Jim Pagliaroni

Jim Pagliaroni
Catcher
Born: (1937-12-08)December 8, 1937
Dearborn, Michigan
Died: April 3, 2010(2010-04-03) (aged 72)
Grass Valley, California
Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
August 13, 1955, for the Boston Red Sox
Last MLB appearance
September 30, 1969, for the Seattle Pilots
MLB statistics
Batting average .252
Home runs 90
Runs batted in 326
Teams

James Vincent Pagliaroni "Pag" (December 8, 1937 – April 3, 2010) was an American professional baseball player.[1] He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher from 1955 to 1969 for the Boston Red Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates, Oakland Athletics and the Seattle Pilots.[1]

Playing career

Pagliaroni was born in Dearborn, Michigan, and grew up in Long Beach, California.[2] He was contracted by the Boston Red Sox as an amateur free agent out of Wilson High School in Long Beach, California in 1955.[1][3][4] He was only 17 years old when he made his debut with the Red Sox that same year.[5] Although he didn't get much opportunity to play during his first season, he received valuable instruction from former catcher, Mickey Owen.[6] Pagliaroni then joined the United States Army from 1956 to 1958, when he was discharged in time to report to spring training with the Red Sox.[7][8] Pagliaroni spent the next three seasons playing in the minor leagues before rejoining the Red Sox in August 1960.[9] He was standing in the on deck circle during a game at Fenway Park on September 28, 1960, when Ted Williams hit a home run in his final at bat in the major leagues.[10]

In 1961 Pagliaroni appeared in 120 games, more than any other Red Sox catcher and posted a .242 batting average with 16 home runs and 58 runs batted in.[11] Pagliaroni was the hitting standout on June 18, 1961 when he hit a grand slam home run to tie the game as the Red Sox rallied from 8 runs down with two outs in the ninth inning to defeat the Washington Senators.[12][13] Pagliaroni shared catching duties in 1962 with Russ Nixon and Bob Tillman.[14] He once again led the Red Sox catchers in games played with 90 appearances. He was the Red Sox catcher on August 1, 1962 when Bill Monbouquette threw a no-hitter against the Chicago White Sox.[15]

On November 20, 1962, Pagliaroni was traded by the Boston Red Sox along with Don Schwall to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Jack Lamabe and Dick Stuart.[3] When the Pirates' regular catcher, Smoky Burgess, was sidelined by an injury, Pagliaroni alternated with catcher Ron Brand to fulfill the catching duties.[16] Pagliaroni himself was injured in June when, a fractured ring finger on his right hand made him miss three weeks of the season.[16] He ended the 1963 season with a .230 batting average with 11 home runs in 92 games.[1]

In 1964, Pagliaroni would catch the majority of the Pirates' games, as the 36-year-old Burgess was used mostly as a pinch hitter.[17] He produced a .295 batting average along with 10 home runs and provided solid defense, finishing third among National League catchers in fielding percentage.[1] Pagliaroni set a Pirates team record for catchers when he hit a career-high 17 home runs in 1965 while playing his home games at the cavernous Forbes Field.[10] He also produced a career-high 65 runs batted in and finished second among the league's catchers in fielding percentage, helping the Pirates to a third-place finish in the National League.[1]

In July 1966, as the Pirates were battling for the lead in the National League, Pagliaroni denied a story that he had struck Pirates manager Harry Walker and had been fined $1000.[18] Pagliaroni later sued Maury Allen, the sportswriter who had written the story, for $1 million.[19] The Pirates team which included future Baseball Hall of Fame members Roberto Clemente, Bill Mazeroski and Willie Stargell, fought the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants in a tight pennant race in 1966, holding first place on September 10, before faltering to finish the season in third place for a second consecutive year.[20] Pagliaroni faded towards the end of the season as his batting average dipped to .235, and Jesse Gonder became the primary catcher.[21] Pagliaroni finished the 1966 season leading National League catchers with a .997 fielding percentage, committing only 2 errors in 118 games.[1]

In May 1967, reports surfaced that Pagliaroni was asking to be traded, citing criticism his catching abilities had received from unnamed sources.[22] He appeared in only 38 games with a .200 batting average for the Pirates in 1967, while Jerry May took over as the regular catcher.[1] On December 3, 1967, Pagliaroni's contract was purchased by the Oakland Athletics from the Pittsburgh Pirates.[23] The Pirates stated that Pagliaroni was sold due to his physical condition, having undergone an operation to remove a disc from his spine.[23]

Pagliaroni won the Athletics' starting catchers job at the beginning of the 1968 season and caught Catfish Hunter's perfect game on May 8 of that year, the first perfect game in the American League since 1922.[24] Hunter only disagreed with Pagliaroni's pitch-calling decisions twice during the game.[25] As a measure of his appreciation for his catcher's contribution to the perfect game, Hunter rewarded Pagliaroni with a gold watch that he had inscribed on back.[26] He suffered a fractured wrist in June causing him to miss seven weeks of the season.[27][28][29]

He began the 1969 season hitting for just a .148 batting average and on May 27, 1969, his contract was sold to the Seattle Pilots during their inaugural season as a major league team.[1] He shared catching duties with Jerry McNertney in the season immortalized by the book Ball Four, written by his Seattle team mate, Jim Bouton.[8] Pagliaroni played in his final major league game on September 30, 1969 at the age of 31.[1]

Career statistics

In an eleven-year major league career, Pagliaroni played in 849 games, accumulating 622 hits in 2,465 at bats for a .252 career batting average, along with 90 home runs, 326 runs batted in and an on-base percentage of .344.[1] He had a career fielding percentage of .991 which was 3 points above the average during his playing career.[1] His teammates elected him to be the Players' Representative to the Players Union for both the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Oakland Athletics.[2]

Later life

Pagliaroni later became an executive with a food distribution company.[8] He also helped raise funds for the Jim "Catfish" Hunter ALS Foundation to help honor Hunter, who died of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, in 1999.[8]

On April 3, 2010, Pagliaroni died of cancer in Grass Valley, California.[2][8]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Jim Pagliaroni statistics". Baseball-reference.com. Retrieved 26 December 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 "Lives Lived: Jim Pagliaroni". theunion.com. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  3. 1 2 "Jim Pagliaroni Trades and Transactions". Baseball-Almanac.com. Retrieved 26 December 2011.
  4. ↑ "Sam Mele Sold To Cincinnati". The Daytona Beach Morning Journal. Associated Press. 24 June 1955. p. 9. Retrieved 26 December 2011.
  5. ↑ Debuts Of Some Notable Youngest Players In Majors. Baseball Digest. 1997 1997. Retrieved 26 December 2011. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ↑ "There Was More to Do Than Bench-Sit". The Spokesman Review. 30 June 1960. p. 11. Retrieved 26 December 2011.
  7. ↑ "Rookie Bonus Catcher Works With Red Sox". The Victoria Advocate. United Press International. 21 March 1958. p. 8. Retrieved 26 December 2011.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 "Former major league catcher Jim Pagliaroni dies at 72". latimes.com. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  9. ↑ "1960 Jim Pagliaroni batting log". Baseball-reference.com. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  10. 1 2 Emert, Rich (July 18, 2002). "Where Are They Now?: Jim Pagliaroni". post-gazette.com. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  11. ↑ "1961 Boston Red Sox". Baseball-reference.com. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  12. ↑ "June 18, 1961 Senators-Red Sox box score". Baseball-reference.com. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  13. ↑ "Bosox Sweep 1st Twin Bill". The Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. 19 June 1961. p. 2. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  14. ↑ "1962 Boston Red Sox". Baseball-reference.com. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  15. ↑ "August 1, 1962 White Sox-Red Sox box score". Baseball-reference.com. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  16. 1 2 "Bucs Catcher Sidelined". The Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph. Associated Press. 19 June 1963. p. 11. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  17. ↑ "Pennant-Hungry White Sox Buy Burgess From Pirates". St. Petersburgh Times. Associated Press. 15 September 1964. p. 1. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  18. ↑ "Story Denied". Herald-Journal. Associated Press. 30 July 1966. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  19. ↑ "Pagliaroni Sues Writer For Million". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 11 August 1966. p. 1. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  20. ↑ "1966 Pittsburgh Pirates Schedule, Box Scores and Splits". Baseball-reference.com. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  21. ↑ "Manager Harry Walker Feels His Pirates Can Win Pennant". Lewiston Evening Journal. Associated Press. 17 March 1967. p. 19. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  22. ↑ "Are Pirates Having Themselves A Mutiny?". Schenectady Gazette. Associated Press. 5 May 1967. p. 26. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  23. 1 2 "Kline Returns To Pirates; Pagliaroni Sold". The Pittsburgh Press. 3 December 1967. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  24. ↑ "May 8, 1968 Twins-Athletics box score". Baseball-reference.com. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  25. ↑ "Catfish Never Dreamed One Pitch Worth So Much". Sarasota Journal. Associated Press. 9 May 1968. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  26. ↑ "Teammates reflect fondly on Catfish". Allegheny Times. Knight Ridder Newspapers. 9 September 1999. p. 12. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  27. ↑ "Pagliaroni Put On The Disabled List". The Pittsburg Press. June 11, 1968. Retrieved January 15, 2014.
  28. ↑ "1968 Jim Pagliaroni batting log". Baseball-reference.com. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  29. ↑ "Minute Sports Page". Spokane Daily Chronicle. 10 June 1968. p. 28. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
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