15-year Playing Career
Born in Lowell, North Carolina, Lockman was a first baseman and outfielder who batted left-handed and threw right-handed. He signed with the Giants as a 17-year-old during World War II and came to New York from the minor leagues in the midseason of 1945, just past his 19th birthday. He batted .341 in limited duty that season, but would hit over .300 only once more during a 15-year Major League playing career. He was a regular in the Giant lineup from 1948 through June 1956, when he was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals. His time in St. Louis was brief, however, as the Cardinals sent him back to the Giants after the end of the 1956 season. He was a member of the Giants' last New York team, and their first San Francisco outfit, when the club moved West in 1958. He finished his playing career in 1959-60 with the Baltimore Orioles and Cincinnati Reds.
Appearing in 1,666 games, Lockman had a .279 career batting average with 114 home runs. In the 1951 World Series, won in six games by the New York Yankees, Lockman hit .240 with a home run. Three years later, he batted only .111 in the 1954 Fall Classic, but the Giants swept the Cleveland Indians to win the world championship.
Read more about this topic: Whitey Lockman
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