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Former original Houston colt .45 Bob Bruce has passed away at age 83 (He would have turned 84 in May).
After a long minor leagues apprenticeship he reached the big leagues at age 26 with the 1959 Detroit Tigers. Bruce would be claimed by he new Houston franchise in the expansion draft before the 1962 season for their inaugural year of MLB competition. . He had a couple of noteworthy years during his five year tenure in Houston. He was one of the only pitchers to finish with a winning record in Houston's first year of competition when he went 10-9 with a 4.06 earned run average. Two years later in 1964 Bruce had a very fine career best season . That year Bruce went 15-9 with a 2.76 earned run average that should have earned him some all-star game selection consideration. Bruce pitched to contact and was not a strikeout pitcher. ie: In 1965 he had his career best strikeout total of 107Ks, but he had to work almost 230 innings to accomplish that. Despite pitching for some terrible teams Bruce threw 26 Complete Games and had 6 Shut Outs in his career and brought a note of respectability to some horrible teams. Over nine major league seasons from 1959 to 1967 with the Tigers, Colt .45/Astros, and Braves Bruce went 49-71 with an earned run average of 3.85.
After a long minor leagues apprenticeship he reached the big leagues at age 26 with the 1959 Detroit Tigers. Bruce would be claimed by he new Houston franchise in the expansion draft before the 1962 season for their inaugural year of MLB competition. . He had a couple of noteworthy years during his five year tenure in Houston. He was one of the only pitchers to finish with a winning record in Houston's first year of competition when he went 10-9 with a 4.06 earned run average. Two years later in 1964 Bruce had a very fine career best season . That year Bruce went 15-9 with a 2.76 earned run average that should have earned him some all-star game selection consideration. Bruce pitched to contact and was not a strikeout pitcher. ie: In 1965 he had his career best strikeout total of 107Ks, but he had to work almost 230 innings to accomplish that. Despite pitching for some terrible teams Bruce threw 26 Complete Games and had 6 Shut Outs in his career and brought a note of respectability to some horrible teams. Over nine major league seasons from 1959 to 1967 with the Tigers, Colt .45/Astros, and Braves Bruce went 49-71 with an earned run average of 3.85.
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