Bob Tufts

"Robert Tufts" redirects here. For other uses, see Robert Tufts (disambiguation).

Robert Malcolm Tufts (born November 2, 1955, in Medford, MA) is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher. He played in parts of three seasons for the San Francisco Giants and Kansas City Royals from 1981 through 1983.

Career

Born in Medford, MA, raised in Lynnfield, MA, Tufts was drafted by the Giants out of Princeton University in the 12th round of the 1977 Major League Baseball Draft.

He made his debut for the Giants in 1981, and pitched in 11 games for them that season. He held the distinction of being the last Princeton University baseball player to appear in a major league baseball game until Chris Young debuted with the Rangers on August 24, 2004.

The following spring, Tufts was traded to the Royals along with Vida Blue. During the 1982 and 1983 seasons he appeared in 16 games for the Royals. He was traded to the Cincinnati Reds on June 7, 1983, for Charlie Leibrandt and never appeared again in a major league game.

Tufts is a convert to Judaism. Tufts is one of six major league baseball players who converted to Judaism during their careers. He was a participant in a 2005 seminar at the baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown on Jews and Baseball, and has also performed baseball clinics in Israel.

Personal life

Tufts has an MBA degree from Columbia University. He now lives in Forest Hills, New York. He is currently an adjunct professor at New York University, where he teaches business development. He also teaches sports marketing and management and principles of entrepreneurship at Yeshiva University and organization behavior in sports at Manhattanville College.

In 2009, he was diagnosed with multiple myeloma. He underwent pill-based and liquid chemotherapy and reached a recovery point at which he could undergo and autologous stem cell transplant. As of May 2010, he is in almost complete remission.

See also

• List of select Jewish baseball players