Frank Stephen "Ping" Bodie (October 8, 1887 – December 17, 1961), born Francesco Stephano Pezzolo,Monagan, Matt. "A Yankee, an ostrich and 22 plates of pasta," MLB.com, Tuesday, April 6, 2021.
Retrieved April 7, 2021 was an American

center fielder A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball and softball fielding position between left field and right field. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the ...

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 ...

who played for the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

(1911–1914),

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, they became the Oakland ...

(1917) and

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

(1919–1921). Bodie batted and threw right-handed. He was born in San Francisco. Bodie was nicknamed "Ping" for the sound made when his fifty-two-ounce bat crashed into the "dead" ball of his era. Another nickname given to him was "The Wonderful Wop." He took the surname Bodie from the California town he once lived in. It said that Bodie provided much of the inspiration for Ring Lardner's creation of the famous baseball fictional series '' You Know Me Al''. Appearing originally in the ''

Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine published six times a year. It was published weekly from 1897 until 1963, and then every other week until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely circulated and influ ...

'', the piece was written in the form of letters written by a bush league baseball player to a friend back home.

Career

In 1910, playing for the San Francisco Seals of the

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

, Bodie hit the then-fantastic total of 30

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, 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 RBIs, .294, .265 and .229. After some clashes with

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

Jimmy Callahan in 1914, he was sold back to the San Francisco Seals. In 1917, Bodie returned to the major leagues with the

. In that season he ranked among 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 ...

top 10 in eight offensive categories: seven home runs (3rd) with 74 RBIs (6th), 233

total bases In baseball statistics, total bases is the number of bases a player gains with hit (baseball), hits. It is a weighted sum with values of 1 for a single (baseball), single, 2 for a double (baseball), double, 3 for a triple (baseball), triple and 4 ...

(5th), 46

extra-base hits In baseball, an extra-base hit (EB, EBH or XBH), also known as a long hit, is any base hit on which the batter is able to advance past first base without the benefit of a fielder either committing an error or opting to make a throw to retire ano ...

(5th), 11 triples (8th), 28 doubles (9th), a .418

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at-bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at-bats for a given player, an ...

(6th), and a .774 OPS (10th). He also led AL

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

s with 32 assists. Ping Bodie 1915

In 1918, the

purchased

first baseman 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 ...

George Burns George Burns (born Nathan Birnbaum; January 20, 1896March 9, 1996) was an American comedian, actor, writer, and singer, and one of the few entertainers whose career successfully spanned vaudeville, radio, film, and television. His arched eyeb ...

from the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

and immediately traded him to the Athletics for Bodie. With the Yankees he batted .256, .278 and .295 in three full seasons. It was during this time that Bodie became

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional Baseball in the United States, baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nickna ...

's first Yankee roommate. When asked about rooming with Ruth, Bodie said "''Room'' with him. Why, I room with the big monkey's baggage!" Noted for a voracious

appetite Appetite is the desire to eat food items, usually due to hunger. Appealing foods can stimulate appetite even when hunger is absent, although appetite can be greatly reduced by satiety. Appetite exists in all higher life-forms, and serves to reg ...

, Bodie competed against a

Jacksonville Zoo The Jacksonville Zoo and Botanical Gardens is located at the river delta, mouth of the Trout River (Florida), Trout River, near where it flows into the St. Johns River, in Jacksonville, Florida. The zoo occupies approximately and has over 2,00 ...

ostrich Ostriches are large flightless birds. Two living species are recognised, the common ostrich, native to large parts of sub-Saharan Africa, and the Somali ostrich, native to the Horn of Africa. They are the heaviest and largest living birds, w ...

named Percy in an eating contest on April 3, 1919 which had been arranged by Yankees co-owner Cap Huston as a

publicity stunt In marketing, a publicity stunt is a planned event designed to attract the public's attention to the event's organizers or their cause. Publicity stunts can be professionally organized, or set up by amateurs. Such events are frequently utiliz ...

. Percy had previously been touted as the "world's greatest eater." The contest was structured similar to a

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

match, with Bodie selecting his favorite dish of

spaghetti Spaghetti () is a long, thin, solid, cylindrical pasta.spaghetti
Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Una ...

as the food to be devoured. He was declared the winner after finishing his 11th plate before Percy passed out while starting his. Bodie was traded to the

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 ...

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 Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

club in the Western League, and the Wichita Falls and

San Antonio Missions The San Antonio Missions are a Minor League Baseball team based in San Antonio, Texas. The Missions compete in the Texas League as the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. The team plays its home games at Nelson W. W ...

in the

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

. In a nine-season major league career, Bodie was a .275 hitter with 43

s and 514 RBIs in 1,050 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 Universal Studios may refer to: * Universal Studios, Inc., an American media and entertainment conglomerate ** Universal Pictures, an American film studio ** Universal Studios Lot, a film and television studio complex * Various theme parks operat ...

. He is given credit for inspiring other West Coast Italian American ballplayers who followed him –

Tony Lazzeri Anthony Michael Lazzeri (December 6, 1903 – August 6, 1946) was an American professional baseball second baseman during the 1920s and 1930s, predominantly with the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He was part of the famed " Murd ...

, 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 was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Colma. He is a member of the Italian American Sports Hall of Fame. Ping Bodie grave

References

External links

Ping Bodie
at SABR Baseball Biography Project {{DEFAULTSORT:Bodie, Ping 1887 births 1961 deaths American people of Italian descent Chicago White Sox players New York Yankees players Philadelphia Athletics players 20th-century American sportsmen Major League Baseball center fielders Baseball players from San Francisco San Francisco (minor league baseball) players Presidio (minor league baseball) players San Francisco Orphans players San Francisco Seals (baseball) players Vernon Tigers players Des Moines Boosters players Wichita Falls Spudders players San Antonio Bears players Mission Reds players Deaths from cancer in California

Career

See also

References

External links