Lonborg, "Jim" (James R.)
Baseball
b. April 16, 1942, Santa Maria, CA
The 6-foot-5, 210-pound Lonborg, a right-handed pitcher, joined the AL's Boston Red Sox in 1965 and had a 19-27 record in his first two seasons. But with the pennant-winning "Impossible Dream" team of 1967, he had a 22-9 record with a 3.16 ERA and a league-leading 246 strikeouts to win the league's Cy Young Award.
Lonborg pitched a 1-hit, 5-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals in the second game of the World Series and won the fifth game 3-1 on a 3-hitter. However, facing Bob Gibson on just two days' rest in the seventh game, he lost 7-2.
A broken leg in a skiing accident nearly ended Lonborg's career. On and off the disabled list because of the injury, He won just 17 games while losing 22 over the next three seasons. After going 10-7 in 1971, he was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers, who sent him to the Philadelphia Phillies the following year.
Lonborg pitched for Philadelphia, with limited success, until retiring after the 1979 season. He had a 157-137 record with 15 shutouts and a 3.86 ERA. He struck out 1,475 hitters and walked 823 in 2,464 innings.