Career
Tasby made his major league debut on September 18, 1958, and played in 18 games for the Orioles at the end of the season. Willie's performance in 1959 was solid as he played 142 games, batted .250 with 13 home runs, while patrolling center field for the Orioles. Baltimore's sixth place finish in the AL was not impressive, but Tasby's rookie performance was, as he was selected to the inaugural Topps All-Star Rookie Team along with future Hall of Famer Willie McCovey.
In 1960, the Orioles were much improved. They contended for the AL pennant until late September. In June, however, with a tenuous hold on first place, they were swept in a four-game series at home by the Detroit Tigers. June 9 was the low point for Tasby, though, as his Orioles lost both ends of a double header to the Tigers and then traded him to the last place Red Sox. Boston plugged Willie right into their lineup, and the center fielder responded with a career-best .281 batting average.
Tasby's performance for the Sox garnered some attention as he became an expansion draft selection of the Washington Senators. Washington's opening season showed promise for Tasby. He started in center field for the Senators and hit a career high 17 home runs and collected 63 RBI in 141 games. Unfortunately, it was not as promising as it appeared. After just 11 games in 1962, Willie was traded by the Senators to the Cleveland Indians for a couple of pitchers. Tasby scratched out 127 games over two partial seasons with Cleveland to finish his career.
One highlight from Tasby's career happened on September 28, 1960, when Willie was with the Red Sox. It was Boston's final home game of the season and they were solidly entrenched in 7th place in the AL. And it was to be the final home game for the glorious Red Sox career of Ted Williams. Tasby grounded out to open the bottom of the eighth inning with the Red Sox trailing 4-2, then sat down to watch Williams pound the 521st and final home run of his Hall of Fame career. The blast sparked the Red Sox to a 5-4 comeback win and gave the Boston fans a fitting ending to a troubled relationship with their brilliant star. A fuller telling of this game can be found here.
Read more about this topic: Willie Tasby
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