Tom Tellmann

[Michael Trzinski]

Thomas John Tellmann was born in March 1954 in Warren, Pennsylvania. After high school, Tellmann attended Grand Canyon College in Arizona and was selected in the 11^th round by the San Diego Padres in the 1976 MLB Amateur Draft.

The lanky (6-foot-3, 195 pound) right-hander led the Single-A California League with 12 saves for Reno in 1977, and ranked second with 14 saves the following year in the Double-A Texas League with Amarillo. One year later, he made his major league debut with the Padres in June and was greeted rudely by the St. Louis Cardinals, who banged Tellmann around for seven hits and five runs in 2.2 innings. He was sent down a few days later to make room for recently acquired outfielder Jay Johnstone.

In 1980, the Padres converted Tellmann to a starting role and he performed well, going 13-5 in 24 starts with an ERA of 3.23. He got his second call-up to San Diego and made six appearances in September, including one save and a pair of complete game victories. Despite the solid performance, Tellmann spent the next two years back at Triple-A Hawaii. After the 1982 season, Tellmann was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers for a pair of minor league pitchers.

Tellmann was one of the top Brewer relief pitchers over the next two campaigns. In 1983 he notched eight saves and nine wins in 44 games, posting a team runner-up mark of 135 ERA+. The following season he posted an ERA+ mark of 140, even though he walked more (31) than he struck out (28) in 81 innings over 50 appearances.

After a dismal spring in 1985, Tellmann was released by the Brewers. “We had to cut somebody,” manager George Bamberger said. “We just felt we had to make some changes.” Ten days later he was signed by the Oakland Athletics.

Tellmann made 11 appearances for the A’s and posted a subpar 77 ERA+ and a 5.06 ERA. He was sent down to Triple-A Tacoma and struggled with back problems. He was released after the season by the A’s.

In his two years as a Brewer, Tellmann posted a 137 ERA+ with 12 saves and 15 wins.

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