Andy Seminick

Infobox MLB retired
bgcolor1=#263473
bgcolor2=#A50024
textcolor1=white
textcolor2=white
name=Andy Seminick


width=200
position=Catcher
bats=Right
throws=Right
birthdate=September 12 1920
deathdate=death date and age|2004|2|22|1920|9|12
debutdate=September 14
debutyear=1943
debutteam=Philadelphia Blue Jays
finaldate=September 21
finalyear=1957
finalteam=Philadelphia Phillies
stat1label=AVG
stat1value=.243
stat2label=HR
stat2value=164
stat3label=RBI
stat3value=556
teams=
*Philadelphia Blue Jays / Phillies (by|1943-by|1951, by|1955-by|1957)
*Cincinnati Reds / Redlegs (by|1952-by|1955)
highlights=
*All star in 1949

Andrew Wasal (Andy) Seminick (September 12 1920 – February 22 2004) was an American Major League Baseball catcher and right-handed batter. He played for the Philadelphia Blue Jays/Phillies between 1943 and 1951, and the Cincinnati Reds/Redlegs from 1952 through part of 1955, when he rejoined the Phillies for the rest of the year until his release at the end of the 1957 season.

Seminick was born in Pierce, West Virginia. He was a member of the by|1949 National League All-Star team and helped the by|1950 "Whiz Kids" Phillies win their first pennant since by|1915. On June 2, by|1949, he hit three home runs in a game with two of them in the same inning.

In 15 seasons, Seminick batted .243 with 164 home runs and 556 RBI in 1304 games. He enjoyed his best season in 1950, when he hit .288, 24, 68.

After retiring, Seminick worked for the Philadelphia organization for the rest of his life. First, as a coach with the Phillies (1957-58), then managed 11 Phillies' minor-league teams (1959-66, 1970-73), and returned as a coach for the Phillies (1967-69). After that, he scouted and served as a roving minor-league instructor for the Phillies (1974 to mid-1980s). Notably, ninety of the players he managed or coached eventually played in the major leagues, including Mike Schmidt, Ferguson Jenkins, Greg Luzinski and Bob Boone. Seminick helped to convert Boone from a third baseman to one of the best defensive catchers in baseball.

In the 1990s, Seminick served as a catching instructor for Philadelphia in spring training and in the Florida Instructional League.

Andy Seminick died in Melbourne, Florida, at 83 years of age. He was the last living everyday player from the "Whiz Kids".

Feat

*On June 2, by|1949, the Phillies hit five home runs during the same inning (the eighth) in a 12–3 victory over Cincinnati at Shibe Park, tying the major league mark set by the by|1939 New York Giants. Seminick hit two home runs in the inning, while Del Ennis, Willie Jones and Schoolboy Rowe had one each. Jones added a triple as Granny Hamner's double jumped the extra bases total to 18, still a record. Seminick collected three home runs overall.

ee also

* Top 500 home run hitters of all time
* Major League Baseball hitters with three home runs in one game

External links

*
* [http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/ballplayers/S/Seminick_Andy.stm Baseball Library] - profile and chronology
* [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FCI/is_11_61/ai_92521923/pg_1 Baseball Digest] - 1950: When Philadelphia's Whiz Kids won the N.L. pennant
* [http://www.thedeadballera.com/Obits/Seminick.Andy.Obit.html The Deadball Era]