Cal Koonce

{{short description|American baseball player (1940–1993)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}

{{Infobox baseball biography

|name=Cal Koonce

|image=Cal Koonce.jpeg

|position=Pitcher

|bats=Right

|throws=Right

|birth_date={{Birth date|1940|11|18}}

|birth_place=Fayetteville, North Carolina, U.S.

|death_date={{death date and age|1993|10|28|1940|11|18}}

|death_place=Winston-Salem, North Carolina, U.S.

|debutteam=Chicago Cubs

|debutleague = MLB

|debutdate=April 14

|debutyear=1962

|finalleague = MLB

|finaldate=August 8

|finalyear=1971

|finalteam=Boston Red Sox

|statleague = MLB

|stat1label=Win–loss record

|stat1value=47–49

|stat2label=Earned run average

|stat2value=3.78

|stat3label=Strikeouts

|stat3value=504

|teams=

• Chicago Cubs ({{Baseball year|1962}}–{{Baseball year|1967}})
• New York Mets ({{Baseball year|1967}}–{{Baseball year|1970}})
• Boston Red Sox ({{Baseball year|1970}}–{{Baseball year|1971}})

|highlights=

• World Series champion ({{wsy|1969}})

}}

Calvin Lee Koonce (November 18, 1940 – October 28, 1993) was an American professional baseball player, a right-handed pitcher in the Major Leagues from 1962–71 for the Chicago Cubs, New York Mets and Boston Red Sox. Born in Fayetteville, North Carolina, he grew up in Hope Mills[https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/bec70e21 Cal Koonce | Society for American Baseball Research] Retrieved 2018-07-14. and attended Campbell University. Koonce stood {{convert|6|ft|1|in}} tall and weighed {{convert|185|lb}}.

Koonce appeared in 334 Major League games pitched, all but 90 as a relief pitcher. He allowed 972 hits and 368 bases on balls in 971 innings pitched, with 504 strikeouts and 24 saves. He recorded 11 saves and a low 2.42 earned run average for the 1968 Mets, and was a member of the Mets' 1969 World Series championship team, but he was less effective during the regular campaign and did not appear in the postseason.

As a hitter, Koonce posted a .100 batting average (24-for-239) with 8 RBIs. Defensively, he recorded a .982 fielding percentage, committing only 5 errors in 281 total chances, which was 29 points higher than the league average at his position.

After retiring as an active player, he was head baseball coach of Campbell University, his alma mater, for seven seasons (1980–86),[http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/bec70e21 Silverman, Mathew, Cal Koonce. SABR Biography Project] a scout for the Texas Rangers and a minor league executive. He died from lymphoma at age 52.{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1957&dat=19931030&id=XXkhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=r4kFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3554,7554711&hl=en|title=The Daily Gazette – Google News Archive Search|website=news.google.com}}