Jim Deidel

James Lawrence Deidel

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 2", Weight 195 lb.

• High School Mullen High School (Denver)

• Debut May 31, 1974
• Final Game June 5, 1974
• Born June 6, 1949 in Denver, CO USA

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Biographical Information

"He really helped me turn my career around as far as pitching." - Ron Guidry

Jim Deidel reached the majors with the New York Yankees in 1974 after a long minor league career.

A June 24, 2007 article in the Denver Post described his time in baseball, saying that he was a three-sport athlete at Mullen High School. He had planned to play football at Colorado State University until the Yankees drafted him. In the minors he was at Johnson City, Oneonta, Kinston, West Haven and Syracuse, in the AAA International League where he played several seasons. He usually started ahead of teammate Rick Dempsey in the minors during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Deidel had the misfortune to play in an era prior to the implementation of free agency in Major League Baseball and during a time when the Yankees had a near-Hall of Fame catcher (Thurman Munson) on their roster.

When he was sent back to the minors in 1975, he asked to be released. He had found a good job in Denver, and compared it to the lack of security as a ballplayer.

He is the brother of minor league pitcher Tom Deidel whose career was ended by shoulder problems.