Taft Shedron "Taffy" Wright (August 10, 1911 – October 22, 1981) 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 ...

player. He played nine 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 ...

from 1938 to 1949, primarily as a

right fielder A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the ...

Early life

Wright was born in

Tabor City, North Carolina Tabor City ( ) is a town in Columbus County, North Carolina, United States. It is the southernmost town in the county. It is located just north of the North Carolina/South Carolina line, about north of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and is just ...

. He signed a minor league contract with Charlotte of the Piedmont League in 1933. He was promoted to Class A in 1934 and then to Class AA in 1935. For 1936 and 1937, he played for Chattanooga.

Major league career

Wright's first two major league years were with the Washington Senators. He made a splash in his rookie season, batting .350. However, because Wright had just 263

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, ...

s in 100 games, 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 ...

awarded the official batting title to

Jimmie Foxx James Emory Foxx (October 22, 1907 – July 21, 1967), nicknamed "Double X" and "the Beast", was an American professional baseball first baseman who played 20 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Red ...

, who had hit .349 in more than twice as many

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 ...

s. Though he followed up his rookie year by batting .309 in the second, the Senators traded him to 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 ...

in the 1939 offseason, in a deal for

Gee Walker Gerald Holmes "Gee" Walker (March 19, 1908 – March 20, 1981) was an American professional baseball outfielder who played in Major League Baseball. During his fifteen-year career he played with the Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox, Washingto ...

. Wright played the bulk of his career with the White Sox, recording over 100 hits every year and topping .300 four more times. He played his last season in 1949 for the

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 ...

. His career batting average was .311 (1115-for-3583) with 465 runs, 38 home runs and 553 RBI in 1029 major league games. On July 3, 1940, Wright became the first White Sox player to hit a pinch-hit grand slam. He is ranked in the top 150 outfielders of all time and, as of April 2014, was ranked 75th in career at bats to strike outs ratio. Wright also led, or was among the leaders, in right fielder defensive statistics for most of his career. He was known to regularly appear in ''

The Sporting News ''The Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a ...

''.

Military career

Wright's major league career was interrupted by World War II, serving in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

from 1942 to 1945 in the Pacific Theater of Operations. He was called to military service in August 1942; the White Sox replaced him with

Bill Mueller William Richard Mueller ( ; born March 17, 1971) is an American former professional baseball third baseman who played in Major League Baseball (MLB). Mueller's MLB playing career was spent with the San Francisco Giants (1996–2000, 2002), Chic ...

. While serving as a sergeant during the war, Wright played on several military baseball teams, and was selected as an Army Air Force All-Star in 1945.

Taffy Wright Rule

In his rookie season, Wright had the highest batting average in the league, although Jimmie Foxx was awarded the title as Wright was considered a part-time player. This led to the retroactively named Taffy Wright Rule. The rule, inconsistently applied, required that the winner of the batting title play at least 100 games ''in the field'' to be eligible for the title.

Later years

Wright continued to play minor league baseball until he was in his mid-forties. Wright also served as a manager in the minor leagues. He is buried in Meadowbrook Cemetery in

Lumberton, North Carolina Lumberton is a city in Robeson County, North Carolina, United States. As of 2020, its population was 19,025. It is the county seat of Robeson County. Located in southern North Carolina's Inner Banks region, Lumberton is located on the Lumbe ...

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Taffy Major League Baseball right fielders Washington Senators (1901–1960) players Chicago White Sox players Philadelphia Athletics players 20th-century American sportsmen Charlotte Hornets (baseball) players Atlanta Crackers players Albany Senators players Chattanooga Lookouts players Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Ottawa A's players Port Arthur Sea Hawks players Beaumont Exporters players Amarillo Gold Sox players Orlando Seratomas players Baseball players from North Carolina 1911 births 1981 deaths People from Tabor City, North Carolina United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II United States Army Air Forces non-commissioned officers