AMES, Iowa- Bob Locker calls himself a casual observer of Major League baseball. He spends most of his time operating his successful business, a real estate company in the San Francisco Bay area. He still follows the local teams, especially the Oakland A’s. You can pardon Locker for not being a fanatic of the game, because he has already lived it. For 10 years, Locker was one of the best relievers in baseball (1965-75), posting outstanding numbers for the Chicago White Sox, Seattle Pilots, Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland A’s and Chicago Cubs.
Locker will be one of nine former Cyclone athletes invited back to Ames in September as part of the 2008 Iowa State Athletics Hall of Fame ceremony. Despite his incredible post-collegiate professional career in baseball, Locker still has fond memories of his humble beginnings as a member of the ISU baseball team and his former coach who helped mold his career.
“I was a prime example of a Cap Timm baseball player,” Locker said about his ISU hall of fame coach. “I was not the greatest pitcher coming out of college, but Cap taught me how to pay attention to detail. I would have never made it in pro ball without playing for Cap.”
Timm, who coached baseball at Iowa State from 1938-74 and was a member of ISU’s inaugural Hall of Fame class in 1997, built the Cyclones into a Midwestern power on the diamond throughout his storied tenure. He led ISU to a pair of College World Series appearances (1957, 1970) and was revered as a true pioneer of college baseball.
“He was a wonderful man,” Locker added. “I played for countless coaches and managers in my baseball career, and Cap is right up there at the head of the class. He was the best manager I ever played for.”
Timm saw potential in his young hurler from tiny George, Iowa when he enrolled at ISU in the fall of 1956. Locker’s stats were nothing extraordinary in his first three years with the Cyclones. He already had the firepower, throwing in the high 80s and low 90s, but something was missing.
“I was a bit wild and needed to develop a pitch that moved,” Locker said. “Cap really worked with me to hang on to the ball a little longer and taught me the sinker ball. It was the pitch that became my bread and butter.”
Locker’s improvement on the mound earned him all-Big Eight honors as a senior in 1960, as Iowa State finished second in the league with a 12-6 mark. He also garnered interest from a slew of professional scouts. He signed a minor league contract with the Chicago White Sox after obtaining a geology degree from ISU.
His strong work ethic and perseverance in the minors awarded him a call-up to the big leagues at the age of 27, making the opening day roster for the White Sox in 1965. He quickly used his devastating sinker-ball to become one of the best relievers in baseball. In 1967, Locker had one of his best seasons, leading the American League in appearances (77), saving 20 games and compiling a 2.09 ERA. Locker also had the good fortune of being reunited with one of his former Cyclone teammates, Jerry McNertney, who was enjoying a solid professional career of his own. McNertney, who was inducted into ISU’s Hall of Fame in 2006, was Locker’s catcher for four seasons in the big leagues.
“Jerry and I have been friends for a long time,” Locker said. “We roomed together on the road. We both love to hunt and fish and we did a lot of that on our days off. He was another perfect example of a Cap Timm player. He was not blessed with a lot of speed, but he paid attention to detail and outworked people.”
Locker was traded to Oakland in 1970 and joined an up-and-coming group of All-Stars with the A’s, as the franchise was at the beginning of its amazing dynasty in the early 1970s. He went 7-2 and had a 2.86 ERA in 1971 and was a catalyst out of the bullpen in Oakland’s first of three-straight World Series titles in 1972. He posted a 2.65 ERA, went 6-1 and tallied 10 saves in the 1972 championship season, the only Cyclone ever to appear in a World Series game.
Many historians believe that Locker and the A’s were trailblazers in establishing baseball’s change of culture in situational relief pitching. Oakland was stocked with outstanding relievers like Locker, Rollie Fingers and Darold Knowles. The A’s renegade owner Charlie O’Finley made it a priority on his club.
“It used to be that relief pitchers were pitchers that were sent to the bullpen because they were terrible starters,” Locker said with a laugh. “O’Finley changed that. He wanted his relievers to be stoppers and just as good as his starters, so he went out and signed guys like Fingers and Knowles who could be just as effective in the late innings. One of my teammates with the A’s at the time was a guy named Tony La Russa. He picked up on this concept and took it to a new level when he later became one of the best managers in the history of baseball.”
Locker ended his productive baseball career in 1975 after playing a couple seasons with the Chicago Cubs. Through 10 Major League seasons, Locker recorded an impressive 2.75 ERA, tallied 95 saves and posted a 57-39 overall mark. He appeared in 576 games and logged 879 innings pitched, all in relief. When he retired, his 95 career saves ranked 27th all-time.
Locker credits much of his success to the minor details he learned from Timm.
“I went out each day with the concept I was going to work hard and do my best,” Locker said. “Always learn from your mistakes, keep making adjustments and make sure your body is mentally and physically ready to compete.”
Locker will be back in Ames in September to accept his prestigious induction into the ISU Athletics Hall of Fame. The ceremony will take place Sept. 5 at the Hotel at Gateway Center and all of the inductees will be honored at halftime of the Iowa State-Kent State football game on Sept. 6.
To purchase tickets for the 2008 ISU Hall of Fame ceremony, contact Diane Shearer in the ISU athletics development office at 515-294-5072 or dkshear@iastate.edu.
