Paul Cherry

Paul Jeffrey Cherry

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 1", Weight 180 lb.
• High School Monsignor Pace High School
• Born June 7, 1962 in Hollywood, FL USA
• Died October 26, 2007 in Hong Kong, Hong Kong

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Pitcher Paul Cherry spent eight years in the minor leagues from 1981 to 1988. He pitched two full years and part of a third in Triple-A, though he never reached the major leagues.

Drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 17th round of the 1980 amateur draft, Cherry began his professional career the next year with the Johnson City Cardinals. In 14 starts, he was 10-2 with six complete games and a 2.50 ERA. He led the Appalachian League in wins and games started, placed second in innings pitched (behind Danny Cox) and hits allowed (behind Mark Butler) and finished third in complete games and WHIP (1.030). With the St. Petersburg Cardinals in 1982, he was 7-9 with a 3.17 ERA in 26 starts, tying for second in the Florida State League in games started.

He pitched for the Springfield Cardinals in 1983 and went 10-6 with a 3.58 ERA in 27 starts. He had 132 strikeouts, marking the only time in his career that he would K more than 100 batters in a season, and completed three games. Finishing behind Mike Trujillo, Cherry was second in the Midwest League in starts and tied for third in innings pitch (166). He was 12-11 with a 3.30 ERA in 1984, spending most of the season with St. Petersburg (he made a single appearance in Springfield). He tied for second, behind Jeff Sellers, in the FSL in starts and also tied for second, behind Chuck Mathews, in hits allowed (183).

With St. Petersburg again in 1985, Cherry was 10-4 with seven complete games, three shutouts a 1.88 ERA in 32 games (19 starts), tying for third in the FSL in shutouts. He was 5-8 with a 4.47 ERA in 41 games (11 starts) combined between the Arkansas Travelers and Triple-A Louisville Redbirds in 1986 and in 1987, with the Redbirds, he was 11-5 with a 4.70 ERA in 46 games (12 starts). He wrapped up his career in 1988, going 0-2 with a 4.64 ERA in 19 games (two starts) for Louisville.

Overall, Cherry went 65-47 with a 3.36 ERA in 244 games (139 starts). He had 644 strikeouts in 999 innings of work.

Cherry died at the age of 45 on October 26, 2007. Initially, it was suspected that he and another man were drugged and killed by a prostitute, however toxicology reports found that both men had heroin and cocaine in their systems.