Jay Baller

Jay Scot Baller (born October 6, 1960 in Stayton, Oregon) was a right-handed relief pitcher in Major League Baseball for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, and Kansas City Royals. Baller spent parts of six different seasons in the major leagues but never was able to stick with a big league time for an entire campaign. Primarily a reliever, Baller recorded 138 saves in 14 minor league seasons and 6 saves in 94 major league contests.

Baller was drafted by the Phillies in the 4th round (98th overall) of the 1979 amateur draft out of Canby High School in Canby, Oregon. He made his major league debut with the Phillies as a reliever on September 19, 1982, throwing a scoreless, hitless inning versus the Pittsburgh Pirates. He would pitch in three other games that season, including one of his five major league starts, before returning to the minor leagues.

Baller was a throw-in player in a major trade after the 1982 season, as the Cleveland Indians sent Von Hayes to the Phillies in exchange for Julio Franco, Manny Trillo, George Vukovich, Jerry Willard, and Baller. He spent the next two seasons as a starter in Cleveland's minor leagues before being traded again to the Chicago Cubs for Dan Rohn in April 1985. That season, Baller would finally return to the majors, appearing in 20 games (4 starts) and posting a respectable 3.46 ERA. Baller split the 1986 season between the AAA Iowa Cubs and the major-league Cubs, sporting a 5.37 ERA, a 2-4 record and five saves in 36 games with Chicago. It would be the most extensive big-league action of his career.