Dick Cole (baseball)

For other uses, see Richard Cole (disambiguation).

Richard Roy Cole (born May 6, 1926, at Long Beach, California) is a former Major League Baseball infielder.

Before the 1943 season, Cole was drafted as an amateur free agent by the St. Louis Cardinals. Over eight years later he made his debut with the Cardinals, but was traded after only 15 games of service to the Pittsburgh Pirates, where he would spend the majority of his career.

Dick was used as at three different positions at his career with almost an even distribution of games. He played 169 games at shortstop, 118 games at second base, and 107 games at third base.

Cole wasn't plugged into the Pirates' lineup for offensive support, as his only full season, 1954, led to him grounding into 20 double plays, which was enough to tie for the second highest total in the National League with Stan Musial, only being topped by Del Ennis with 23. However, Cole did manage to hit slightly above average .270, along with 22 doubles, 5 triples, and 40 RBI in 138 games. The only home run of the year he hit was off the Brooklyn Dodgers' All-Star Carl Erskine.