Jim Wright Was Everywhere...and Ever*when*
If you needed a right-hander on the mound -- whenever -- he was Mr. Wright
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1982 Donruss Jim Wright (#490) - Card of the Day
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Some baseball players can be confusing through no fault of their own.
Take Jim Wright, for example.
According to Baseball Reference, the right-hander appeared in four games for the St. Louis Browns in 1927 and 1928.
From there, “Jim Wright” disappeared from the majors until 1978, then pitched 35 games for the Red Sox over the next two summers.
About two years after he threw his last pitch for Boston, “Jim Wright” was back, debuting for the Royals on April 22, 1981. In between all that, “Jim Wright” made at least six stops in the minor leagues, starting in 1937 and ranging into the 1980s.
You’ve probably read between the lines by now and realize that we’re dealing with multiple Jim Wrights here…right? (Wright?)
When you lay them all out in a line, it’s pretty easy to differentiate the 1920s guy from the later guys, and the major leaguers from the minor leaguers.
The last two major leaguers named “Jim Wright,” though? They’re a bit tougher to sort.
The Boston righty, James Clifton Wright, ended up being a major contributor to the 1978 Sox team that almost won a division title. His 8-4 record and 3.57 ERA in 116 innings was good for more than two WAR.
He was done in the bigs by the middle of the next summer, though, felled by a shoulder injury from which he never really came back.
Meanwhile, James Leon Wright, missed all of 1979 due to injury, which put the skids on what had been a steady rise through the minors.
After the Phillies drafted him in the fifth round in 1973, Wright clicked through their farm system on the regular, throwing two no-hitters and landing at Triple-A Oklahoma City in 1977. He went 14-6 with a 3.13 ERA for the 89ers before the injury bug bit in 1978.
It was all enough to earn Wright a slot on the 1979 Topps Phillies Prospects card (#722) alongside Jim Morrison and Lonnie Smith. Injured or not, Wright had arrived in wax packs.
Not surprisingly, that wasn’t the case in 1980, when Topps skipped him in their checklist after he went missing from stat lines in 1979.
This Jim Wright did mostly get back on track in 1980, though, starting 23 games at O.K.C. and crafting a 9-9 record, albeit with a 5.35 ERA.
Royals scouts must have seen something they liked, ERA be darned, because after losing to the Phillies in the 1980 World Series, K.C. plucked Wright in the Rule 5 Draft that December.
That meant they’d have to keep him on the roster all of 1981 or try to waive him.
The Royals opted for the former, and Wright broke Spring Training with the club. He would make his big league debut in a 2.1-inning relief stint against the Indians on April 22.
Overall in that strike-torn season, Wright appeared in 17 games, including four starts, and went 2-3 with a 3.46 ERA across 52 innings. While he was compiling those numbers as a rookie, collectors were getting a waxy déjà vu, as Topps included Wright on their Phillies Future Stars card (#526) with Marty Bystrom and Jay Loviglio.
Must have seemed like some sort of glitch in the World Series matrix for those who were paying attention.
Royals brass were paying attention, and Wright was back in the fold for 1982. After an 0-0 start in seven games with a 5.32 ERA, though, Kansas City sent the righty to the minors.
He never came back…to the majors, that is. He did spend 1982 popping out of wax packs, courtesy of both Topps and Donruss.
You can see that Donruss near-career-capper above (and below).
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That would be the end of the line for major league Jim Wright baseball cards (so far, at least).
Traded to the Cubs for Mike King that November, Wright spent one season in the Chicago farm system before embarking on a long coaching career. It was a gig that would eventually lead him to slots on major league staffs with both the Phillies and Rockies.
In case you’re wondering, that other Jim Wright — the Red Sox guy — finished up his pro career in the minors for the Blue Jays at about the same time the Royals’ Jim Wright was wrapping up his time in Kansas City in the spring of 1982.
And that Jim Wright — the Royals’ Jim Wright…James Leon Wright — he turns 71 years old today.
1993 Score Select Carney Lansford Made It All the Way Back
The last batter Royals Wright faced in the major leagues was Red Sox third baseman Carney Lansford, the then-reigning American League batting champ. Lansford doubled home Tony Perez to put Boston ahead, 6-0, in the top of the fifth at Royals Stadium on May 15, 1982.
The Sox would trade Lansford to the A’s that December, and he settled in with Oakland for the next decade. When he hung up his spikes in 1992, he owned 2074 career hits and a spiffy .290 batting average, paving the way for a career-capper in the upscale Score Select issue the next year.
Read more about Lansford and that card right here.
Under the Halo: The Official History of Angels Baseball
Before Lansford became a star in Boston and Oakland, he did the same in Anaheim, where he helped the California Angels win their first division title in 1979.
You can read more about Angels’ history in Under the Halo, by Pete Donovan and with contributions from Tim Salmon and Mike Scioscia.
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