- Whitey Lockman
Infobox MLB retired
name=Whitey Lockman
position=Outfielder /First baseman
bats=Left
throws=Right
birthdate=birth date and age|1926|7|25Lowell, North Carolina
deathdate=
debutdate=July 5
debutyear=by|1945
debutteam=New York Giants
finaldate=June 24
finalyear=by|1960
finalteam=Cincinnati Reds
stat1label=Batting average
stat1value=.279
stat2label=Home run s
stat2value=114
stat3label=Runs batted in
stat3value=563
teams=
* New York Giants (by|1945-by|1956)
*St. Louis Cardinals (by|1956)
* New York / San Francisco Giants (by|1957-by|1958)
*Baltimore Orioles (by|1959)
*Cincinnati Reds (by|1959-by|1960)
highlights=
* All-Star selection (1952)
*World Series champion (1954)Carroll Walter "Whitey" Lockman (born
July 25 ,1926 inLowell, North Carolina ) is a retired player, coach,manager and front office executive in AmericanMajor League Baseball .Lockman played a supporting role in one of the most famous ninth-inning comebacks in baseball history. On October 3, 1951, Lockman scored the tying run, just ahead of
Bobby Thomson , on Thomson'shome run that gave the New York Giants theNational League championship - baseball's "Shot Heard 'Round the World." Lockman's one-out double against theBrooklyn Dodgers had scoredAlvin Dark with the Giants' first run of the inning, and made the score 4-2, Brooklyn. His hit knocked Dodger pitcherDon Newcombe out of the game, and, on the play, Giant baserunnerDon Mueller broke his ankle sliding into third base. While Mueller was being carried off the field to be replaced by apinch runner , Dodger managerChuck Dressen called on relief pitcherRalph Branca , whose second pitch was hit by Thomson into thePolo Grounds ' lower left field stands for a game-winning, three-run homer.Lockman was a
first baseman andoutfielder who batted left-handed and threw right-handed. He signed with the Giants as a 17-year-old duringWorld War II and came to New York from theminor leagues in the midseason of 1945, just past his 19th birthday. He batted .341 in limited duty that season, but would hit over .300 only once more during a 15-year major league playing career. He was a regular in the Giant lineup from 1948 through June 1956, when he was traded to theSt. Louis Cardinals . His exile was brief, however, as the Redbirds sent him back to the Giants after the end of the 1956 season. He was a member of the Giants' last New York team, and their first San Francisco outfit, when the club moved West in 1958. He finished his career in 1959-60 with theBaltimore Orioles andCincinnati Reds .Appearing in 1,666 games, Lockman had a .279 career batting average with 114 home runs. In the
1951 World Series , won in six games by theNew York Yankees , Lockman hit .240 with a home run. Three years later, he batted only .111 in the 1954 Fall Classic, but the Giants swept theCleveland Indians to win the world championship.Lockman's coaching career began immediately after his playing days ended, as he joined the Reds' staff in 1960 under skipper
Fred Hutchinson . In 1961, when his old mate, Dark, became manager of the Giants, Lockman became his third base coach, serving through 1964. Lockman then joined theChicago Cubs as a minor league manager, coach, and, then, Director of Player Development. In July 1972, he succeeded his old mentor,Leo Durocher , as Cubs' manager and the revitalized Cubbies won 39 of 65 games to improve two places in the standing. But losing marks in 1973 and into 1974 cost Lockman his job; he was relieved of his duties July 24, 1974 and moved back into the Chicago front office. Lockman later was a player development official and special assignment scout for theMontreal Expos andFlorida Marlins .Lockman finished with a career major league managing record of 157-162 (.492).
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