Howard Ralph Nunn is a retired American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 professional baseball

Professional baseball

Baseball is a team sport which is played by several professional leagues throughout the world. In these leagues, and associated farm teams, players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system....

 player. The right-handed pitcher

Pitcher

In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...

 appeared in Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

 for the full season (although he was sidelined by a sore arm for part of the campaign), along with partial seasons in and . He stood 6 feet (1.8 m) tall and weighed 173 pounds (78.5 kg) during his active career.

Nunn entered baseball in 1954 after signing with the St. Louis Cardinals

St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won eleven World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to...

, and was very successful at the minor league

Minor league baseball

Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...

 level. He compiled a 112-58 won/lost record in nine minor league seasons, including a 23-7 season in the Class C California League

California League

The California League is a Class A Advanced minor league baseball league which operates throughout the state of California. Before 2002, it was classified as a "High-A" league, indicating its status as a Class A league with the highest level of competition within that classification, and the fifth...

, an 18-win year in the Class D Appalachian League

Appalachian League

The Appalachian League is a Rookie-class minor league that began play in 1937 with one year of inactivity in 1956. From 1937 to 1962, it was a Class D League. Teams are located in the Appalachian regions of Virginia, North Carolina, West Virginia and Tennessee...

, and a 16-victory campaign in the Double-A Texas League

Texas League

The Texas League is a minor league baseball league which operates in the South Central United States. It is classified a Double-A league. The league was founded in 1888 and ran through 1892...

. In 1960, he posted a 1.99 earned run average

Earned run average

In baseball statistics, earned run average is the mean of earned runs given up by a pitcher per nine innings pitched. It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number of innings pitched and multiplying by nine...

 in the Triple-A International League

International League

The International League is a minor league baseball league that operates in the eastern United States. Like the Pacific Coast League and the Mexican League, it plays at the Triple-A level, which is one step below Major League Baseball. It was so named because it had teams in both the United States...

 and overall had a career minor-league ERA of 3.38 in 1,463 innings pitched.

As a Major Leaguer, Nunn won four of seven decisions in 46 games, all in relief

Relief pitcher

A relief pitcher or reliever is a baseball or softball pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed due to injury, ineffectiveness, fatigue, ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as being substituted by a pinch hitter...

, with an ERA of 5.11. He was a teammate (and, briefly, roommate) of Jim Brosnan

Jim Brosnan

James Patrick Brosnan was a Major League Baseball player from 1954 and 1956 through 1963. He was a pitcher for the Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds and Chicago White Sox...

 on the 1959 Cardinals

1959 St. Louis Cardinals season

The St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 78th season in St. Louis, Missouri and its 68th season in the National League. The Cardinals went 71-83 during the season and finished seventh in the National League, 16 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers....

 and 1961 Cincinnati Reds

1961 Cincinnati Reds season

The Cincinnati Reds season was a season in American baseball. It consisted of the Reds winning the National League pennant with a record of 93-61, four games over the runner-up Los Angeles Dodgers, but losing the World Series in five games to the New York Yankees. The Reds were managed by Fred...

, and appears in Brosnan's memoirs The Long Season and Pennant Race. Nunn worked in 24 games for the National League

National League

The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...

 champion Reds in 1961, but did not appear in the 1961 World Series

1961 World Series

The 1961 World Series matched the New York Yankees against the Cincinnati Reds , with the Yankees winning in five games to earn their 19th championship in 39 seasons. This World Series was surrounded by Cold War political puns pitting the "Reds" against the "Yanks"...

 due to his arm injury. He spent spring training

Spring training

In Major League Baseball, spring training is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for roster and position spots, and gives existing team players practice time prior to competitive play...

 with the 1962 New York Mets

1962 New York Mets season

The New York Mets season was the first regular season for the Mets, as the National League returned to New York for the first time since . They went 40-120 and finished tenth and last in the National League, games behind the NL Champion San Francisco Giants, who once called New York home...

, but was returned to the Reds' organization before the regular season began.