Ping Bodie
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Frank Stephen (Ping) Bodie, born Francesco Stephano Pezzolo (October 8, 1887 - December 17, 1961), was a center fielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Chicago White Sox (1911-1914), Philadelphia Athletics (1917) and New York Yankees (1919-1921). Bodie batted and threw right handed. He was born in San Francisco, California.
One of the most feared sluggers in the 1910s, Bodie was nicknamed "Ping" for the sound made when his fifty-two-ounce bat crashed into the "dead" ball of his era.
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[edit] Career
In 1910, playing for the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League, Bodie hit the then fantastic total of 30 home runs, and quickly broke into the big leagues with the Chicago White Sox in 1911. Ping became a regular for four years with Chicago hitting .289 with 97 RBI, .294, .265 and .229. After his poor season and some clashes with manager Jimmy Callahan in 1914, he was sold back to the San Francisco Seals.
In 1917 Bodie was back in the major leagues with the Philadelphia Athletics in 1917. In that season he ranked among the American League top 10 in eight offensive categories while hitting seven home runs (3rd) with 74 RBIs (6th), 233 total bases (5th), 46 extra-base hits (5th), 11 triples (8th), 28 doubles (9th), a .418 slugging percentage (6th), and a .774 OPS (10th). He also led AL outfielders with 32 assists.
In 1918, the New York Yankees purchase first baseman George Burns from the Detroit Tigers and immediately trade him to the Athletics for Bodie. With the Yankees he batted .256, .278 and .295 in three full seasons, and was traded to the Boston Red Sox in August 1921. New York went on to win the American League pennant that year. When Bodie asked for a half share of the 1921 World Series money, the Yankees turned him down. After the season was over he refused to go back to the Red Sox and returned home.
Bodie spent the next seven seasons in the minors playing with the Vernon Tigers and San Francisco Missions in the Pacific Coast League, the Des Moines club in the Western League, and the Wichita Falls and San Antonio Missions in the Texas League.
In a nine-season major league career, Bodie was a .275 hitter with 43 home runs and 516 RBI in 1050 games.
After his retirement from baseball Bodie was an electrician for 32 years on Hollywood movie lots and a bit actor, mostly with Universal Studios. It is believed that Bodie was the first Italian American to play at major league level, although there was never a confirmation of this. He was, at any rate, given credit for inspiring other West Coast Italian American ballplayers who followed him – Tony Lazzeri, Frank Crosetti, and the brothers Joe, Dom and Vince DiMaggio, between others.
Bodie died of cancer in San Francisco, California, at the age of 74. He is a member of the Italian American Sports Hall of Fame.
[edit] Facts
- Asked about rooming with Yankees teammate Babe Ruth, Bodie always denied it. "That isn't so", he'd say, "I room with his suitcase!". It was also said of Bodie that he provided much of the inspiration Ring Lardner had in creating his famous baseball fictional series You Know Me, Al, that appeared in the Saturday Evening Post, which was written in the form of letters written by a bush league baseball player to a friend back home.
[edit] Miscellanea
- In Jacksonville, Florida, Bodie competed against an ostrich named “Percy” in a spaghetti eating contest! Bodie won the competition when Percy passed out after his 11th plate of pasta. (March 3, 1919).
