma all his life.

Sources

Baseball-Reference.com
Baseball Players of the 1950s
SABR MILB Database:page