Local Legends: Wythe County's Archer Reflects On Time Spent In MLB

Jim Archer played just two seasons in the major leagues and his professional career was cut short due to a shoulder injury.

However, the Wythe County native isn’t bitter and still reflects on his brief big league career with reverence.

“I really enjoyed my time there,” Archer said. “I would have played for nothing if they would have fed me and gave me a place to sleep.”

Archer compiled a 9-16 record with five saves and a 3.94 ERA in his two seasons with the Kansas City Athletics. His time in the majors lasted just 57 games, but Archer packed plenty of memories into his stay.

Making It

Archer’s rise to the majors was a study in patience and perseverance.

The left-hander was a star athlete at now-defunct Max Meadows High School and shined in baseball and basketball. He once tossed a no-hitter and connected for two home runs in a game against rival Rural Retreat.

“I’ve often said there wasn’t a scout within 500 miles of that place and I pitched the best game of my life,” Archer said jokingly.

While a scout wasn’t there that day, Archer did attract some attention and eventually signed a pro contract. The start of his career was preempted briefly while he fulfilled his military obligation, but once he signed, his stops in the minor leagues included Lagrange, Ga., Pulaski, Va., Knoxville, San Antonio and York, Pa.

It was in York where Archer learned the ropes and befriended a future Hall of Famer.

“Me and Brooks Robinson broke in together,” Archer said. “We played two seasons together. He’s one of the greatest third basemen to ever live. When you would see him walk from the dugout to third base he had stooped shoulders and you would think, this guy can’t catch anything. But he was like a vacuum cleaner out there and he did it for more than 20 years.”

Archer was successful in the minors, but couldn’t crack the big league pitching staff of the Baltimore Orioles.

“I went to spring training with Baltimore 2-3 times,” Archer said. “I pitched a lot of innings one spring and did real well. I had some great comments and I remember thinking I had made it. Low and behold, Paul Richards, our manager, called me over to the sidelines one day and he said we have a lot of pitchers that are already established.

“I was so disappointed. He said you have a choice — you can go to San Antonio and bust your butt or you can go home. So I packed my bags and flew to San Antonio.”

Archer fared well with San Antonio and played well the following season for Portland of the Pacific Coast League. Yet, still no major league opportunity.

That would change in January of 1961 when Archer was playing winter ball in Puerto Rico.

“I was having breakfast at a little beach club,” Archer said. “The secretary of the ballclub said you’ve been traded. I said ‘The hell I have. Why don’t I know about it?’ Right away, I got a call from [Kansas City owner] Charlie Finley and he said you belong to me now.”

It was a move that would change Archer’s career and his life forever.

The Summer of ’61

For Jim Archer, everything came together in the summer of 1961. The hard work and the years he had spent toiling in the minors finally paid off.

He compiled a 9-15 record with a 3.20 ERA and five saves in his rookie season for a team that lost 100 games. He finished ninth in the American League in ERA, just behind Jim Bunning and just ahead of Whitey Ford.

He tossed 205 1/3 innings in 39 games (27 starts) and cemented himself as the ace of the Kansas City pitching staff.

He also pitched against the New York Yankees six times that season and went 2-2 with one save against the eventual World Series champions.

It was in those encounters that Archer shut down the Yankees’ powerful duo of Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris. Mantle was 4-for-17 in his career against the southpaw from Southwest Virginia, while Maris was 3-for-18 with three strikeouts.

“I didn’t have much trouble with Maris and Mantle,” Archer said. “Mantle hit right-handed off me and I used to give him fits. I had a good breaking ball and the Good Lord blessed me with the control.”

It was also against the Yankees that Archer had the most memorable day of his pro career.

An Eventful Day

On June 19, Archer was scheduled to start against the vaunted New York Yankees and their loaded lineup. With his brother in town and wanting to get his mind off the game for a few hours, Archer headed to the Truman Library in nearby Independence to do some sight-seeing.

Archer and his brother happened to bump into the man the building was named after, former United States President Harry Truman, while there.

“He walked in and said Jim, how are you doing,” Archer said. “He said I don’t go to the ballgames anymore, but I know about you and appreciate your work. We talked to him for about 35-40 minutes. It was absolutely great. My brother couldn’t believe it.”

The day got better for Archer. That night at Municipal Stadium, Archer earned his fifth win of the season in dramatic fashion.

After holding the Yankees to just two runs over the first eight innings, Roger Maris broke a 2-2 tie with a home run to lead off the top of the ninth inning. It was Maris’ 25th home run of the season. He would go on to hit 61 homers and break Babe Ruth’s single-season record that had stood for 34 years.

“The pitch was an identical pitch that I had struck him out with before,” Archer said. “It was just 6-8 inches different and it got out over the plate. I knew it was gone as soon as he hit it.”

The A’s trailed by one run entering their final at-bat and Archer was on the hook for the defeat.

“I was hoping something would happen in the bottom of the ninth,” Archer said.

It did. Pinch-hitter Wes Covington hit the game-winning home run off New York reliever Luis Arroyo, giving Archer and the A’s a dramatic win.

“I was exhausted,” Archer said. “I went in the clubhouse and sat down and our manager, Hank Bauer, said you ought to take [Covington] to the store tomorrow and buy him a suit.”

The End

Archer appeared in just 18 games for Kansas City the next season as the tendonitis in his shoulder became too much to bare. He never pitched in the majors again following the 1962 season.

Archer did go out in style though. In his last game on Sept. 19, 1962 at Municipal Stadium, he tossed a shutout inning of relief against the Cleveland Indians. In fact the last hitter he faced, Ty Cline, grounded into a double play.

Archer would find more success after his playing days. He ran several prominent car dealerships in Tarpon Springs, Fla. and later served as the city commissioner of the small community near Tampa.

But before he entered the business and political world, the man from Max Meadows made memories in the majors.

thayes@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2570