Fred Gladding

Fred Earl Gladding (June 28, 1936 – May 21, 2015) was an American professional baseball player and coach. He was a right-handed pitcher over all or parts of 13 seasons (1961–1973) with the Detroit Tigers and Houston Astros. He was born in Flat Rock, Michigan, and attended Flat Rock Community High School. He was listed as 6 ft tall and 220 lb.

For his career, he compiled a 48–34 record and 109 saves in 450 appearances, all but one as a relief pitcher, with a 3.13 earned run average and 394 strikeouts in 601 innings pitched. Gladding led the National League in saves with Houston in 1969, the first season the statistic was recognized.

In seven seasons with the Tigers, Gladding compiled a record of 26–11 and a 2.70 ERA in 217 games. His .703 winning percentage with the Tigers is the highest in the franchise's history for a pitcher appearing in at least 200 games for the team. He returned to Detroit in 1976 as pitching coach and served three seasons on the staff of manager Ralph Houk.

Gladding also has the distinction of having the lowest non-zero lifetime batting average in major league history. For his career he batted .016 (1 for 63).

Gladding died May 21, 2015, in Columbia, South Carolina.