Ray Lamb

Raymond Richard Lamb

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 175 lb.
• School University of Southern California
• High School Herbert Hoover High School (Glendale)
• Debut August 1, 1969
• Final Game September 28, 1973
• Born December 28, 1944 in Glendale, CA USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Ray Lamb had a nice five-year major league career, pitching in 1969 and 1970 for the Los Angeles Dodgers and 1971 to 1973 for the Cleveland Indians.

Ray was born in southern California and attended the University of Southern California. He was drafted in the 40th round in the 1966 amateur draft. A teammate at USC was Tom Seaver.

Lamb was successful during his four years in the minors, winning over 60% of his games. When he came to the majors in 1969, a teammate was Don Sutton, another USC alumni. Ray was excellent in his 10 appearances for the Dodgers, posting an ERA of 1.80.

In 1970, although he had a record of 6-1, his ERA slipped a bit to 3.79 (the team average was 3.82). After the 1970 season, he and Alan Foster were traded to Cleveland for Duke Sims. Ray got 21 starts, along with 22 relief appearances, for the Indians in 1971, and his ERA was one of the best on the staff. He had fewer starts in 1972 as his 3.09 ERA was a bit worse than the team's 2.92 ERA. He closed out his major league career largely in relief with the Indians in 1973. A shoulder injury led to the end of his pro days.

He was the last Dodgers player to wear uniform number 42, doing so in 1969, when the Dodgers, not feeling overly bound by the franchise's history in Brooklyn, issued him the number famously worn by Jackie Robinson. However, they soon realized their mistake, and he switched to #34 in 1971, while in 1972 the Dodgers officially retired the number on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Robinson's major league debut. Twenty-five years later, it was retired across Major League Baseball.

After baseball he became famous in a different world as a noted sculptor of miniatures.

One of the sources: Meet Ray Lamb.