Detroit Tigers – Five Players Who Turned Into Pumpkins

Jerry Ujdur

I have to be honest, I’ve never heard of Jerry Ujdur, but apparently he was a bit of a legend in Duluth, and he threw hard for his era. He was drafted by the Detroit Tigers out of the University of Minnesota in the 4th round in 1978, three rounds after they took fellow Big Ten product Kirk Gibson. Ujdur came up in late 1980, earning a win in his first career start, but posting an ugly 7.59 ERA over 21.1 innings. He also saw four starts in the strike-shortened 1981 season, but struggled to a 6.41 ERA.

Then came 1982, when Ujdur suddenly found magic. He joined a rotation of Jack Morris, Dan Petry, and Milt Wilcox, and went 10-10 with a 3.69 ERA over 25 starts. Ujdur threw seven complete games, and finished second on the staff with 2.3 bWAR. But his BABIP was just .222, and he managed to strand more than 80% of his baserunners despite a measly 11.7% strikeout rate.

Udjer quickly turned into a pumpkin, with early season struggles sending him back to the minors in 1983. The following year he was cut in spring training and briefly joined Cleveland, but that didn’t last either. He pitched just 48.1 big-league innings after his successful 1982 campaign, and he retired with a career 12-16 record and a 4.78 ERA.