Ray Lamb
{{short description|American baseball player (born 1944)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox baseball biography
|name=Ray Lamb
|image=1973 Cleveland Indians Postcards Ray Lamb.jpg
|position=Pitcher
|birth_date={{Birth date and age|1944|12|28}}
|birth_place=Glendale, California, U.S.
|bats=Right
|throws=Right
|debutleague = MLB
|debutdate=August 1
|debutyear=1969
|debutteam=Los Angeles Dodgers
|finalleague = MLB
|finaldate=September 28
|finalyear=1973
|finalteam=Cleveland Indians
|statleague = MLB
|stat1label=Win–loss record
|stat1value=20–23
|stat2label=Earned run average
|stat2value=3.54
|stat3label=Strikeouts
|stat3value=258
|teams=
- Los Angeles Dodgers ({{by|1969}}–{{by|1970}})
- Cleveland Indians ({{by|1971}}–{{by|1973}})
}}
Raymond Richard Lamb (born December 28, 1944) is a former pitcher in Major League Baseball for two teams, and a highly regarded commercial sculptor of fantasy miniature figurines.
Major league pitcher
During college, Ray Lamb was a pitcher for the University of Southern California Trojans, where he wore the number 42.{{cite web | url =https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/bill-plaschke-meet-ray-lamb-the-last-dodger-to-wear-jackie-robinsons-no-42-by-mistake/ar-BBVXoLx | title =Meet Ray Lamb, the last Dodger to wear Jackie Robinson's No. 42 -- by mistake | last =Plaschke | first =Bill|author-link= Bill Plaschke | date =2019-04-15 | website =MSN Sports | publisher =MSN | access-date =2019-06-23}}
A 40th round pick of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1966, Lamb played for three seasons in the minor leagues{{cite web | url =https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/lambra01.shtml | title =Ray Lamb| website =Baseball Reference | access-date =2019-06-23}} before he was called up to the major leagues. He joined the Dodgers on August 1, 1969,{{cite journal|last=Plaschke|first=Bill| author-link=Bill Plaschke|date=2019-04-15|title=Meet Ray Lamb, the last Dodger to wear Jackie Robinson's No. 42 — by mistake|journal=L.A. Times| url=https://www.latimes.com/sports/dodgers/la-sp-jackie-robinson-day-20190414-story.html|access-date=2019-06-23}} and was given jersey number 42, the number he had worn in college,{{cite web | url =https://www.foxsports.com/mlb/story/los-angeles-dodgers-jackie-robinson-42-ray-lamb-041515 | title =After Jackie Robinson, Ray Lamb became the last Dodger to wear 42 | last =Gardner | first =Sam | date =2015-04-15 | website =Fox Sports | access-date =2019-06-23}} but also the number that Jackie Robinson had worn as a Brooklyn Dodger. No other Dodger in either Brooklyn or Los Angeles had worn that number since Robinson had retired in 1957. Lamb wore the jersey for the rest of the season, and pitched very well: in 15 innings of work, he struck out 11, with a 1.80 ERA, earning one loss and one save.
The jersey with number 42 was taken from him at the end of the season — the Dodgers were planning to retire Jackie Robinson's number — and at the start of the 1970 season, he was given number 34. Wearing his new number, he never quite regained the magic of his first two months, finishing the 1970 season with a 6-1 record and a 3.79 ERA.
At the end of the 1970 season, Lamb was traded to the Cleveland Indians, and pitched there from 1971-1973, earning a 14-21 record, before a shoulder injury ended his career.
In 1980, Fernando Valenzuela started pitching for the LA Dodgers, and was given Lamb's second number, 34. At the end of Valenzuela's career, the Dodgers retired his number, making Lamb not only the last Dodger to wear Jackie Robinson's number 42, but also the only Dodger player to have worn two numbers that were subsequently retired.
Commercial sculptor
After his baseball career ended, Lamb became a sculptor of miniature lead military figures.
By 1980, Lamb was working for Perth Pewter, a subsidiary of Superior Models, sculpting a highly regarded line of 25 mm fantasy miniatures called Wizards and Lizards for the burgeoning fantasy role-playing game market. Reviewers gave his works high praise, using phrases like "excellent detail",{{cite journal|last=Fawcett|first=Bill|author-link=Bill Fawcett (writer)| date=March 1981 |title=Figuratively speaking|journal=Dragon|publisher=TSR, Inc.|issue=47|pages=65}} "amazingly lifelike", "high quality", "expertly inscribed",{{cite journal|last=Fawcett|first=Bill|author-link=Bill Fawcett (writer)| date=March 1981 |title=Figuratively speaking|journal=Dragon|publisher=TSR, Inc.|issue=49|pages=82}} "a great degree of deeply etched detail", "excellent pieces", and "truly gorgeous".{{cite journal|last=Eastland|first=Kim| date=April 1983|title=Figure Feature: Dragons|journal=Dragon|publisher=TSR, Inc.|issue=702|pages=44}} One writer called Lamb "one of the world's greatest miniature sculptors."{{cite journal|last=Eastland|first=Kim| date=February 1983|title=Figure Feature: Knights|journal=Dragon|publisher=TSR, Inc.|issue=70|pages=24}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Baseballstats |mlb=117431 |espn= |br=l/lambra01 |fangraphs= |cube= |brm=lamb--001ray }}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lamb, Ray}}
Category:Major League Baseball pitchers
Category:Los Angeles Dodgers players
Category:Cleveland Indians players
Category:USC Trojans baseball players
Category:Baseball players from Glendale, California
Category:Tri-City Atoms players
Category:Arizona Instructional League Dodgers players
Category:Albuquerque Dodgers players
Category:20th-century American sportsmen