George Anthony Curry (December 22, 1937 – October 16, 2006) was a Bahamian

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

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 c ...

, who appeared in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

(MLB) for the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has been Citize ...

(1960–61) and

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive ...

(1966). The second Bahamian to reach the major leagues (after André Rodgers), Curry also played

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

and

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is t ...

in his native country before turning to baseball. He was listed as tall and (13

stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

, 3 pounds); Curry threw and batted left-handed. Curry's 12-year (1957–68) professional career got off to a promising start. He batted .333, .293, and .313 during his first three Minor League Baseball (MiLB) seasons, with extra-base power. In 1959, in the Class A Eastern League, Curry belted 49 doubles, nine triples and 23

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run is ...

, with 90

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) 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 the ba ...

(RBI). He led the Eastern League in

runs scored In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted balls ...

and

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 ...

, and was named

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

. The following year, , Curry spent the entire season on the Phillies' major league roster and appeared in 95

games A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (su ...

— 55 of them as a starting outfielder. Benefitting from a torrid start, he was second in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

(NL) batting race on May 14, peaking at .388 before striking out in his last at bat that day for .380; in that same game, Curry hit his first- and second-MLB homer, at

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state lin ...

’s

Crosley Field Crosley Field was a Major League Baseball park in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was the home field of the National League's Cincinnati Reds from 1912 through June 24, 1970, and the original Cincinnati Bengals football team, members of the second (1937) ...

, against

Jay Hook James Wesley Hook (born November 18, 1936) is an American former starting pitcher in Major League Baseball. From 1957 through 1964, Hook played for the Cincinnati Reds (1957–61) and New York Mets (1962–64). He batted left-handed and threw rig ...

— and was still at .336, after his first 42 games (through June 23). Curry held on above .300 on July 6, but slumped at the plate and ended the season batting .261 with 64 hits, six home runs, and 34 RBI. 1960 was to be Curry’s only full season in the big leagues. During

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for roster and position spots, and gives estab ...

in , he briefly walked out of the Phillies' camp in a contract dispute. Then, when the regular season began, Curry collected only seven hits in 36

at bats 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 during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

before being demoted to Triple-A. As events turned out, his Philadelphia career was over. Curry was traded to the Cleveland Indians' organization in March 1962, and he spent much of the rest of his pro career in Triple-A. A strong performance for the

Portland Beavers The Portland Beavers was the name of separate minor league baseball teams, which represented Portland, Oregon, in the Pacific Coast League (PCL). The team was established in 1903, the first year of the PCL. Franchise history Many baseball teams ...

in earned Curry a six-week call-up to Cleveland in June, but he collected only two hits and three

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Sec ...

in 19

plate appearances In baseball statistics, 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 ...

as a

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter 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, American ...

, in Curry’s last appearance in the major leagues. In all or parts of three big-league seasons, Curry played in 129 games, with 297 at bats, 33 runs, 73 hits, 16 doubles, two triples, six home runs, 40 RBI, 20 walks, .246 batting average, .295 on-base percentage, .374

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 ...

, 111 total bases, one

sacrifice hit In baseball, a sacrifice bunt (also called a sacrifice hit) is a batter's act of deliberately bunting the ball, before there are two outs, in a manner that allows a baserunner to advance to another base. The batter is almost always put out, and ...

, one

sacrifice fly In baseball, a sacrifice fly (sometimes abbreviated to sac fly) is defined by Rule 9.08(d): "Score a sacrifice fly when, before two are out, the batter hits a ball in flight handled by an outfielder or an infielder running in the outfield in fair ...

, and two intentional walks. On October 16, 2006, Curry died in his home city of Nassau at the age of 68.

References

External links

Tony Curry
at Pura Pelota (Venezuelan Professional Baseball League) {{DEFAULTSORT:Curry, Tony 1937 births 2006 deaths Bahamian expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Bahamian expatriate baseball players in the United States Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Charleston Indians players Charros de Jalisco players Cleveland Indians players Expatriate baseball players in Mexico High Point-Thomasville Hi-Toms players Indios de Oriente players Jacksonville Suns players Leones del Caracas players Bahamian expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Major League Baseball outfielders Major League Baseball players from the Bahamas Oklahoma City 89ers players Philadelphia Phillies players Portland Beavers players Seattle Angels players Sportspeople from Nassau, Bahamas Tampa Tarpons (1957–1987) players Tiburones de La Guaira players Williamsport Grays players