Elliott: Remembering the late Ron Law

RHP Ron Law (Hamilton, Ont.) spent the 1969 season in the Cleveland bullpen.

January 21, 2024

By Bob Elliott

Canadian Baseball Network

A total of 263 Canadians have played in the majors.

We have written about most of them on the Canadian Baseball Network.

All the way from the A’s -- OF Jim Adduci (Burnaby, BC) and OF-INF Bob Addy (Port Hope, Ont.) to ...

To the Z’s -- RHP Jeff Zimmerman (Kelowna, BC) and his younger brother LHP Jordan Zimmerman (Kelowna, BC).

We really don’t remember writing much about Ron Law. Law (Hamilton, Ont.) pitched for Cleveland in 1969. He died July 5, 1994 at the unfair age of 48, according to the most recent SABR Biographical Research Committee newsletter.

How often does a post-1950s major leaguer’s death go undiscovered for 30 years? Law died in St. Petersburg, Fla. And very few deaths get by the crack SABR researchers. But this one did. Until last month.

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Before we get to Mr. Law ...

Adduci, whose father played for the triple-A Vancouver Canadians, played in 151 games with the Texas Rangers, Detroit Tigers and Chicago Cubs, before taking a coaching job with the Cubs.

Addy, the subject of William Humber’s wonderful book, was Canada’s first major leaguer making his debut with the Rockford Forest Citys of the National Association in 1871. He played each game in the 25-game schedule. From there, he competed in NA play with the Philadelphia Whites, Boston Red Stockings and the Hartford Dark Blues. In the National League, he spent time with the Chicago White Stockings and the Cincinnati Reds. In all, he played 274 games.

Undrafted Jeff Zimmerman headed to that hotbed to pitch for the Barracudas de Montpellier in France and coach Greg Hamilton (Peterborough, Ont.). Returning home, he graduated from Simon Fraser University, pitched with the independent Northern League’s Winnipeg Goldeyes in 1997 and was signed by the Texas Rangers. He broke in during the 1999 season and AL manager Lou Piniella selected him to pitch in the All-Star Game at Fenway Park. He pitched in 196 games going 17-12 with 32 saves before injuring his arm after three years.

Brother Jordan, a 32nd rounder, received a $300,000 bonus from the Seattle Mariners and pitched in 12 games in 1999, including a game against his brother on a Friday night at The Ballpark in Arlington. Their father Bill Zimmerman was there to see his two sons pitch against each other. Twas a feature series on the Zimmerman brothers’ debut, their family’s trek from Castlegar, Alta. to college ball in Texas to the majors on Mr. John Lott’s TruNorth site.

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Law made his big-league debut June 29, 1969 for Cleveland against the New York Yankees in the second game of a doubleheader. Cleveland’s Russ Snyder pinch hit for reliever Horacio Pina in the fourth and Law took the mound in the fifth inning at the big ballpark in the Bronx.

The first hitter Law faced was Len Boehmer, who flew out to left. Next he allowed a homer to Frank Fernandez, one of his 39 homers he hit in six seasons. Law then retired Bobby Cox -- yes the future Blue Jays skipper and Atlanta Braves Hall of Fame manager -- and Bill Robinson.

In the top of the sixth, he set down future Yankees GM Gene Michael, walked Bill Burbach, retired Horace Clarke, of the Horace Clarke Yankees, and Ron Woods.

On July 24, Law picked up his first victory as Cleveland edged the Minnesota Twins 6-5 at Cleveland Stadium with three scoreless innings in relief of Luis Tiant and Mike Paul. In the seventh, taking over with Cleveland down a run, Law retired Harmon Killebrew, Rich Reese and Cesar Tovar.

He had a 1-2-3 eighth setting down Leo Cardenas, Graig Nettles and Ted Uhlaender and in the ninth set down three HOFers in Rod Carew, Tony Oliva and Killebrew. Law was 3-4 with a 4.99 ERA in 35 games, making one start. He fanned 29 in 52 1/3 innings.

Law’s minor league career spanned nine seasons, including 250 appearances and besides Cleveland, he pitched in the Cubs, Senators, Rangers and Twins organizations. After a seven-game stint in 1973 with Charros de Jalisco in the Mexican Winter League, he retired.

The 6-foot-2 RHP was signed in 1964 as an 18-year-old by the Cubs. With Chicago’s NL club he pitched in the minors for the rookie-class Treasure Valley Cubs, class-A Quincy Cubs, class-A Lodi Crushers. double-A Dallas-Fort Worth Spurs and double-A San Antonio Missions.

With Cleveland, he pitched for double-A Waterbury Indians, then it was on to the Senators and triple-A Denver Bears and again in Denver with the Rangers affiliate. His final year in affiliated ball was with the Twins’ triple-A Tacoma Twins.