John Fulgham

John Thomas Fulgham

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 2", Weight 205 lb.
• School Yavapai Community College, University of Miami
• High School Pattonville High School
• Debut June 19, 1979
• Final Game August 27, 1980
• Born June 9, 1956 in St. Louis, MO USA

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Biographical Information

John Fulgham's big league career was cut short because of a rotator cuff injury. He is the great-grandson in law of Effie Norton.

Originally drafted by the New York Yankees 15th overall in the January 1976 amateur draft, Fulgham did not sign. Drafted again in the secondary phase of the June 1976 amateur draft by the St. Louis Cardinals, Fulgham did sign and began his professional career with the GCL Cardinals that same year. For them, he went 3-3 with a 3.38 ERA in 56 innings (12 games). For the St. Petersburg Cardinals in 1977, he went 18-6 with a 2.05 ERA in 26 games (202 innings). He pitched for the Arkansas Travelers in 1978, going 9-7 with a 4.03 ERA in 154 innings.

He began the 1979 season with Springfield, going 6-3 with a 3.16 ERA in 77 innings with them. He made his big league debut on June 19 of that year, and he was arguably the Cardinals' best pitcher from that point forward. In his debut, he pitched a complete game shutout, allowing eight hits, one walk, striking out six and getting the win. Overall, he went 10-6 with a 2.53 ERA, with all 10 of his wins being complete games (he ranked seventh in the league in complete games, and 10th in the league in sacrifice hits). He allowed only 123 hits and 26 walks in 146 innings of work, and his ten wins tied him with David Palmer for second most amount of wins by a rookie that season, trailing Rick Sutcliffe's 17. Despite pitching well, he did not receive a single vote for the Rookie of the Year Award.

Because of an injured rotator cuff, Fulgham appeared in only 15 games in 1980, going 4-6 with a 3.38 ERA. Again, all four of his wins were complete games; thus, all 14 of his career wins were complete games. He would never appear in the majors after 1980, playing his final game on August 27. He made one appearance for Arkansas that season, giving up one hit in one walk in five innings. He earned a no-decision.

Despite not pitching in the majors again, he did bounce around in the minors until 1983. Although he didn't pitch in 1981, he spent 1982 with St. Petersburg and the AAA Louisville Redbirds. He went 4-2 with a 2.45 ERA for St. Petersburg, however with the Redbirds he went 4-3 with a 7.01 ERA. Overall, he went 8-5 with a 4.81 ERA. In 1983, he made five appearances for the Redbirds, going 1-2 with a 6.27 ERA.

Following his retirement, he was the head coach for Rollins College in Florida from 1992 to 1994, going 63-52 with one playoff game [1]

Related Sites

• John Fulgham at the SABR Bio Project