Ray Semproch was never a star in Major League Baseball, but he holds the special distinction of being part of not one, but two expansion teams in 1961.
In Nov. 1960, Semproch was one of the first two players drafted by the Washington Senators, a decade before they would move to Texas and become the Rangers. Semproch would never pitch a regular-season game for Washington, however. In April 1961, he was claimed off waivers by the expansion Los Angeles Angels.
Semproch, who died Oct. 27 at age 93, pitched the last of his four major league seasons with the Angels in 1961.
In a big league career that began with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1958, Semproch went 19-21 with a 4.42 earned-run average.
Twenty Los Angeles Angels baseball players, sporting baseball caps & casual clothes as they ride bicycles with country/western singer and team owner Gene Autry leading the pack on street during a training camp outing in 1962. A member of the expansion Angels has died.
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A native of Cleveland, Semproch was signed by the Philadelphia Phillies as an amateur in 1951. He spent two years away from baseball serving in the military and did not debut until April 1958.
In his first major league game, Semproch gave up a hit and a walk, struck out two, and earned the win in a three-inning relief appearance. His fourth career start, in San Francisco, was a shutout.
Three months into his career, Semproch was 11-5 with a 3.08 ERA and leading the National League in wins, but he finished the season 13-11 with a 3.92 ERA for the 69-85 Phils.
The following year, 1959, Semproch went 3-10 with a 5.40 ERA in 30 games (18 starts).
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In Dec. 1959, Semproch was traded to the Detroit Tigers, along with Chico Fernandez, for Ted Lepcio, Ken Walters, and Alex Cosmidis. Semproch would make 17 appearances out of the bullpen for the Tigers in 1960 with a 4.00 ERA.
Semproch spent most of 1960 in Triple-A, going 11-2 with a 3.96 ERA for the Spokane Indians. The Indians went 92-61 that year and were generally regarded as one of the best clubs in the city’s baseball history.
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On Nov. 28, 1960, Semproch was drafted by the Washington Senators in the Rule V Draft. he and John Gabler became the first two players acquired by the “new” Washington Senators of 1961, prior to the expansion draft.
The Angels cut Semproch midway through the 1961 season, selling his contract to Toronto of the International League. However, a back injury kept him out of action for most of the season. He resurfaced in spring training the following year with the Cleveland Indians but did not make the team’s major league roster.
After baseball, Semproch worked for many years as a bar manager in his brother’s Italian restaurant in Ohio.
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