Skip Jutze

Alfred Henry "Skip" Jutze (born May 28, 1946) is a former professional baseball player. He played all or part of six seasons in Major League Baseball, primarily as a catcher.

Jutze attended W. Tresper Clarke High School in Westbury, New York, and was drafted out of Central Connecticut State University by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 4th round of the 1968 MLB amateur draft. Prior to his major league debut, Jutze taught at Candlewood Junior High School, in Dix Hills, New York.

Jutze made his Major League Baseball debut with the St. Louis Cardinals on September 1, 1972, and appeared in his final game on September 21, 1977. He was traded along with Milt Ramírez by the Cardinals to the Astros for Ray Busse and Bobby Fenwick on November 29, 1972.

Jutze was a member of the inaugural Seattle Mariners team that began playing in 1977. He also holds the distinction of having hit the first grand slam home run in Mariners history on May 17 of that year.

On May 17th, 1977, in the Kingdome Skip hit a grandslam which was his first homerun in the big leagues and the Seattle Mariners first Grand Slam. Skip later disclosed that he had other help than human agency. Skip on the advice of a cafeteria cashier who's constant humming and whistling impressed him, had begun taking B-Complex vitamins as she advised. He described it; "I've always been relaxed behind the plate. But at bat, I suffered from tension, tried too hard. Ever Since I've taken those vitamins, though, I'm relaxed at the plate, too. My hitting has improved.".

Frank MacCormack after struggling with his control and was demoted to AAA and then to AA later he was re-routed to Mariners in Oakland for discussions with Dr. Bruce Ogilvie, noted psychologist, in the hope that it might re-cecitate the strong-armed pitcher. That didn't show any quick results so Jutze talked to MacCormack about that B-Complex vitamin.

Jutze is Jewish, a convert to Judaism.

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)