RIP to Bob Giggie, who pitched in 30 MLB games in the late 1950s and early ’60s. He died on December 9 at the age of 85. Biggie played for the Milwaukee Braves (1959-60) and Kansas City Athletics (1960, 1962).
Bob Giggie was born in Dorchester, Mass. on August 13, 1933. He graduated from Charlestown High School in 1951 and was drafted by the Boston Braves, according to his obituary. From 1951 through 1956 he pitched for various teams in the team’s minor-league organization, primarily the Atlanta Crackers. He won 53 games over those 6 seasons before he joined the U.S. Army in 1957.
Coming back stateside in 1958, Biggie won 14 games while pitching in Wichita and Atlanta. He finally made it to the major leagues in 1959, getting into 13 games as a reliever for the Braves. He tossed two scoreless innings against Pittsburgh on April 18 in his MLB debut. He picked up a win with 2 hitless innings in his second appearance on May 6 and earned his only career save in his third game. He was used sporadically until mid-August, earning a 4.05 ERA in 13 games.
Giggie appeared in three games with the Braves in 1960 before getting traded to the Athletics for pitcher George Brunet. He won a game for the A’s but had a high ERA of 5.79 and was sent to the minors. He spent all of 1961 playing for the Rochester Red Wings and Hawaii Islanders but came back to Kansas City in 1962 for four final MLB appearances. The best outing of his major-league career came on July 18 against the Baltimore Orioles. He went 8-1/3 innings, scattering 9 hits and 2 runs in a 3-2 win. The other outings weren’t so great, and he ended up with a 1-1 record and 6.28 ERA for the A’s. That season ended up being the last of his pro baseball career
In the major leagues, Giggie went 3-1 with a 5.18 ERA. He walked 32 batters and struck out 32 as well. He also had a 83-81 record in parts of 10 minor-league seasons.
After baseball, Giggie became a CAD drafting engineer at Person Engineering and Vanderwield Engineering in Boston until his retirement.
Obituary: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/bostonglobe/obituary.aspx?pid=190964005
RIP Baseball 