Nelson Chittum

From BR Bullpen

Nelson Boyd Chittum

Bats Right, Throws Right
Height 6' 1", Weight 180 lb.
School Elizabethtown College
Debut August 17, 1958
Final Game May 4, 1960
Born March 25, 1933 in Harrisonburg, VA USA

[edit] Biographical Information

Before the 1956 season the St. Louis Cardinals signed Nelson Chittum , a 23 year old righthand pitcher out of Elizabethtown College. He was assigned to the Fresno Cardinals of the class C California League and in his initial season he came up with a 23-7 record and a 3.62 ERA. This fine performance earned him the league's Rookie of the Year Award.

Nelson would have another good season in 1957, going 16-12 with a 3.38 ERA for the Houston Buffaloes of the class AA Texas League. He kept his momentum in 1958, winning 12 and losing 8 with a 2.84 ERA for the Omaha Cardinals of the AAA American Association.

This earned him a late season look with the major league Cardinals and this is what he had to say. "I started a game against the Dodgers at the Los Angeles Coliseum. The first guy I faced was Jim Gilliam, and he bunted towards first, Stan Musial picked up the ball and when he went to throw it to me I was still standing on the mound. He told me, 'don't worry about it kid,' I pitched four innings with no decision."

He finised up the season with the 1958 Cardinals, going 0-1 in 13 appearances and before the 1959 season started he was traded to the Boston Red Sox for Dean Stone. In 1959 he had a record of 11-5 for the Minneapolis Millers of the American Association and was called up to the Red Sox. He pitched effectively in 21 relief appearances going 3-0, allowing only four runs in 30 innings for a 1.19 ERA. But after another six games out of the Boston bullpen in 1960 he was gone from the majors with a career mark of 3-1 and a 3.84 ERA in 40 games.

Chittum would spend four more seasons in the AAA minors with not a whole lot of success and retire from pro baseball after the 1964 season. He had spent nine years in baseball and his minor league stats show he won 106 games while losing 82 with a career 3.75 ERA.

After leaving baseball Chittum managed a clothing store in Elizabethtown, PA before going to work for the postal service. He was an inspector for in the area of internal theft for twenty years before retiring in 1990 to Henderson, TN.