Tuesday, March 15, 2011

1955 Topps #166 - Hank Bauer


Hank Bauer (b. 1922 - d. 2007) played in the majors from 1948 to 1961 for the Yankees and A's. He retired with 1,424 hits, 164 home runs and a batting average of .277. Bauer won the World Series with 7 Yankees clubs as a player (1949 to 1953, 1956 and 1958). Bauer is also known as a very accomplished manager, managing for the A's in 1961, 1962 and 1969 and the Orioles from 1964 to 1968. Bauer would win the World Series with the Orioles in 1966, completely stunning the heavily favored Dodgers and sending Sandy Koufax into retirement with a loss in his final start. Go O's!!! Oh, sorry Dodger fans. Bauer retired as a manager after the 1969 season with a record of 594-544. I wonder if Bauer will make his way into the Hall of Fame via the Veterans Committee at some point? The record isn't crazily impressive, but he had a run with the O's for a couple years from 1964-1966 where they were pretty darn good.

(DECEASED 89)
(MANAGER 18)

No comments: