Willie Tasby Jr. (January 8, 1933 – April 3, 2022) was an American

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 ...

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) who appeared in 583 games as a member of 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 ...

(–),

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 ...

(1960), Washington Senators (–) 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) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

(1962–). He was primarily a

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 ...

, with 459 of his 545 career defensive appearances at the position. Although Tasby was born in

Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the List of municipalities in Louisiana, third-most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge. The bulk of Shreveport is in Caddo Parish, Lo ...

, he was a graduate of

McClymonds High School McClymonds High School is a public high school in the West Oakland neighborhood of Oakland, California, Oakland, California, United States. In addition to being the third oldest high school in Oakland, it is the only comprehensive high school ...

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

, ''alma mater'' of star American athletes

Bill Russell William Felton Russell (February 12, 1934 – July 31, 2022) was an American professional basketball player who played Center (basketball), center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1956 to 1969. He was t ...

, Frank Robinson,

Curt Flood Curtis Charles Flood Sr. (January 18, 1938 – January 20, 1997) was an American professional baseball center fielder and activist. He played 15 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cincinnati Redlegs, St. Louis Cardinals, and Washin ...

and Vada Pinson during the 1950s. He also attended Oakland's Laney College.

Career

Tasby threw and batted right-handed, stood tall and weighed . He began his minor-league career in 1950 in the organization of the St. Louis Browns, predecessors of the modern MLB Orioles. He spent nine seasons in the franchise's

farm system In sports, a farm team (also referred to as farm system, developmental system, feeder team, or nursery club) is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful pl ...

before making his major league debut on September 18, 1958, and played in 18 games for the Orioles at the end of the season. Tasby's performance in

1959 Events January * January 1 – Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 – Soviet lunar probe Luna 1 is the first human-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reaches the ...

was solid as he played 142 games and batted .250 with 13

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, while patrolling center field for the Orioles. Baltimore's sixth-place finish in the AL was not impressive, but Tasby's rookie performance was, as he was selected to the inaugural Topps All-Star Rookie Team along with future Hall of Famer Willie McCovey. In 1960, the Orioles were much improved. They contended for the AL pennant until late September. In June, however, with a tenuous hold on first place, they were swept in a four-game series at home by 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 ...

. June 9 was the low point for Tasby, as his Orioles lost both ends of a double header to the Tigers and then traded him to the last-place Boston Red Sox. Boston plugged Tasby right into their lineup, and the center fielder responded with a career-best .281

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 ...

. Tasby's performance for the Red Sox garnered some attention, as he became an

expansion draft An expansion draft, in professional sports, occurs when a sports league decides to create one or more new expansion teams or sports franchising, franchises. This occurs mainly in Sports in North America, North American sports and closed leagues. O ...

selection of the new Washington Senators franchise. The expansion Senators' opening season showed promise for Tasby. He started 134 games in center field, hit a career-high 17 home runs and collected 63 RBI in 141

games played Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. Associat ...

. However, Washington acquired former

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 ...

All-Star An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. Sports "All-star" as a sport ...

center fielder Jimmy Piersall during the offseason. Then, after just 11 games with Washington in

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

, seven as the club's left fielder, Tasby was traded on May 5 to the Cleveland Indians for pitchers Steve Hamilton and Don Rudolph. Tasby scratched out 127 games over two partial seasons with Cleveland to finish his big-league career. All told, Tasby collected 467 hits in the majors, with 61 doubles, ten triples and 46 home runs accompanying his .250 career batting mark. He was credited with 174 runs batted in. Willie Tasby died on April 3, 2022, at the age of 89. He is buried in Plant City, Florida.

References

External links

Nowlin, Bill, ''Willie Tasby''

Society for American Baseball Research The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) is a membership organization dedicated to fostering the research and dissemination of the history and statistical record of baseball. The organization was founded in Cooperstown, New York, on Au ...

Biography Project {{DEFAULTSORT:Tasby, Willie 1933 births 2022 deaths Major League Baseball center fielders Baltimore Orioles players Boston Red Sox players Cleveland Indians players Washington Senators (1961–1971) players Baseball players from Oakland, California Baseball players from Shreveport, Louisiana African-American baseball players Fargo-Moorhead Twins players Jacksonville Suns players Knoxville Smokies players Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Lubbock Hubbers players Phoenix Senators players Pocatello Bannocks players Portland Beavers players San Antonio Missions players Texas City Texans players Vancouver Mounties players York White Roses players American expatriate baseball players in Canada Habana players American expatriate baseball players in Cuba Broncos de Reynosa players Sultanes de Monterrey players American expatriate baseball players in Mexico 21st-century African-American sportsmen McClymonds High School alumni 20th-century American sportsmen