# Jim Ray

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**James Francis Ray** (December 1, 1944 – May 26, 2005) was an American [right-handed](/source/Right-handed) professional [baseball](/source/Baseball) [pitcher](/source/Pitcher), who played in [Major League Baseball](/source/Major_League_Baseball) (MLB) from 1965 to 1966 and from 1968 to 1974 for the [Houston Astros](/source/Houston_Astros) and [Detroit Tigers](/source/Detroit_Tigers).

Born in [Rock Hill, South Carolina](/source/Rock_Hill,_South_Carolina), he attended [Holly High School](/source/Holly_High_School) in [Holly, Michigan](/source/Holly,_Michigan), and was signed by the [Baltimore Orioles](/source/Baltimore_Orioles) in 1963.

The 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m), 185 lb (84 kg) Ray was known as a hard thrower with a stellar [fastball](/source/Fastball) and earned the nickname "Ray Gun" during the season when he [struck out](/source/Strikeout) 115 batters in 115 innings. Two years later, he appeared in 47 [games played](/source/Games_played) for the [1971 Astros](/source/1971_Houston_Astros_season), all but one in [relief](/source/Relief_pitcher), and won ten of 14 [decisions](/source/Decision_(baseball)) with a 2.12 [earned run average](/source/Earned_run_average) (ERA). He was traded along with [Gary Sutherland](/source/Gary_Sutherland) from the [Astros](/source/1973_Houston_Astros_season) to the [Tigers](/source/1974_Detroit_Tigers_season) for [Fred Scherman](/source/Fred_Scherman) at the [Winter Meetings](/source/Winter_Meetings) on December 3, 1973.[1] For his career, Ray appeared in 308 Major League games, all but 20 in relief, and notched 25 [saves](/source/Save_(baseball)).

Ray died on May 26, 2005, in Margate, Florida.[2]

## References

1. [Durso, Joseph. "4 Trades Made at Meetings," *The New York Times*, Tuesday, December 4, 1973.](https://www.nytimes.com/1973/12/04/archives/4-trades-made-at-mee-tings-4-trades-made-at-baseball-meetings.html) Retrieved January 26, 2023.

1. ["Jim Ray Stats"](https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/rayji01.shtml). *[Baseball-Reference.com](/source/Baseball-Reference.com)*. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved March 30, 2015.

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