Jim Constable

From BR Bullpen

Jimmy Lee Constable (Sheriff)

Bats Both, Throws Left
Height 6' 1", Weight 185 lb.

Debut June 24, 1956
Final Game April 27, 1963
Born June 14, 1933 in Jonesborough, TN USA
Died September 4, 2002 in Johnson City, TN USA

[edit] Biographical Information

Before the 1951 season, Jim Constable was signed as an amateur free agent by the New York Giants. The left-hander naturally picked up the nickname "Sheriff" and he would start and end his career in the Giants Organization. He was a 19-game winner for the Nashville Volunteers in 1953 while leading the Southern Association in strikeouts with 183.

"Sheriff" would go 12-9 for the Minneapolis Millers in 1955 and get his first look at the major league hitters in three outings with no decisions for the Giants in 1956. He would spend the balance of the season back in Minneapolis, where he went 10-10 with a 3.66 ERA. He would be with the 1957 Giants, making 16 appearances and go 1-1 with a 2.86 ERA. Jim would also go 3-2 with a 4.80 ERA with Minneapolis this same season.

Constable started the 1958 campaign with the San Francisco Giants before being waived to the American League to the Cleveland Indians and the Washington Senators in the same year. In the book The Original San Francisco Giants, Jim described his mental breakdown while playing winter baseball in Cuba, after the 1958 season, which kept him out of baseball for the next three years. Constable had gone 4-4 with a 2.82 ERA in 23 games for the Cienfuegos club.

Constable said, "My father was manic depressive. It is inherited. It was through the heavy stress I was under in Cuba after the whole year I had, being with three different teams, then down there with Castro taking over and people disappearing, I had quite a breakdown."

Jim returned in 1962 to go 16-4 with the Toronto Maple Leafs before returning to the majors with the Milwaukee Braves late that year and shutting out the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-0 in what was his first big league start. "Sheriff" concluded his time in the majors back with the San Francisco Giants the following year, with an overall major league record of 3-4 in 56 games.

He would be with the PCL Tacoma Giants in both 1963 and 1964, finishing out what was the end of eleven years of active play in professional baseball. During his minor league career, Jim's stats show that he appeared in 329 games, winning 102 and losing 85 while pitching 1,566 innings, giving up 1,522 base hits and 660 base on balls for a 3.65 ERA.

After professional baseball, Constable was a control analyst for Magnavox for 15 years before going on to become a school teacher in Jonesboro, Tennessee. He died September 4, 2002 at age 69.