Jim Driscoll

James Bernard Driscoll
(Jimmy)

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 175 lb.
• High School Arlington (MA) High School
• Debut June 17, 1970
• Final Game May 26, 1972
• Born May 14, 1944 in Medford, MA USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Jim Driscoll was the brother of replacement umpire Joe Driscoll; another brother, Mark Driscoll, played minor league baseball. His father complemented his income by working as an usher at Fenway Park and Jim was able to meet the great Ted Williams at a very young age as a result. Williams would later serve as his manager with the Texas Rangers in 1972.

In his major league career, he played 21 games for the Oakland Athletics in 1970, hitting .192 with his only major league homer. He then returned to the Show with Texas in 1972, going 0 for 18 in 15 games. He was a typical utility infielder, seeing action at shortstop, second base and third base. His minor league career lasted from 1962 to 1975. After first signing as an amateur free agent with the Milwaukee Braves, he was taken by the Athletics (then the Kansas City Athletics) in the first-year player draft. He played in their organization until 1971, the last five seasons at AAA. He was purchased by the Washington Senators at the trading deadline in 1971 and spent the rest of that season in AAA before the team relocated to Texas in 1972.

After his second major league stint, he continued playing in AAA for a couple more seasons, after being traded to the Cincinnati Reds with catcher Hal King in return for P Jim Merritt. He was with the Indianapolis Indians in both 1973 and 1974, then started his final season in AA with the Trois-Rivières Aigles in the Eastern League in 1975 before ending up with the AAA affiliate of the Houston Astros to finish the year. He had a couple of relatively good seasons with the bats with the Iowa Oaks in 1969 and 1970, hitting .286 and .303, but otherwise usually had a batting average under .250 with little power. He did draw more walks than most players of his type, so his on-base percentage was normally pretty good.

Further Reading

• Charlie Grassl: "Jimmy Driscoll", in Steve West and Bill Nowlin, eds.: The Team That Couldn't Hit: The 1972 Texas Rangers, SABR, Phoenix, AZ, 2019, pp. 48-53. ISBN 978-1-943816-93-4

Related Sites

• Jim Driscoll at the SABR Bio Project