Charley Lau

Charley Lau
Charley Lau

Catcher
Born: April 12, 1933(1933-04-12)
Romulus, Michigan
Died: March 18, 1984(1984-03-18) (aged 50)
Key Biscayne, Florida
Batted: Left Threw: Right 
MLB debut
September 12, 1956 for the Detroit Tigers
Last MLB appearance
September 29, 1967 for the Atlanta Braves
Career statistics
Batting average     .255
Home runs     16
RBI     140
Teams

As player

As coach

Charles Richard Lau (April 12, 1933, in Romulus, Michigan – March 18, 1984) was an American catcher and hitting coach in Major League Baseball.

He was signed by the Detroit Tigers as an amateur free agent. After spending three seasons with the organization (1956, 1958–1959) he was traded (with Don Lee) to the Milwaukee Braves for Casey Wise, Don Kaiser, and Mike Roarke. After the Baltimore Orioles purchased him from the Braves in 1962, he adopted a contact hitter's batting stance (feet wide apart, bat held almost parallel to the ground). That season he had a .294 batting average with six home runs and thirty-seven runs batted in.

After hitting .194 in 23 games, he was sold by the Orioles to the Kansas City Athletics on July 1, 1963, hitting .294 in Kansas City and having a batting average of .272 in 92 games. On June 15, 1964, he was traded back to the Orioles for Wes Stock. On May 31, 1967, he was purchased by the Braves, now located in Atlanta, and on November 27, 1967, he was released by the Braves.

Lau attributed the end of his career as a catcher in the majors to steroid injections he received to treat an injury to his throwing arm. These injections relieved the pain from the injury and he was counselled to return to the field before his injury fully healed. The permanent damage that resulted impaired his ability to throw out baserunners.[citation needed]

On April 28, 1961, Lau caught the second of Warren Spahn's two career no-hitters. [1]

Contents

Lau as a hitting coach

After his playing career ended, Lau became a hitting coach for the Orioles, Oakland Athletics, Kansas City Royals, New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox. Contrary to popular belief, Lau did not emphasize releasing the top hand after making contact with the pitch and following through with only the lower hand on the bat. He did, however, suggest this measure to hitters who—for whatever reason—could not fully extend their arms during their swings.

Lau developed a list of "Absolutes" about hitting, which included:

A balanced, workable stance;
Rhythm and movement in the stance (as opposed to standing still);
A good weight shift from a firm rigid backside to a firm rigid frontside;
Striding with the front toe closed;
Having the bat in the launching position as soon as the front foot touches down;
Making the stride a positive, aggressive motion toward the pitcher; 
A tension-free swing; 
Hitting through the ball;
Hitting the ball where it is pitched, rather than trying to direct it. 

Lau served as batting coach for the Royals from 1971 to 1978 (with the exception of the early part of the 1975 season when he was the team's minor league hitting coach after his temporary ouster from the Royals' staff by then-skipper Jack McKeon. He worked with Hal McRae, Amos Otis, Willie Wilson and George Brett. After becoming the Chicago White Sox' hitting instructor, his pupils included Greg Luzinski, Carlton Fisk, Steve Kemp, Harold Baines and Ron Kittle.

While serving as the White Sox hitting coach, he died in Key Biscayne, Florida at the age of 50 after a long bout with cancer. Since his death, no White Sox player or coach (except Lau disciple Walt Hriniak, the Chisox' hitting coach from 1989–1995[2]) has worn his number 6 jersey,[3] although it has not been officially retired.[4] The baseball field at Romulus Senior High School in his hometown is named the Charley Lau Baseball Field.

Off the field

Lau also appeared in the film Max Dugan Returns as himself. The title character (played by Jason Robards, Jr.) pays Lau to teach Matthew Broderick's character how to hit.

References

  1. ^ http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1961/B04280MLN1961.htm
  2. ^ Baseball Digest Official Chicago White Sox roster; April 1989, p. 105; April 1990-91-92, p. 103; April 1993, p. 101; April 1994, p. 100; July 1995, p. 83
  3. ^ http://blogs.chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports_hardball/2009/08/sox-rios-on-board-with-changes-beckham-keeps-no-15-no-more-deals-anticipated.html
  4. ^ http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/cws/history/retired_numbers.jsp

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • List of German Americans — This is a list of notable German Americans.German Americans (Deutschamerikaner) are citizens of the United States of ethnic German ancestry and form the largest ancestry group in the United States, accounting for 17% of US population. [cite web… …   Wikipedia

  • Detroit Tigers all-time roster — This is a list of players, both past and current, who appeared at least in one game for the Detroit Tigers, with their main position and years played. Players in Bold are members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Players in Italics have had… …   Wikipedia

  • George Brett (baseball) — Infobox MLB retired name=George Brett caption= position=Third baseman bats=Left throws=Right birthdate=birth date and age|1953|5|15 city state|Glen Dale|West Virginia debutdate=August 2 debutyear=by|1973 debutteam=Kansas City Royals… …   Wikipedia

  • List of people from Michigan — A list of notable people from the U.S. state of Michigan. Bolding indicates places in Michigan. People from Michigan are sometimes referred to as Michiganders, Michiganians, or more rarely as Michiganites. Actors, entertainers and… …   Wikipedia

  • List of people from Detroit — The following is a list of notable people from Detroit, Michigan. This list includes people who were born, have lived, or worked in and around Metro Detroit. Contents 1 Architects[1] 2 Artists and artisans[2] 2.1 Ceramists …   Wikipedia

  • Downriver — Metro Detroit Country United States State …   Wikipedia

  • Max Dugan Returns — Theatrical release poster Directed by Herbert Ross Produced by Herbert Ross …   Wikipedia

  • Romulus Senior High School — Infobox Secondary school name = Romulus Senior High School motto = Making Our Best Even Better logo = established = 1925 type = Public secondary principal = Mr. Don Foley faculty = 120+ students = 1,323 (2007 08) mascot = Eagles affiliation =… …   Wikipedia

  • 1968 Atlanta Braves season — MLB yearly infobox pre1969 alt‎ name = Atlanta Braves season = 1968 misc = current league = National League y1 = 1876 Uniform ballpark = Atlanta Stadium y4 = 1966 city = Atlanta, Georgia y5 = 1966 owners = William Bartholomay general manager =… …   Wikipedia

  • Mike Roarke — Roarke as the Cardinals pitching coach, 1988 Catcher Born: November 8, 1930 (1930 11 08) …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”