MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Former Middle Tennessee baseball player and Blue Raider Hall of Famer, Robert Gregg Cunnyngham, 78, passed away on August 4.
Born on May 19, 1947, in Chattanooga, Cunnyngham was a right-handed submarine pitcher. Cunnyngham started and relieved for the Blue Raiders from 1966 through 1968. He was all-conference in both 1967 and 1968, earning Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year and All-Region honors in ’68. He was 9-0 in 1968 as he led MTSU to its’ first-ever OVC baseball championship. His career stats are astonishing, compiling a 17-3 won-lost record and an earned run average of an unbelievable 1.55, giving up only 32 earned runs in 186 innings.
Seven of his wins were shutouts and he pitched 13 complete games, striking out 186 while walking only 90. With his record of 9-0 in 1968, Cunnyngham led the blue Raiders to a 23-9 record overall and a berth in the college division Mideast Regional. He won two games in the regional as the Raiders came up one game short of the World Series. He was, perhaps, as dominating a pitcher in the OVC as the Raiders have ever had.
Cunnyngham played professionally for two years with the Philadelphia Phillies and two years with the Cleveland Indians.
Visitation will be held on Saturday, Aug. 9, from 1-4 p.m. at Wilson Funeral Home, 443 Boynton Drive, Ringgold. A funeral service will follow on Sunday, Aug. 10, at 2 p.m. at the same location.
Source: MTSU
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