Tatum threw four innings in his one appearance of the 1973 campaign, getting hit hard and allowing four runs for an unsightly 9.00 earned run average.
It was a far cry from his Big League debut in 1969 that I feel is grossly overlooked, when he came up with the California Angels and proceeded to go 7-2 over 45 appearances as a 25-year old dedicated reliever.
Over that time he posted a sparkling 1.36 ERA over 86.1 innings of work, saving 22 games for the Angels while finishing 33 games.
That showing was good enough to finish fourth in the A.L. Rookie of the Year race, while even getting some MVP points for his efforts.
He’d follow that up with another nice season in 1970, saving 17 games and posting a record of 7-4 with a 2.94 ERA over 62 games and 88.2 innings.
But after a trade to the Boston Red Sox in a multi-player deal that saw Boston favorite Tony Conigliaro head West before the 1971 season, Tatum would never find that groove again, appearing in 36 games for the Bosox and going 2-4 with a 4.19 ERA before coming back with 22 games in 1972 and that one game in 1973.
In what turned out to be his last season as a Big League pitcher in 1974, he found himself taking the mound for the Chicago White Sox, appearing in 10 games and pitching to a 4.79 ERA over 20.2 innings, not factoring in a decision.
All told, Tatum finished up with a career 16-12 record, with a nice 2.93 ERA and 52 saves over 176 appearances and 282.2 innings pitched between 1969 and 1974.
