Former Mets Coach: Dick Sisler (1979-1980)

-
Richard Allan Sisler was born into a talented baseball family November 2, 1920 at St. Louis Missouri.

He was the son of St. Louis Browns (1915-1927) Hall of Famer George Sisler who hit over .400 twice, won two batting titles (1920 & 1922) & was the 1922 AL MVP. He won three stolen base titles, was the league leader in triples & hits twice each.


He finished his career with a .340 batting average (16th all time), 2812 hits (47th all time), 102 HRs, 425 doubles (134th all time) & 164 triples (30th all time).

George posted 375 stolen bases (88th all time), 1175 RBIs (159th all time), & a .379 on base % (177th all time). He also played for the Washington Senators (1928) & Boston Braves (1928-1930). His younger brother Dave Sisler was a relief pitcher in the sixties with the Boston Red Sox (1956-1959) Detroit Tigers (1959-1960) Washington Senators (1961) & Cincinnati Reds (19610). He posted a 38-44 record with 29 saves a 4.33 ERA in 247 games. His older brother George Sisler Jr. was a minor league baseball executive.

Dick Sisler was never the hitter his dad was, but still enjoyed a good baseball career. He signed with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1939 & hit over .300 his first four years in pro ball. He spent eight years in the minors, before coming up to the big leagues in 1946 with the World Champion Cardinals, playing as a reserve outfielder & first baseman. He got to play in two World Series games going 0-2 as a pinch hitter.

Sisler was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies for Ralph Lapointe & $30,000 at the start of the 1948 season. He had four quality seasons in Philadelphia batting over .274 every year, including .289 in 1949. In the Phillies 1950 NL Pennant season, Sisler batted .296 with 13 HRs & 83 RBIs as the clubs left fielder.

That year he helped the Phillies Whiz Kids get into the World Series, getting votes for the MVP Award. That year Sisler had career highs in batting average (.296) HRs (13) doubles (29) RBIs (83) walks (64) & hits (155).

The Phillies had lost five in a row in the final week of the season & the Brooklyn Dodgers were just one game out as the two teams faced off in the last game of the year at Ebbetts Field. If the Phillies lost the game, they would have been tied with the Dodgers forcing a three game playoff. Brooklyn's Don Newcome &


Philadelphia's Robin Roberts went into the 10th inning in a 1-1 ties. With two men on, Sisler hit a three run HR that won the game for the Phillies. The HR made Sisler world-famous; even Ernest Hemingway motioned him in the classic novel The Old Man and the Sea. At the time his dad was a scoot for the Brooklyn Dodgers.

In the World Series he struggled going just 1-17 with five strikeouts. After batting .287 in 1951, he was traded with Eddie Pellagrini, Andy Seminick & Niles Jordan to the Cincinnati Reds for Smoky Burgess, Howie Fox and Connie Ryan. After just eleven games in Cincinnati, Sisler was traded back to finish his eight year playing career in St. Louis in 1952 &1953.

In his eight year career he hit .276 with 720 hits, 55 HRs 28 triples 118 doubles a .336 on base % & 360 RBIs in 799 games played.

Retirement: After his playing days he coached with the Cincinnati Reds (1961-1964). He took over as manager when Fred Hutchinson had to step down due to a bout with cancer.

Sisler then coached the St. Louis Cardinals (1966-1970) getting to two World Series with them in those years winning one championship. he then went to the San Diego Padres (1975-1976) & New York Mets.

He served as a Mets coach in 1979 – 1980 under manager Joe Torre. Sisler passed away in 1998 at the age of 78 in Nashville Tennessee.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Former Mets Broadcaster: Fran Healy ( 1984-2005)

-
Image
Francis Xavier Healy was born on September 6, 1946 in Holyoke, Massachusetts. The big six foot five catcher, attended American International University at Springfield. In 1964 he was signed by the Cleveland Indians, spending five years in their minors leagues. In 1968 he was drafted as the 56th pick in the expansion draft, chosen by the Kansas City Royals. He would make his MLB debut playing six games there in 1969 & spending the next year in the minors. In October of 1970, he was traded to the San Francisco Giants for Bob Garibaldi. Healy played in 47 games for the 1971 Western Division Champion Giants, as the backup catcher to Dick Dietz. He hit .280 with two HRs & 11 RBIs. He did not play in the NLCS & after hitting just .152 the next year in 45 games, he was traded back to Kansas City. He became the Royals main catcher in 1973 playing solid behind the plate, throwing out 44% of would be base stealers. That year he had the distinction of catching Steve Busb
Read more

Remembering Mets History: (1977) The Felix Millan / Ed Ott Brawl In Pittsburgh

-
Image
Friday August 12th, 1977: Joe Torre's last place Mets (47-66) traveled to Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh for a double header with Chuck Tanner's second place Pirates (66-49). The bad times were underway for the late seventies Mets and tonight marked the end of another key player's career from the 1973 NL Champion team. In the first game of a double header, Jerry Koosman (8-13) took a 3-1 loss to Jim Rooker (10-6) & the Pirates. Both pitchers went the distance, with Koosman giving up three runs on six hits & Rooker giving up the lone Met run on nine hits. In the night cap Mets started Bob Myrick against Pittsburgh's  Bruce Kison.  In the 2nd inning Myrick himself added an RBI base hit making it 1-0 Mets. Lee Mazzilli added a two run HR in the 4th putting the Mets up 3-2. The Mets were battling, but the Pirates tied it up at 3-3 in the sixth inning.  Met Manager; Joe Torre made a double switch bringing in Felix Millan to play second base, as Do
Read more

Remembering Bobby Ojeda's Tragic Boating Accident (1993)

-
Image
Steve Olin, Tim Crews & Bob Ojeda March 22 nd 1993: was an off day from Spring Training, for three Cleveland Indians pitchers; Former Mets 1986 World Champion pitcher; Bobby Ojeda, Tim Crews & Steve Olin. The three friends, took out an 18-foot open-air bass boat & went out fishing & gator hunting in the darkness of the evening on Lake Nellie in Clermont, Florida. Tragedy struck, when the boat rammed into a private dock that jutted out some 250 feet into the still waters. Two other Cleveland Indians personnel had arrived to meet the fishing party just as the horror took place. They heard Bob Ojeda saying they needed help. The two men jumped into the water and called out for someone to call 911. 27 year old pitcher; Steve Olin was killed instantly. 31 year old pitcher; Tim Crews was alive but was struggling to breathe suffering from massive head wounds. Bobby Ojeda was in & out of shock, he was suffering from head lacerations but was coherent. The
Read more

The 1970's Oakland A's Ball Girls- (MLB's First)

-
Image
In the days of the early seventies the Oakland A's won three straight Championships & changed the face of baseball forever.  The team's controversial owner was known to be cheap in paying his star players & known to meddle in the teams on field affairs. He drove managers crazy & even had Dick Williams resign after winning his second straight World Series. But Finley also revolutionized baseball in many other ways. He was instrumental in getting the designated hitter in the American League & have the World Series played at night, so fans could attend after work. He gave his players fancy names like Catfish, Blue Moon & True Blue.  When his star Reggie Jackson refused to shave his beard, he encouraged the whole team to grow facial hair by paying them $200 each.  The A's team even grew their hair long, a sign of the times. But before that baseball players had not had facial or long hair since the 1800's.  He introduced bright colored yello
Read more

Remembering Vixen Founder / Guitarist; Jan Kuehnemund (1961-2013)

-
Image
centerfieldmaz was shocked to learn of the sudden passing of Jan Kuehnemund, the founding member of the all female metal band Vixen. Jan was a fantastic guitarist, song writer & women pioneer in Heavy Metal. I am a huge fan of hard rock all girl bands & Vixen were one my long time favorites. Janice Lynn Kuehnemund was born November 18th, 1961 in St. Paul Minnesota. The female guitarist formed one of the first all female Metal bands in Minnesota with singer Janet Gardner while in high school in 1980. By 1985 they moved the band to Los Angles California, to be part of the Heavy Metal scene. In 1987 the classic Vixen line up of Jan Kuehnemund (lead guitar) Janet Gardner (vocals/ guitar) Share Pederson (bass) & Roxy Petrucci (drums) formed & released their debut album the following year. Vixen 1988 In a world of all male Heavy Metal bands during its heyday, Vixen were groundbreaking in being an all female metal band. The Runaways, with Joan Jett & Lita Ford
Read more