Jim Cullinane

James Ralph Cullinane

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 6' 2", Weight 180 lb.
• High School Concord High School
• Born February 28, 1918 in Concord, MA USA
• Died June 26, 1992

BR minors page

Biographical Information

A long-time minor leaguer, Jim Cullinane might possibly have missed his chance at the major leagues due to World War II. He began his career in 1937 with the Beaver Falls Bees, batting .284. In '38, Cullinane was with the Sydney Mines Ramblers and put up a .261/~.325/.322 line and he hit .259 for that squad in 1939. In 1940, Jim played for the Albany Senators and Gloversville-Johnstown Glovers. In his first year with the Can-Am League, he hit .306 with 83 RBI. The next season, Cullinane again spent a minute amount of time with Albany. With the Augusta Tigers, he hit .320, nearly leading the club. In 1942, the veteran hit .277 for Albany.

The Pittsburgh Pirates bought the contracts of Cullinane and Ralph Kiner from the Senators. He went to spring training with the Pirates but the Naval Air Corps came calling and he spent the next four years in the military. He injured his throwing hand one fall while putting up storm windows and lost about half of a finger, limiting his throwing ability.

Cullinane returned to Albany in '47, hitting .282, then batted .277 the next year. In 1949, Jim became the Glovers' player-manager and returned to his old club to hit .322 with 91 RBI and 16 homers (easily a career high). The team finished sixth in the league at 65-74 and Cullinane made the Canadian-American League All-Star team. He was in the top 10 in all three Triple Crown statistics and beat out Frank Malzone for the MVP award.

In 1950, his final season, Jim batted .259/~.400/.386 with 77 walks in 102 games, striking out just 19 times. He managed the team to a 57-81, 5th-place finish.

Sources: 1939 Spalding Guide, 1951 Baseball Guide, Pat Doyle's Professional Baseball Player Database, Baseball's Canadian-American League by David Pietrusza

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