Albie Pearson

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Albert Gregory Pearson (born September 12, 1934 in Alhambra, California) is a former center fielder in Major League Baseball who played with the Washington Senators (1958-59), Baltimore Orioles (1959-60) and Los Angeles & California Angels (1961-66). He batted and threw left-handed.

A good-eye hitter and fine outfielder, Pearson was originally signed by the Boston Red Sox as an amateur free agent in 1953. After the 1957 season, he was sent with Norm Zauchin to the Senators in the same trade that brought Pete Runnels to the Red Sox.

In 1958 Pearson won both the MLB Rookie of the Year and the TSN Rookie of the Year awards in the American League. When baseball owners approved the addition of the Los Angeles Angels during their meeting in October 1960, he was selected by the new franchise in the expansion draft.

Pearson enjoyed his best season in 1963, when he posted career-highs in runs batted in (47), hits (173), stolen bases (17) and games played (160); led the AL in singles (161), and made the All-Star team. His .305 batting average (also a career-high), ranked him fourth in the batting crown race behind Carl Yastrzemski (.321), Al Kaline (.312) and Rich Rollins (.307). Recurring back spasms restricted his career after that and he retired at the end of the 1966 season.

In a nine-year career, Pearson was a .270 hitter with 28 home runs and 214 RBI in 988 games. In addition, he compiled a respectable 2.45 walk-to-strikeout ratio (477-to-195) and a .369 on base percentage.