Former Major League Pitcher Dies at 55

Doug Creek, a pitcher who appeared in 279 games for seven teams across a decade at baseball’s highest level, has died. He was 55.

Creek pitched for the St. Louis Cardinals, San Francisco Giants, Tampa Bay Rays, Chicago Cubs, Detroit Tigers, Seattle Mariners, and Toronto Blue Jays from 1995-2005.

According to the Journal-News of Martinsburg, W.V., Creek died Sunday from the effects of pancreatic cancer.

Creek was a standout athlete at Martinsburg (W.V.) High School, winning the 1987 state baseball player of the year award, as voted on by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association.

At Georgia Tech, Creek started 70 games from 1988-91, a school record that still stands. He also holds the Bulldogs career records for wins (41) and strikeouts (458).

That earned him a seventh-round draft pick by the Cardinals in 1991, and he needed just three full minor league seasons to reach the big leagues as a reliever. Creek debuted Sept. 17, 1995, against the Los Angeles Dodgers and made six scoreless appearances that year out of the Cardinals’ bullpen.

In Dec. 1995, Creek was packaged with pitchers Rich DeLucia and Allen Watson to the Giants in exchange for shortstop Royce Clayton. Creek would make 63 relief appearances in his first season in San Francisco, logging a 6.52 ERA in 48.1 innings, and the general manager who acquired him (Bob Quinn) was fired in September.

Creek spent most of the following season as a starting pitcher for the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate, making just three major league starts. San Francisco traded him to the Chicago White Sox for cash in Nov. 1997.

But Creek would never pitch for the White Sox. Instead, he headed to the Hanshin Tigers of Nippon Professional Baseball for the 1998 season, going 0-4 in seven games (six starts). That would be Creek’s only season in Japan. He returned to North America in 1999.

Creek put together a solid season with the Chicago Cubs’ Triple-A affiliate, returning to the starting rotation and going 7-3 with a 3.79 ERA, but only appeared in three major league games that year — all as a reliever.

Creek would play the next three seasons (2000-02) with the Devil Rays, where he achieved his greatest career success. He went 5-9 with a 4.87 ERA in 130 games in Tampa Bay.

From 2002-05, Creek played for four teams as a middle reliever, before finally hanging up his cleats after the 2005 season in Detroit.

After retiring from baseball, Creek reportedly became a charter boat captain, working out of Tampa Bay, Florida, and also competed as an angler on the Redfish Circuit. He was also a renowned youth baseball coach who coached at the high school level in Maryland.