Dick Wakefield
Encyclopedia
Richard Cummings "Dick" Wakefield (May 6, 1921 - August 25, 1985), was a left fielder
Left fielder
In baseball, a left fielder is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound...

 in Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

 for 9 seasons with the Detroit Tigers
Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are a Major League Baseball team located in Detroit, Michigan. One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in as part of the Western League. The Tigers have won four World Series championships and have won the American League pennant...

 (1941, 1943–1944, 1946–1949), New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...

 (1950), and New York Giants
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....

 (1952). Wakefield was a tall, 6 foot, 4 inch, player who threw right-handed and batted left-handed.

Early Years in Chicago and the University of Michigan

Born in Chicago, Wakefield was the son of Howard Wakefield
Howard Wakefield
Howard John Wakefield was a professional baseball player from 1905 to 1907. Wakefield was a 6 foot, 1 inch, catcher who threw right-handed and batted right-handed. Wakefield played the 1905 and 1907 seasons with the Cleveland Indians...

, who was a major league catcher from 1905-1907. The scouts started taking notice of Wakefield when he was in high school in Chicago. He recalled: "I was a skinny kid who could hit." (Donald Honig, "Baseball Between the Lines: Baseball in the Forties and Fifties as Told by the Men Who Played It" (Univ. Nebraska Press 1993), p. 81.)http://books.google.com/books?id=grybHq6sAX4C&pg=PA79&lpg=PA79&dq=%22dick+wakefield%22&source=web&ots=CwaCgnn3Pt&sig=7xstry7tXuaWjf2TE1jKu3EU8Ag#PPA81,M1

Wakefield attended the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...

 where he played only one season, 1941, with the Michigan Wolverines baseball team. In his one season playing for the Wolverines, Wakefield hit for average (.372) and power (9 home runs), as he led the team to a 24-8 record and its first Big Ten Conference
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...

 baseball crown since 1936. http://books.google.com/books?id=fd87BHQ4VrkC&pg=PT104&lpg=PT104&dq=%22dick+wakefield%22&source=web&ots=-yK6vqF3OO&sig=DimkCVkQBUOq7vcD_zqU4r8xnUE http://books.google.com/books?id=68fbDjGuPIoC&pg=PA74&lpg=PA74&dq=%22dick+wakefield%22&source=web&ots=bYw2svu8dv&sig=LxBPUS9IoycUS3b_xgDHySIGKmI#PPA74,M1

The First "Bonus Baby"

In the summer of 1941, Wakefield was a hot prospect who was invited for tryouts with Brooklyn, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland and Detroit. Wakefield later recalled that his "criterion" in choosing the right team was "the highest offer." A photograph of a smiling Wakefield holding multiple "big league offers" is available from the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.http://books.google.com/books?id=68fbDjGuPIoC&pg=PA74&lpg=PA74&dq=%22dick+wakefield%22&source=web&ots=bYw2svu8dv&sig=LxBPUS9IoycUS3b_xgDHySIGKmI#PPA74,M1 Legendary Tigers scout, Wish Egan
Wish Egan
Aloysius Jerome "Wish" Egan was a Major League Baseball player and scout.-Playing career:Born in Evart, Michigan, Egan played three seasons as a pitcher for the Detroit Tigers and St. Louis Cardinals . He started 3 games for the Tigers in September 1902...

, persuaded Detroit owner, Walter O. Briggs, Sr.
Walter O. Briggs, Sr.
Walter Owen Briggs, Sr. was an American entrepreneur and professional sports owner. He was part-owner of the Detroit Tigers in Major League Baseball from to , and then sole owner from 1935 to his death in 1952. Briggs also helped found the Detroit Zoo in 1928, and personally paid for many of its...

 to give Wakefield an unprecedented $52,000 signing ($ today) bonus and a car. (Donald Honig, "Baseball Between the Lines" p. 81.)

Wakefield was the first of the "Bonus Babies," and his bonus was "more than the aggregate amount that the entire starting lineup for many major league teams earned in a season." (Nemec and Zeman, "The Baseball Rookies Encyclopedia" p. 179.) From the beginning, Wakefield felt that he was treated unfairly by sportswriters, many of whom he recalled made only $8,000 a year. "Most of the resentment came from the newspapers. Fifty-two thousand was a sockful of money in 1941 and the papers made a big deal of it. They were writing about me every day." (Donald Honig, "Baseball Between the Lines" pp. 80–81.)

Wakefield brought some of the negative publicity on himself, as he developed a reputation for flaunting his money and not working as hard as other players. After receiving his bonus, he walked into a car dealership and bought a new Lincoln Zephyr even though he did not know how to drive. (Donald Honig, "Baseball Between the Lines" p. 81.) When he was threatened with a $25 ($ today) fine for walking with his spikes in the locker room, he "peeled off the money for the fine while still walking." (Patrick Harrigan, "The Detroit Tigers: Club and Community 1945-1955" (Wayne State Univ. Press 1997), p. 52.)

A 20-year-old Wakefield signed with the Tigers in June 1941 and played in his first major league game that same month, on June 26, 1941. Wakefield went 1-for-7 in a brief stint in the big leagues. He spent the 1942 season playing with the Beaumont Exporters
Beaumont Exporters
The Beaumont Exporters were a franchise in American minor league baseball that played in the Texas League from 1920-49 and 1953-55. The city of Beaumont, Texas, was also represented in the Texas League from 1912-17 and 1919 as the Oilers, from 1950-52 as the Roughnecks, and from 1983-86 as the...

, where he was named Most Valuable Player of the Texas League
Texas League
The Texas League is a minor league baseball league which operates in the South Central United States. It is classified a Double-A league. The league was founded in 1888 and ran through 1892...

.

Wakefield's Rookie Season (1943)

Wakefield returned to the Tigers in 1943 and had a tremendous rookie season. At age 22, he was the starting left fielder
Left fielder
In baseball, a left fielder is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound...

 for the American League
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...

 in the All Star Game and had 2 hits, including a double off Mort Cooper
Mort Cooper
Morton Cecil Cooper was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played primarily for the St. Louis Cardinals...

 (the National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...

's MVP in 1942) to drive in Ken Keltner
Ken Keltner
Kenneth Frederick Keltner was an American professional baseball player. He played almost his entire Major League Baseball career as a third baseman with the Cleveland Indians, until his final season when he played 13 games for the Boston Red Sox. He batted and threw right-handed...

 for the game-winning run. He led the American League in 1943 with 200 hits, 38 doubles, and 633 at bats, finished 2nd in the batting race behind Luke Appling
Luke Appling
Lucius Benjamin Appling was an American shortstop in Major League Baseball who played his entire career for the Chicago White Sox . He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1964....

 with a .316 batting average
Batting average
Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...

, and was among the league leaders with 275 total bases (2nd in the AL), 91 runs (3rd in the AL), 53 extra base hits (4th in the AL), a .434 slugging percentage (5th in the AL), and a .377 on base percentage (6th in the AL).

As a rookie, Wakefield placed 6th in the 1943 American League Most Valuable Player voting, and Wakefield appeared to be on his way to a tremendous career.

Military Service and the 1944 Season

In October 1943, Wakefield entered the U.S. Navy as an aviation cadet and was discharged in July 1944 when the cadet program was discontinued. Upon his discharge from the Navy, Wakefield rejoined the Tigers in mid-July 1944 and went on a tear, hitting .355 in 78 games and collecting an OPS score of 1.040. Wakefield was called back to the Navy in November 1944 and remained in the service until January 1946. In all, Wakefield missed half of the 1944 season and the entire 1945 seasons to military service.

While in the service, Wakefield met Ted Williams
Ted Williams
Theodore Samuel "Ted" Williams was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 21-year Major League Baseball career as the left fielder for the Boston Red Sox...

 in Hawaii and bet him that he would top him in home runs, RBIs, and batting average when the war ended. They bet $1,000 on each statistic, with Wakefield losing on all three bets, as his post-war performance never returned to its 1943-1944 levels.(Donald Honig, "Baseball Between the Lines" pp. 80–81.)

Wakefield Wears Out His Welcome in Detroit (1946-1949)

Wakefield returned to the Tigers in 1946 but never regained the batting stroke of earlier years. From 1946-1948, Wakefield consistently batted between .268 and .283 and never again managed more than 106 hits or played in more than 112 games.

Even as his batting average declined, Wakefield remained a favorite of the owner's wife, Mrs. Briggs, whom Wakefield called "Ma." Mrs. Briggs would sometimes pick up Wakefield in her limousine on the way to the ballpark. In one history of the Tigers, Wakefield was described as follows: "Clearly out of the control of managers, disliked by his fellow players, and criticized in the press, Wakefield was an untouchable for many years because of his relationship with the Briggs family." (Patrick Harrigan, "The Detroit Tigers," p. 52.)

After Wakefield's batting average fell to .206 in 1949, even his relationship with Mrs. Briggs could not save him. Wakefield was traded to the New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...

 in December 1949 for Dick Kryhoski
Dick Kryhoski
Richard David Kryhoski was a first baseman in Major League Baseball who played for five different teams between 1949 and 1955. Listed at 6' 2", 200 lb., Kryhoski batted and threw left-handed. He was born and raised in Leonia, New Jersey.Kryhoski attended at Upsala College in East Orange, New...

.

By the time he left Detroit, he had clearly worn out his welcome. Time magazine reported shortly after the trade: "Wakefield has been successful only at driving his bosses to distraction. His teammates put him down as lazy and self-centered." http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,780203,00.html After the trade was announced, Wakefield wrote a three-page letter to the press, announcing that "he was genuinely sorry for his sins in Detroit." ("I've Been a Bad Boy," Time magazine, January 2, 1950) http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,780203,00.html He gave special thanks to Wish Egan
Wish Egan
Aloysius Jerome "Wish" Egan was a Major League Baseball player and scout.-Playing career:Born in Evart, Michigan, Egan played three seasons as a pitcher for the Detroit Tigers and St. Louis Cardinals . He started 3 games for the Tigers in September 1902...

, who had discovered him: "The courage he has shown in fighting for me during my pitiful exhibitions will live with me as a shining example of friendship." ("I've Been a Bad Boy," Time magazine, January 2, 1950) http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,780203,00.html

Tigers General Manager Billy Evans
Billy Evans
William George Evans , nicknamed "The Boy Umpire," was an American umpire in Major League Baseball who worked in the American League from 1906 to 1927...

 admitted that relentless booing of Wakefield by Detroit fans prompted the trade. "Our Detroit fans were down on Wakefield so much that I felt sorry for the boy all last year. We liked Wakefield, but we wanted to trade him away from Detroit before they broke his heart." (Shirley Povich, "All Those Mornings...at the Post" (2005) p. 140.)

Later Years in New York and Oakland (1950-1952)

Wakefield's problems continued in New York, where he had only 2 at bats for the 1950 Yankees. At the end of April 1950, the Yankees traded Wakefield to the Chicago White Sox
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are a Major League Baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois.The White Sox play in the American League's Central Division. Since , the White Sox have played in U.S. Cellular Field, which was originally called New Comiskey Park and nicknamed The Cell by local fans...

, but Wakefield refused to report unless a $5,500 salary cut imposed by the Yankees was reversed. Commissioner Happy Chandler
Happy Chandler
Albert Benjamin "Happy" Chandler, Sr. was a politician from the US state of Kentucky. He represented the state in the U.S. Senate and served as its 44th and 49th governor. Aside from his political positions, he also served as the second Commissioner of Major League Baseball from 1945 to 1951 and...

 voided the trade in mid-May, and the Yankees put Wakefield on suspension. Wakefield asked to buy out his own contract, but the Yankees refused and instead sold his contract to the Oakland Oaks
Oakland Oaks (PCL)
The Oakland Oaks were a minor league baseball team in Oakland, California that played in the Pacific Coast League from 1903 through 1955, after which the club transferred to Vancouver, British Columbia...

 of the Pacific Coast League
Pacific Coast League
The Pacific Coast League is a minor-league baseball league operating in the Western, Midwestern and Southeastern United States. Along with the International League and the Mexican League, it is one of three leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one step below Major League Baseball.The...

. http://www.baseballlibrary.com/ballplayers/player.php?name=Dick_Wakefield_1921&page=chronology

Wakefield was the Oaks' fourth outfielder in 1950, where he hit .293 with 7 home runs and 38 RBIs in 87 games. In 1951, Wakefield was given a limited role as a pinch hitter by Oaks' manager Mel Ott
Mel Ott
Melvin Thomas Ott , nicknamed "Master Melvin", was a Major League Baseball right fielder. He played his entire career for the New York Giants . Ott was born in Gretna, Louisiana. He batted left-handed and threw right-handed...

, and he was released about two weeks into the season. http://oaklandoaks.tripod.com/53wakefield.html

Wakefield attempted a major league comeback in 1951 and was picked up briefly in 1952 by the New York Giants
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

, but he went hitless in 2 at bats. Wakefield's baseball career was over at age 31.

Life After Baseball

After his baseball career, Wakefield worked in taxes, bankruptcy courts and the steel industry. http://books.google.com/books?id=fd87BHQ4VrkC&pg=PT104&lpg=PT104&dq=%22dick+wakefield%22&source=web&ots=-yK6vqF3OO&sig=DimkCVkQBUOq7vcD_zqU4r8xnUE In 1983, Wakefield was inducted into the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor. http://bentley.umich.edu/athdept/misc/hallhon.htm

Wakefield died in 1985 at age 64 in Redford, Michigan.

Career statistics

G
Games played
Games played is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated ; the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested.-Baseball:In baseball, the statistic applies also to players who, prior to a game,...

AB
At bat
In baseball, an at bat or time at bat is used to calculate certain statistics, including batting average, on base percentage, and slugging percentage. It is a more restricted definition of a plate appearance...

R H 2B
Double (baseball)
In baseball, a double is the act of a batter striking the pitched ball and safely reaching second base without being called out by the umpire, without the benefit of a fielder's misplay or another runner being put out on a fielder's choice....

3B
Triple (baseball)
In baseball, a triple is the act of a batter safely reaching third base after hitting the ball, with neither the benefit of a fielder's misplay nor another runner being put out on a fielder's choice....

HR
Home run
In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...

RBI SB CS
Caught stealing
In baseball, a runner is charged, and the fielders involved are credited, with a time caught stealing when the runner attempts to advance or lead off from one base to another without the ball being batted and then is tagged out by a fielder while making the attempt...

BB
Base on balls
A base on balls is credited to a batter and against a pitcher in baseball statistics when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls balls. It is better known as a walk. The base on balls is defined in Section 2.00 of baseball's Official Rules, and further detail is given in 6.08...

SO
Strikeout
In baseball or softball, a strikeout or strike-out occurs when a batter receives three strikes during his time at bat. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters....

BA
Batting average
Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...

OBP
On base percentage
In baseball statistics, on-base percentage is a measure of how often a batter reaches base for any reason other than a fielding error, fielder's choice, dropped/uncaught third strike, fielder's obstruction, or catcher's interference In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) (sometimes...

SLG TB
Total bases
In baseball statistics, total bases refers to the number of bases a player has gained with hits, i.e., the sum of his hits weighted by 1 for a single, 2 for a double, 3 for a triple and 4 for a home run.Only bases attained from hits count toward this total....

SH HBP
Hit by pitch
In baseball, hit by pitch , or hit batsman , is a batter or his equipment being hit in some part of his body by a pitch from the pitcher.-Official rule:...

638 2132 334 625 102 29 56 315 10 17 360 270 .293 .396 .447 953 10 3

See also


Sources

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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