Al Weis

Infobox MLB retired
bgcolor1=silver
bgcolor2=black
textcolor1=black
textcolor2=silver
name=Al Weis
position=Infielder
bats=Switch
throws=Right
birthdate=birth date and age|1938|4|2
debutdate=September 15
debutyear=by|1962
debutteam=Chicago White Sox
finaldate=June 23
finalyear=by|1971
finalteam=New York Mets
stat1label=BA
stat1value=.219
stat2label=HR
stat2value=7
stat3label=RBI
stat3value=115
teams=
*Chicago White Sox (by|1962-by|1967)
*New York Mets (by|1968-by|1971)
highlights=
*World Series Champion: 1969
*Babe Ruth Award: 1969

Albert John Weis (born April 2, 1938 in Franklin Square, New York) is a former Major League Baseball infielder.

Al is from Bethage, NY and graduated from Farmingdale (NY) High School in 1959. He was a high school teammate of Jack Lamabe who pitched for several major league teams including the Red Sox, Mets, Pirates and Cardinals.

Weis played for the Chicago White Sox from by|1962 to by|1967 and the New York Mets from by|1968 to by|1971. He was a switch hitter until the end of the 1968 season, after which he batted exclusively right-handed.

Signed by the White Sox as an amateur free agent, Weis played 99 games as a utility infielder in his rookie season of by|1963, with 48 of those games at second base and 27 at shortstop. In by|1964 he and Don Buford shared second base duties after the trade of the popular Nellie Fox. Weis batted .247 and established career highs with 81 hits and 22 stolen bases; that year the White Sox finished second in the American League, one game behind the New York Yankees for the pennant.

Weis resumed his utility infielder duties with the White Sox for the next three years; the most at-bats he compiled during this period was 187 in by|1966. He suffered a broken leg as the result of a violent collision at second base with Frank Robinson of the Orioles in mid-season in by|1967. After the 1967 season he and Tommie Agee were traded to the New York Mets for four players (among them Tommy Davis and Jack Fisher).

Weis was a member of the by|1969 Miracle Mets team that unexpectedly won the World Series. In that Series, which the Mets won over the Baltimore Orioles in five games, Weis played a major role in both of Jerry Koosman’s victories, with Dave McNally being the victim both times. In Game 2 his 9th-inning single scored Ed Charles for the winning run in a 2-1 victory; in the clincher, Game 5, after hitting only six home runs for his career to that point (none of which was at Shea Stadium, where the game was being played), he homered off McNally in the seventh inning to tie the game at 3-3. The Mets scored two runs in the eighth to complete their improbable World Series victory.

The 1969 World Series was Weis’ last moment of glory; he was released by the Mets July 1, by|1971. He had batted .218 with 346 hits, only seven of which were home runs (he remembered all of them), and 115 RBIs in 800 games played.

ee also

* Chicago White Sox all-time roster

External links

* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/w/weisal01.shtml Al Weis' career stats and analysis]