Touring The Bases With…Bob Bruce

Bob Bruce was signed as an amateur free agent by the Detroit Tigers at the age of 20 but it took him six years to make his Major League debut.  Bruce went 18-8 with a 3.20 ERA in his first professional season with the Wausau Timberjacks of the Wisconsin State League in 1953, then went 13-10 in 1954, and 9-13 with a 3.56 ERA in 1955 while climbing the organizational ladder.  Bruce posted a 1.71 ERA in 1956, but it wasn’t until September 14, 1959 that he finally made his big league debut.

After two appearances in ’59, the big righthander spent most of the next eight seasons in the majors, enjoying his best season in 1964 when he went 15-9 for the Houston Colt .45’s and posted a career-best 2.76 ERA.  His success was short-lived, though; he went 9-18 for Houston in 1965, then 3-13 with a career-worst 5.34 ERA in 1966 before being traded to the Atlanta Braves for Hall of Fame third baseman Eddie Mathews, among others.

Bruce spent one season with the Braves and retired in 1967 with a career mark of 49-71 and a 3.85 ERA in 219 games.

Click here to see a video of an interview we did with Bob Bruce .

Bob Lazzari is an award-winning sports columnist for both Connecticut’s Valley Times and NY Sports Day , where his “Sports Roundup” column is featured weekly. He is a member of the Connecticut Sports Writers’ Alliance and host of “ Monday Night Sports Talk ,” a cable television show on CTV/Channel 14 in Connecticut.