Which "Dr. Strangegloves" learned to stop worrying and just hit the ball?
Managers often have a unique reason, or reasons, to keep a player in the everyday lineup despite an overabundance of errors in the field.
Updated: December 26, 2002, 1:57 PM ET
By by Walter Lis, STATS. Inc.
Over the past year, the baseball community said to goodbye to a number of legendary figures, including Hall of Fame members Ted Williams, Enos Slaughter and Hoyt Wilhelm. Another former major league ballplayer who also passed away recently was Dick Stuart, a slugging first baseman who played for Pittsburgh, Boston, Philadelphia, the New York Mets, Los Angeles and California in 10 major league seasons. He caught the attention of scouts in 1956, when he hit 66 home runs in the Class-A Western League.
A major league All-Star in 1961, Stuart at times was a force at the plate, hitting .264 with 228 home runs and 743 RBI in his career in the bigs. His performance in the field was another matter, however. Although Stuart started his minor league career as a below-average outfielder, the Pirates moved him to first base when he made his big league debut in 1958. He continued to struggle in the infield, making 16 errors in only 64 games that season.
Stuart then committed a whopping 29 errors at first base for the Boston Red Sox in 1963. His struggles in the field eventually earned him the nicknames "Dr. Strangeglove," "The Boston Strangler" and "The Ancient Mariner - he stoppeth one in three."
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