Thurman Tucker

Infobox MLB retired
bgcolor1=Silver
bgcolor2=Black
textcolor1=black
textcolor2=white
name=Thurman Tucker
position=Center fielder
bats=Left
throws=Right
debutdate=April 14
debutyear=by|1942
debutteam=Chicago White Sox
finaldate=April 29
finalyear=by|1951
finalteam=Cleveland Indians
stat1label=AVG
stat1value=.255
stat2label=H
stat2value=570
stat3label=RBI
stat3value=179
teams=
*Chicago White Sox (by|1942-by|1947)
*Cleveland Indians (by|1948-by|1951)
highlights=
*All-Star: 1944

Thurman Lowell Tucker (September 261917—May 71993, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) was a Major League Baseball center fielder. He was nicknamed "Joe E." Tucker because he was a dead ringer for comedian Joe E. Brown.cite web|url=http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/ballplayers/T/Tucker_Thurman.stm|title=Thurman Tucker - BaseballLibrary.com|accessdate=2007-05-12] Tucker was born in Gordon, Texas, and played in the Texas League before being purchased by the Chicago White Sox on November 6, 1940.cite web|url=http://www.baseball-reference.com/t/tucketh01.shtml|title=Thurman Tucker Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com|accessdate=2006-05-08]

He continued playing for Oklahoma City in the Taxas League before being called up for the 1942 season. He played a few games for the White Sox before playing for Ft. Worth of the Texas league for most of the season. He became the starting center fielder during the 1943 season, becoming a vital part of the White Sox. He stole 29 bases, third to teammate Wally Moses and George Case. His baserunning was also risky at time, as he was caught stealing 17 times in 1943 (second in the league), 12 in 1944 (third in the league), and 10 in 1946 (second in the league). Tucker improved for the 1944 season, raising his batting average to .287, his fielding percentage to .991, scoring 6 triples, and earning his lone all-star appearance, in which he was both the leadoff hitter and starting center fielder. After the 1944 season, he joined the US Navy and served in World War II. [cite web|url=http://www.garybed.co.uk/those_who_served.htm|title=Those Who Served|accessdate=2007-05-06] Thurman returned for the 1946 season, and ended the season with a career high batting average of .288 and a career high doubles total with 20. Although Tucker lost his starting job for the 1947 season to Dave Philley, he was still used as a fourth outfielder, and spent the season in Chicago.

The following season, he was traded to the Cleveland Indians for Ralph Weigel on January 271948. That season, he shared center field with Larry Doby en route to the Indians winning the 1948 World Series. During the 1948 season, Tucker managed to avoid making a single error, ending up with a perfect fielding percentage of 1.000. He became a fourth outfielder in 1949, and was used even less in 1950, his first season without a triple. He finished the season with a disappointing batting average of .178, and only had one at-bat in the 1951 season before retiring.

ee also

* Chicago White Sox all-time roster

References

External links

* [http://baseballprofessor.com/players/viewPlayer.php?playerID=tucketh01 Thurman Tucker at Baseball Professor]
* [http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=tucketh01 Thurman Tucker at Baseball Almanac]