Paul Seitz

Paul Richard Seitz (born August 16, 1940 in Ohio) is a former pitcher for the Birmingham Barons and, with his wife, Dianne, the owner of several Little Professor Book Centers in the Birmingham area. Of the four locations he opened between the early 1970s and 1988, only the downtown Homewood one remains.

Seitz began his professional baseball career with the Class D Selma Cloverleafs of the Alabama Florida League in 1960, going 1-1 in 3 starts with a .500 ERA. He finished that season playing for the Class B Burlington Indians of the Carolina League where he went 6-3 in 12 starts with a 3.37 ERA. In 1961 Seitz started the year with the AA Shreveport Sports of the Southern Association, going 6-8 with a 4.85 ERA for the year. As the Sports' starter he took the mound for the first integrated game at Rickwood Field.

Seitz began the 1962 season with the Class A Binghamton, New York Triplets, an affiliate of the Cleveland Indians. He put together a team best 16-7 record with a 3.58 ERA before he was promoted to the AA Albuquerque Dukes of the Texas League. His record over 6 starts there was 1-3 with a 6.63 ERA. In 1963 Seitz was traded to the Kansas City Athletics and began the season with the Class A Lewiston, Idaho Broncs of the Northwest League. He put together a 6-4 record in 11 starts with a 4.41 ERA before he was moved up to the AAA Portland Beavers of the Pacific Coast League. There he struggled with a 2-11 record in 15 starts and a 5.65 ERA.

Seitz moved to Birmingham to play for the integrated 1964 Birmingham Barons, joining a rotation which included Ron Tompkins, Nicky Curtis, Paul Lindblad, and Blue Moon Odom. He went 5-5 in 12 starts with a 4.01 ERA. Returning in 1965, Seitz started 24 games, the most of anyone on the staff, and compiled a 9-11 record, lowering his ERA to 3.82.

In 1966 Seitz was promoted to AAA Vancouver, going 13-9 with an ERA of 3.67 for the Mounties that year. He continued there in 1967, but only went 2-8 in 12 starts to go with his 3.58 ERA. Seitz returned to Rickwood to play for the Birmingham A's in 1968 and started 19 games, going 8-7 with a 3.38 ERA. He returned to the team in 1969, but did not start, going 0-2 in 7 appearances with a 4.50 ERA. He retired from baseball at the age of 28, having compiled a career record of 75-79 in 179 starts, allowing 573 earned runs, 64 home runs, and 842 walks against 714 strikeouts.

Paul's son Jake plays football for the UAB Blazers.

References

• Crowe, Christina (May 14, 2009) "Play Ball: Smack in the center of the football-worshipping South sits the oldest venue for America's favorite pastime." Black & White

External links

• Paul Seitz statistics at baseball-reference.com