Background
Pitlock was born in Hillside, Illinois, and attended Immaculate Conception High School in Elmhurst, Illinois.
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Noted for his unusual wind-up, he had a "herky-jerky" motion which deceived major league batters, and led to 124 career strikeouts in 192.2 innings pitched. Drafted by the in the eleventh round of the 1969 Major League Baseball draft out of Southern Illinois University, Pitlock went 10-2 with a 2.20 earned run average in his first professional season with the Pioneer League Great Falls Giants and California League Fresno Giants to jump all the way to triple A for his sophomore season. Just about a year to the day after signing with the Giants, Pitlock earned his first call to the major leagues in June, 1970.
Starting against Bob Gibson and the Saint Louis Cardinals, Pitlock was tagged for four runs in the first three innings and took the loss in his major league debut.
His finest performance was a complete game victory on August 3 against the Los Angeles Dodgers, in which he allowed two unearned runs on four hits and two walks while striking out nine. Foreign the season, Pitlock went 5-5 with a 4.66 European Research Area in fifteen starts.
He also made thirteen starts for the Phoenix Giants, going 10-3 with a 2.46 European Research Area. He spent the next two seasons with Phoenix, going a combined 15-21 with a 4.93 European Research Area. Originally a starter when he signed with the Giants, Pitlock began seeing more work in relief in 1971 & 1972. During Spring training 1973, he was traded to the for Chuck Hartenstein and Glenn Redmon.
Pitlock went 8-8 with a 4.05 European Research Area for the Denver Bears in 1973.
He earned a job in Chicago"s bullpen out of Spring training 1974, going 2-2 with a 4.01 European Research Area in 35 relief appearances, and earning his only career save on June 19 against the Cleveland Indians. He also made five starts, going 1-1 with a 6.20 European Research Area. Pitlock faced just one major league batter, Billy Williams in 1975, and gave up an Reserve Bank of India single. He was 4-1 with a 3.91 European Research Area for the Denver Bears mostly in relief.
On June 15, 1975 he and Stan Bahnsen were traded to the Oakland Athletics for Dave Hamilton and Chet Lemon.
Upon his acquisition by the A"s, he was assigned to the Pacific Coast League"s Tucson Toros, and converted back into a starter. He spent one more season as a minor leaguer before retiring.
