Baseball players from Ohio

Roy Earl Wright (September 26, 1933 – May 5, 2018) was an American professional baseball player. A right-handed pitcher, during his playing career he was measured at 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m) tall and weighed 170 pounds (77 kg).Wright pitched one game of Major League Baseball. Signed by the New York Giants after four years of service in the United States Army, he started the last game of the Giants' 1956 season, the second game of a double-header against the Philadelphia Phillies. Wright lasted 22⁄3 innings, giving up eight hits (including a three-run home run by Willie "Puddin' Head" Jones), five earned runs and two bases on balls. He took the loss in a 5–2 Giant defeat.Wright pitched in the minor leagues from 1957 to 1959 before leaving baseball.
Wright died May 5, 2018.

James Elden Waugh (November 25, 1933 – February 16, 2010) was an American professional baseball pitcher. The right-hander appeared in 46 career games pitched in Major League Baseball as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates during parts of the 1952 and 1953 seasons. Born in Lancaster, Ohio, he was listed as 6 feet 3 inches (1.91 m) tall and 185 pounds (84 kg).
Waugh graduated from Lancaster High School and attended Ohio University and Ohio State University. Signed by the Pirates in 1951, he made his MLB debut in April 1952 at the age of 18 after only one minor-league season. On August 9, he won his first big-league game with a complete game, 4–3 victory over the Chicago Cubs at Forbes Field. Wins were hard to come by for both Waugh and his team; he lost the other six decisions of his rookie campaign, and the 1952 Pirates dropped 112 of their 154 games. In 1953, Waugh worked in 29 games with 11 starts and posted his second career complete-game, a 5–2 triumph over the Philadelphia Phillies at Connie Mack Stadium on August 20. His sophomore season saw him improve his won–lost record to 4–5, but his earned run average was a poor 6.48. The 1953 Pirates won only 50 games themselves.
Waugh's last MLB game came on September 26, 1953; he started against the New York Giants and was tagged with a 5–3 loss. In his 46 major-league games, including 18 starts, he won five games and lost 11, with an ERA of 6.43. In 1422⁄3 innings pitched, he allowed 169 hits and 88 bases on balls, recording 41 strikeouts.
Waugh's last pro season was 1956. He died in Rock Hill, South Carolina, in February 2010.

Harold Lewis "Corky" Valentine (January 4, 1929 – January 21, 2005) was an American professional baseball pitcher who worked in 46 career games in Major League Baseball as a member of the 1954 and 1955 Cincinnati Redlegs. Born in Troy, Ohio, Valentine threw and batted right-handed and was listed as 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m) tall and 203 pounds (92 kg).

Richard Carl Tomanek (January 6, 1931 – August 11, 2023) was an American professional baseball player, a pitcher who played for five seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the Cleveland Indians from 1953 to 1954 and 1957 to 1958 and the Kansas City Athletics from 1958 to 1959. Nicknamed "Bones", he stood 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m) tall and weighed 175 pounds (79 kg). In the early 1950s, he served in the United States Marine Corps.

Duane Charles Theiss (born November 20, 1953) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He played two seasons with the Atlanta Braves from 1977 to 1978.Theiss attended Sheridan High School (Thornville, Ohio) then Marietta College, and in 1974 he played collegiate summer baseball with the Wareham Gatemen of the Cape Cod Baseball League. He was drafted in the 12th round of the 1975 MLB Draft by the Braves.

Wilbur Scott "Jake" Striker (October 23, 1933 – March 7, 2013) was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played in 1959 and 1960 with the Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox.
Originally signed by the Indians in 1952, the 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m), 200 lb (91 kg) Striker enjoyed a promising start to his career. In his MLB debut on September 25, 1959, against the Kansas City Athletics at the age of 25, Striker tossed 6⅔ innings of solid baseball, allowing only two earned runs for a 2.70 earned run average and the win. He went 0 for 1 with a walk at the plate in what would be the only game in which he would appear in 1959.
The only player from Heidelberg College to reach the major leagues, Striker was traded on December 6, 1959 with Dick Brown, Don Ferrarese and Minnie Miñoso to the White Sox for Johnny Romano, Bubba Phillips and Norm Cash. He only appeared in two games with the White Sox, both relief appearances. In 3+ innings of work, he posted a 4.91 ERA, striking out one and walking one. His major league career ended on April 24, 1960. Overall, he went 1 and 0 with a 3.48 ERA in 3 games in his career. He walked five, struck out six and gave up one home run (to Casey Wise) in about 10 innings of work. Overall, he wore three uniform numbers in his short two-year career. He wore 23 with the Indians, and 20 and 31 with the White Sox.

Charles Budd Schultz (born September 19, 1950), is a former Major League Baseball player who played pitcher from 1975–1979. He played for the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals.
Schultz holds the NCAA record for most strikeouts in a game. On April 3, 1971, while playing for Miami University, he recorded 26 strikeouts against Wright State.

Harold Eugene Reniff (July 2, 1938 – September 7, 2004) was an American professional baseball player. The right-handed relief pitcher appeared in Major League Baseball for all or parts of seven seasons, from 1961 to 1967, almost exclusively as a member of the New York Yankees. Reniff was listed as 6 feet (1.8 m) tall and 215 pounds (98 kg). He was born in Warren, Ohio, and signed with the Yankees in 1956 after graduating from Chaffey High School in Ontario, California.
Reniff spent five full years in minor league baseball (winning 21 games for the Modesto Reds of the Class C California League in 1959) before he was called up to the Yankees in June 1961. He also spent part of 1962 in the minors, before making the Bombers' bullpen corps for good in 1963. That season, the best of his career, he recorded a career-high 18 saves (sixth in the American League) and posted his finest earned run average (2.62). He pitched in the 1963 and 1964 World Series for the Yankees, allowing two hits and a base on balls, but no runs in 31⁄3 total innings pitched. He did not get credit for a decision or a save, as the Yankees fell in both Fall Classics, to the Los Angeles Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals respectively.
The Yankees sold Reniff's contract to the crosstown New York Mets in June 1967, and he completed his major league career on the Mets' bullpen staff, getting into 29 games. Returning to the Yankee organization in 1968, he spent five full years at Triple-A Syracuse, but did not earn a recall to the majors. He retired after the 1972 season, his 17th in pro ball, at age 34. He died in the city of Ontario, aged 66, in 2004.

Stephen Stepanovich Rachunok (a.k.a. "The Mad Russian") (December 5, 1916 – May 11, 2002), was a professional baseball pitcher in Major League Baseball for the Brooklyn Dodgers.
A native of Rittman, Ohio, Rachunok appeared in two games during the 1940 season, one as a starter, where he pitched a complete game. His Major League Baseball (MLB) debut came on September 17, 1940, where he pitched the top of the ninth inning, surrendering 1 walk while striking out 1 as the Dodgers were defeated 5–0 by the visiting St. Louis Cardinals at Ebbets Field. His only other MLB appearance came 9 days later in the second game of a doubleheader at Ebbets Field when facing the Boston Bees surrendering 5 runs (all earned), striking out 9, while walking 4, en route to a 5–4 loss.Rachunok died on May 11, 2002, in Corona, California.

John Nolan Purdin (July 16, 1942 – March 28, 2010) was a Major League Baseball pitcher.Purdin was born in Lynx, Ohio. He was signed as an amateur free agent by the Los Angeles Dodgers before the start of the 1964 season. He made his debut on September 16, 1964, throwing two innings of no-hit ball in relief against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He struck out Vern Law and Donn Clendenon. Two weeks later on September 30, he threw a two-hit shutout against the Chicago Cubs, giving up his only hits, both singles, to Dick Bertell in the 3rd and 5th inning.In the minors, Purdin threw a perfect game against Lexington in 1964. The game went seven innings, on the backend of a doubleheader. During warmups, he pegged his usual starting catcher, Butch Johnson, in the eye. Jim Connor came in from third base to replace him for the night, and Ed Knipple moved to third. Purdin struck out 11 batters in the perfect outing, with Knipple driving in the only run of the game.At Salisbury, Purdin posted a 14–3 record with a 1.91 ERA and 182 strikeouts in 137 innings pitched, while only giving up 27 walks. For the Spokane Indians in 1967 he led the Pacific Coast League in games started (31) and shutouts (6).Purdin died in Charleston, South Carolina, at the age of 67.