Bill Virdon

Infobox MLB retired
name=Bill Virdon
position=Outfielder


bats=Left
throws=Right
birthdate=birth date and age|1931|6|9
city-state|Hazel Park|Michigan
debutdate=April 12
debutyear=by|1955
debutteam=St. Louis Cardinals
finaldate=July 26
finalyear=by|1968
finalteam=Pittsburgh Pirates
stat1label=Batting average
stat1value=.267
stat2label=Hits
stat2value=1,596
stat3label=Runs batted in
stat3value=502
teams= As Player
* St. Louis Cardinals (by|1955-by|1956)
* Pittsburgh Pirates (by|1956-by|1965, by|1968)As Manager
* Pittsburgh Pirates (by|1972-by|1973)
* New York Yankees (by|1974-by|1975)
* Houston Astros (by|1975-by|1982)
* Montreal Expos (by|1983-by|1984)
highlights=
* World Series champion (1960)
* Gold Glove Award winner (1962)
* 1955 NL Rookie of the Year
* Led NL in triples in 1962 with 10

William Charles Virdon (born June 9, 1931 in Hazel Park, Michigan) is a former outfielder, manager and coach in Major League Baseball. A premier defensive outfielder during his playing days (1955-65) as a center fielder for the St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates (winning a Gold Glove in 1962), Virdon also had a long tenure in the major leagues as a manager, with the Pirates (1972-73), New York Yankees (1974-75), Houston Astros (1975-82), and Montreal Expos (1983-84). He was the American League Manager of the Year in by|1974, his only full season working for the Yankees of George Steinbrenner.

Virdon initially signed with the Yankees, but he never played for the big league club. As a minor league prospect, he was traded to the Cardinals in a multi-player deal before the by|1954 season for veteran outfielder Enos Slaughter, now a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame. After one more year of seasoning in the minors, Virdon joined the Cardinals in by|1955 and was named National League Rookie of the Year. He was traded to Pittsburgh in May by|1956.

A left-handed batter (who threw right-handed), Virdon's career batting average was .267 with 91 home runs during his 1,583-game NL career. He was the starting center fielder on the by|1960 world champion Pirates, batting .241 in seven World Series games. His ground ball in Game 7 took a bad hop and struck Yankees shortstop Tony Kubek in the throat, enabling Virdon to reach base and the Pirates to mount a furious rally in a game (and series) eventually won by Bill Mazeroski's dramatic home run.

As a manager, he led the Pirates to the by|1972 NL East title, but the Buccos dropped the NLCS to the Cincinnati Reds when Pittsburgh pitcher Bob Moose unleashed a wild pitch in the final inning of Game 5, allowing the winning run to score. His by|1980 Astros won the NL West championship, but fell to the Philadelphia Phillies in a five-game NLCS. His career managerial record, over all or parts of 13 seasons, was 995-921 (.519). He also served three different terms as a Pirates coach. He has the unusual distinction of having been replaced on two separate occasions by the manager he replaced; in Montreal (Jim Fanning) and in Pittsburgh (Danny Murtaugh).

Currently Bill lives in Springfield, Missouri, and serves as a special outfield instructor for the Pirates during spring training.

Managerial Statistics

ee also

* List of Major League Baseball triples champions

External links

* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/virdobi01.shtml Baseball-Reference.com] - career managing record and playing statistics