Fritzie Lee Connally (born May 19, 1958) is an American former 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 ...

player. A right-handed

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the Baseball scorekeep ...

, he played parts of two seasons 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 ...

for the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

and

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

Career

After a career at

Baylor University Baylor University is a Private university, private Baptist research university in Waco, Texas, United States. It was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Te ...

, Connally was drafted by the Cubs in the 7th round of the 1980 June amateur entry draft. Connally played in the minors for four seasons, getting a late-season call-up to the Cubs in 1983. He made his debut with the Cubs on September 9 as a

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter (PH) is a substitute batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead (not in active play); the manager may use any player who has not yet entered the game as a substitute. Unlike basketball, A ...

for Tom Grant.

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 ...

pitcher

Neil Allen Neil Patrick Allen (born January 24, 1958) is an American former professional baseball pitcher and coach. He played for the New York Mets, St. Louis Cardinals, New York Yankees, Chicago White Sox, and Cleveland Indians of Major League Baseball fr ...

struck him out. Connally had six more pinch-hit appearances that year, as well as one start at

third base A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

, but didn't get his first major league hit until his final at-bat of the year, October 2 against the Cardinals, when he was again called upon to pinch-hit for Grant. This time, Connally singled against

Dave Rucker David Michael Rucker (born September 1, 1957) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1981 to 1988, primarily as a relief pitcher. Rucker attended Eisenhower High School and University ...

. He remained in the game to play third base in what would prove to be his last game as a Cub. On December 7, Connally was sent to the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

as part of a three-team trade involving (among others)

Craig Lefferts Craig Lindsay Lefferts (born September 29, 1957) is a German-American former relief pitcher who played in Major League Baseball for the Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants, Baltimore Orioles, Texas Rangers and California Angels ...

, Carmelo Martinez, and Scott Sanderson. Connally spent 1984 with the Las Vegas Stars, the Padres' AAA affiliate, before being traded February 7, 1985, to the Orioles for Vic Rodriguez. He made Baltimore's Opening Day roster and made most of his appearances at third base, also seeing time at

first base A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

and

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. Unlike other players in a team's lineup, they generally only play as an offensive player and usually do not play defense as ...

. Connally's first two major league

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 were notably grand slams. The first came off the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

' Doyle Alexander, and the second came at the expense of the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...

' Matt Young. Though he was batting .280 in early June, Connally fell into a 3-for-31 slump, dropping his average to .232, before being sent down to AAA Rochester for the remainder of the campaign. Connally retired after the 1985 season.

Personal

Connally lives in Arlington, Texas.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Connally, Frtizie Major League Baseball third basemen Chicago Cubs players Baltimore Orioles players Geneva Cubs players Quad Cities Cubs players Midland Cubs players Iowa Cubs players Las Vegas Stars (baseball) players Rochester Red Wings players Baseball players from Brazos County, Texas Baylor University alumni 1958 births Living people Sportspeople from Bryan, Texas 20th-century American sportsmen