Edward Francis Bressoud (May 2, 1932 – July 13, 2023) was an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

. Bressoud played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) from through for the New York / San Francisco Giants (1956–1961),

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

(1962–1965),

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

(1966) and

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

(1967). He was an

MLB All-Star The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also known as the "Midsummer Classic", is an annual professional baseball game sanctioned by Major League Baseball (MLB) and contested between the all-stars from the American League (AL) and National ...

in 1964 and won the

1967 World Series The 1967 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1967 season. The 64th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the American League (AL) champion Boston Red Sox and the National Leag ...

Early life and education

Bressoud was born in Los Angeles, the fourth of seven children of Charles Bressoud (1900-1969), who immigrated from

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

, Peru and was of French descent and Josephine Felice Mibielle (1902-1978). He attended Mount Carmel High School and transferred to George Washington High School, which he graduated from in 1950. During his playing career, Bressoud attended El Camino Junior College and

Los Angeles City College Los Angeles City College (LACC) is a public community college in East Hollywood, California. A part of the Los Angeles Community College District, it is located on Vermont Avenue south of Santa Monica Boulevard on the former campus of the U ...

. He earned a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

in physical education from the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

. He also earned a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

from

San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the List of oldest schools in California, oldest public university on the West Coast of ...

Playing career

Bressoud signed with the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

in 1950. He played in

Minor League Baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

through the 1955 season, with the exception of his service in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

during the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

from January 1953 to January 1955. In 1956,

Bill Rigney William Joseph Rigney (January 29, 1918 – February 20, 2001) was an American professional infielder and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). A 26-year veteran in the major leagues, Rigney played for the New York Giants from to , then spent ...

became the manager of the Giants. Bressoud had played shortstop for Rigney in the minor leagues, and

Alvin Dark Alvin Ralph Dark (January 7, 1922 – November 13, 2014), nicknamed "Blackie" and "the Swamp Fox", was an American professional baseball shortstop and manager. He played fourteen years in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Boston/Milwaukee ...

, the regular Giants' shortstop, had been injured in August 1955. During spring training, Rigney made plans to move Dark to third base and make Bressoud the starting shortstop. However, Bressoud started slowly and was sent back to Minneapolis at the beginning of the year. Dark was traded to the

on June 14, and Bressoud was immediately recalled to take his place. Bressoud spent two years with the MLB club in New York City, then four years after its 1958 transfer to

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. He was the Giants' regular shortstop in both and , hitting .251 and .225. Bressoud was the first selection of the

Houston Colt .45s The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division. They are one of two major league clubs based in Tex ...

in the 1961 expansion draft in October, then was traded to the Red Sox in exchange for their regular shortstop, Don Buddin, in November 1961. Bressoud played four seasons for Boston, hitting 40 doubles, nine

triples TripleS (; ; stylized as tripleS) is a South Korean 24-member multinational girl group formed by Modhaus. They aim to be the world's first decentralized idol group, where the members will rotate between the full group, sub-units, and solo activi ...

, 14

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s, 79 runs and a career-high 68

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

(RBIs) in 1962, and 59 extra-bases in 1963, including a career-high 20 home runs and four two-HR games. In 1964, Bressoud was named to the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

roster for the 1964 MLB All-Star Game as an injury replacement for

Luis Aparicio Luis Ernesto Aparicio Montiel (born April 29, 1934), nicknamed "Little Louie", is a Venezuelans, Venezuelan former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a shortstop from 1956 to 1973 for three American League ...

. Bressoud posted career-high numbers in

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

(.293),

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...

(166), runs (86) and doubles (41). After the 1965 season, the Red Sox traded Bressoud to the

for

Joe Christopher Joseph O'Neal Christopher (December 13, 1935 – October 3, 2023) was an American professional baseball outfielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Mets, and Boston Red Sox from 1959 through 1966. He ...

. The Mets traded Bressoud, Danny Napoleon, and cash to the

for Jerry Buchek,

Art Mahaffey Arthur Mahaffey Jr. (born June 4, 1938) is an American former professional baseball starting pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the National League (NL) Philadelphia Phillies (–) and St. Louis Cardinals (). He batted and thr ...

and

Tony Martínez Gabriel Antonio Martínez Díaz (March 18, 1940 – August 24, 1991) was a Cuban-born Major League Baseball shortstop who played in parts of four seasons for the Cleveland Indians (1963–66), appearing in 73 career games. The native of Perico ...

on April 1, 1967. In the

, Bressoud appeared in Games 2 and 5 as a late-inning replacement for light-hitting Cardinal shortstop

Dal Maxvill Charles Dallan Maxvill (born February 18, 1939) is an American former shortstop, coach, and general manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). During his career, Maxvill played, coached, or was an executive for four World Series winners and seven ...

, but did not record a

plate appearance In baseball, a player is credited with a plate appearance (denoted by PA) each time he completes a turn batting. Under Rule 5.04(c) of the Official Baseball Rules, a player completes a turn batting when he is put out or becomes a runner. This ha ...

Later life and death

Following his playing retirement he managed in the minor leagues and scouted for the

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division. Since 1966, the team has pl ...

. He was a faculty member, coach, and dean of athletics at

De Anza College De Anza College is a public community college in Cupertino, California, United States. It is part of the Foothill-De Anza Community College District, which also administers Foothill College in nearby Los Altos Hills, California. The college i ...

. Bressoud married his high school sweetheart, Eleanor Griesser, on June 6, 1953. Eleanor died from a brain tumor on April 29, 1958. Bressoud met Carol Mathews, a flight attendant, on a flight to San Francisco.L They married on February 7, 1959. He had two sons with his first wife and two daughters with his second wife. Bressoud died from

cerebellar ataxia Cerebellar ataxia is a form of ataxia originating in the cerebellum. Non-progressive congenital ataxia (NPCA) is a classical presentation of cerebral ataxias. Cerebellar ataxia can occur as a result of many diseases and may present with symptoms ...

Walnut Creek, California Walnut Creek is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States, located in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, about east of the city of Oakland, California, Oakland. Walnut Creek has a total population of 70,127 per t ...

, on July 13, 2023, at age 91.Edward Bressoud
/ref>

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bressoud, Eddie 1932 births 2023 deaths American League All-Stars American people of French descent American sportspeople of Peruvian descent Baseball players from Los Angeles Boston Red Sox players California Angels scouts Major League Baseball shortstops Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players Neurological disease deaths in California New York Giants (baseball) players New York Mets players St. Louis Cardinals players San Francisco Giants players Sioux City Soos players Springfield Giants (Ohio) players 20th-century American sportsmen San Jose State Spartans baseball players