John Salamon

John Anthony Salamon

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 220 lb.

• High School Sto-Rox High School

• Born March 30, 1972 in Pittsburgh, PA USA
• Died September 28, 2009

BR Minors page

John Salamon spent a decade pitching in the minor leagues.

Salamon was picked by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 19th round of the 1990 amateur draft. He was 2-1 with a 4.30 ERA for the 1991 Martinsville Phillies with 20 walks in 29 innings. In 1993, he signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates organization; his hometown club assigned him to the Augusta Pirates, where the right-hander was 1-2 with a save and a 3.54 ERA in 47 outings. He allowed only 43 hits in 61 innings, striking out 59; control remained his problem as he walked 42. He had a better ERA than some teammates who would make the majors, such as Marc Wilkins.

John moved to the Milwaukee Brewers organization in 1994 and went 3-1 with six saves and a 2.62 ERA for the Beloit Snappers. He was even stingier to opposing hitters, with just 27 hits in 48 innings while striking out 54. He walked 52, though.

In '95, Salamon was in the Colorado Rockies system, going 2-0 with a save and a 6.12 ERA for two clubs, walking 21 in 25 innings.

Out of Organized Baseball, the right-hander remained active in the independent leagues for several more years. He was 3-1 with seven saves and a 2.31 ERA in 37 games for the 1996 Madison Black Wolf. Had he qualified, he would have led the Northern League in ERA instead of Jack Morris.

In 1997, John was less effective, going 6-5 with 9 saves and a 6.53 ERA for two Northern League clubs despite striking out over a batter per inning. The next year, Salamon was back in Organized Baseball, signed by the Rockies. He went 2-3 with a save and a 5.62 ERA in 53 games for the New Haven Ravens with 72 strikeouts but 66 walks in 72 innings.

The hard-throwing but wild hurler bounced around in 1999 between the independent Lehigh Valley Black Diamonds (1-0, 3.18 in 8 G), the Atlanta Braves' Greenville Braves (2-4, Sv, 8.29 in 28 G, 42 BB, 41 K in 42 1/3 IP) and the New York Yankees' Tampa Yankees (2 UER in 1 2/3 IP).

He wrapped up his playing career in 2000 with the Black Diamonds, going 0-2 with a 8.31 ERA. He was uncharasterically hittable with 37 hits in 26 innings.

Salamon was timed at 100 mph at one point during his career.

After retiring as a player, Salamon owned and taught at the Baseball Training Academy in Pittsburgh.

Sources

• 1992-2001 Baseball Almanacs
• Obituary in the 10/2/2009 edition of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette