Roman Anthony Semproch, also known as Baby and Ray, was a right-handed Major League Baseball pitcher who played from 1958 to 1961 for the Philadelphia Phillies, Detroit Tigers and Los Angeles Angels. He was signed by the Phillies as an amateur free agent in 1951, but he did not make his big league debut until many years later - on April 15, 1958, against the Cincinnati Reds. The year prior, he'd gone 12?4 with a 2.64 ERA for the Triple-A Miami Marlins. In his first major league game, he gave up a hit and a walk, struck out two, and earned the win in a three inning relief appearance. Overall, he went 13?11 with a 3.92 ERA in 36 big league games that season. Although he was leading the league in wins at mid-season, his success tapered off and he finished with a winning percentage slightly higher than .500. Asthmatic, Semproch never lived up to his rookie season's success. In 1959, he went only 3?10 with a 5.40 ERA in 30 games. He was traded to the Tigers on December 5, 1959 with Chico Fernandez for Ken Walters, Ted Lepcio, and minor leaguer Alex Cosmidis. In 17 relief appearances for the Tigers in 1960, he had an ERA of 4.00 and a record of 3?0. 

January 7th, 1931 in Cleveland  /  Died:   Oct 27th, 2024