Jessie Huggins

Jessie Lee Huggins

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 4", Weight 185 lb.

• Born November 5, 1944 in Zachary, LA USA
• Died May 31, 2017

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Jessie Huggins pitched professionally for 7 seasons, 5 of them at AAA. Huggins is a prime example of how one typo on the internet is amplified by people repeatedly copying things from the internet without researching primary sources. Huggins was identified for years as "Jesse Higgins" on the main Baseball-Reference.com site, as well as Cubanball.com, Thebaseballcube.com, Wikipedia, a Northern League website, Super70s.com, Baseballhistorian.com and more. All were in relation to a transaction in which Huggins and several major leaguers were involved in. Huggins was 47-28 in his career.

Jesse debuted in 1965 with the Magic Valley Cowboys, going 2-0 with a 3.30 ERA. In 1966, Huggins pitched for the Decatur Commodores, posting a 12-11, 2.38 mark. He led the Midwest League in complete games (17), innings pitched (212) and hits allowed (165). He finished 8th in the MWL in ERA. He also hit well, batting .234/~.329/.234. Huggins then missed two seasons due to his entry into the US Army.

Huggins returned to action in 1969, too old to be a major prospect. He appeared in 20 games for the Fresno Giants (1-1, 2 Sv, 3.12, 62 K in 52 IP) and 12 for the Phoenix Giants (.333 batting average, 6-3, 3.91). In November, his contract was purchased by the Seattle Pilots.

The Pilots became the Milwaukee Brewers in 1970 and Huggins pitched for their top farm club, the Portland Beavers, going 1-0 with one save and a 3.00 ERA in 13 games (5 starts). He allowed only 27 hits in 36 innings but walked 26. In May, The Sporting News called him one of Milwaukee's top two pitching prospects, along with Skip Lockwood. He also pitched for the Jacksonville Suns, with a 4-1 record in eight starts.

On October 20, he was traded with George Lauzerique and Jerry McNertney to the St. Louis Cardinals for Carl Taylor and Jim Ellis.

Jesse split 1971 between the Arkansas Travelers (5-1, 2.70 in 7 games, all starts) and the Tulsa Drillers (3-4, 5.40, 45 BB in 60 IP in 34 games, 3 of them starts). In 1972, he signed with the Alijadores de Tampico and pitched a one-hitter in his first start, on March 27. He had a strong 14-6 season with a 1.87 ERA, completing 14 of 25 starts, 4 of them shutouts. He struck out 134 in 183 IP. He was second in the Mexican League in ERA, trailing only Alfredo Meza.

After not pitching in Organized Baseball in 1973, Huggins returned in 1974 with Tampico but was a bust, going 0-1 with a 7.36 ERA in two games.

Sources: 1967-1973 Baseball Guides, The Mexican League: Comprehensive Player Statistics by Pedro Treto Cisneros, Pat Doyle's Professional Baseball Player Database, The Sporting News archive at Paper of Record