Jim Fregosi Marquee

b. April 4, 1942 · Los Angeles Angels 1961–1964, California Angels 1965–1971, New York Mets 1972–1973, Texas Rangers 1973–1977, Pittsburgh Pirates 1977–1978

He was an All-Star six times in the 1960s as an Angels shortstop, with 1,408 hits for the club, a Gold Glove and a decade of being the only reason to watch. In December 1971 California traded him to the Mets for four players, one of whom was Nolan Ryan, who then struck out 383 men in a season in an Angels uniform.

Eighteen seasons gave him 1,726 hits, 151 home runs, 78 triples and a .265 average. A foot injury and a tumor removed from his hand ended the best of it at twenty-nine, which is part of why the trade looked defensible at the time and does not now.

He managed for fifteen seasons — California, the White Sox, Philadelphia and Toronto — and took the 1993 Phillies from last place to the World Series with a roster nobody has stopped talking about. The 1984 ballot gave him four votes of 403. He died in 2014, at seventy-one.

Honors

Award	Times	Years
All-Star selection	6	1964, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970
The Sporting News All-Star	2	1964, 1967
Gold Glove	1	1967

Batting, season by season

Year	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	AVG
1961	LAA	11	27	7	6	0	0	0	3	1	4	0	.222
1962	LAA	58	175	15	51	3	4	3	23	18	27	2	.291
1963	LAA	154	592	83	170	29	12	9	50	36	104	2	.287
1964	LAA	147	505	86	140	22	9	18	72	72	87	8	.277
1965	CAL	161	602	66	167	19	7	15	64	54	107	13	.277
1966	CAL	162	611	78	154	32	7	13	67	67	89	17	.252
1967	CAL	151	590	75	171	23	6	9	56	49	77	9	.290
1968	CAL	159	614	77	150	21	13	9	49	60	101	9	.244
1969	CAL	161	580	78	151	22	6	12	47	93	86	9	.260
1970	CAL	158	601	95	167	33	5	22	82	69	92	0	.278
1971	CAL	107	347	31	81	15	1	5	33	39	61	2	.233
1972	NYM	101	340	31	79	15	4	5	32	38	71	0	.232
1973	NYM/TEX	90	281	32	71	10	3	6	27	32	56	1	.253
1974	TEX	78	230	31	60	5	0	12	34	22	41	0	.261
1975	TEX	77	191	25	50	5	0	7	33	20	39	0	.262
1976	TEX	58	133	17	31	7	0	2	12	23	33	2	.233
1977	PIT/TEX	49	84	14	23	2	1	4	21	16	14	2	.274
1978	PIT	20	20	3	4	1	0	0	1	6	8	0	.200
Career	—	1902	6523	844	1726	264	78	151	706	715	1097	76	.265

On this day & linked events

1942

Born April 4, 1942

San Francisco, CA, USA

2014

Died February 14, 2014

1961

Major-league debut: Jim Fregosi

Jim Fregosi made a major-league debut on September 14, 1961.

1964

Jim Fregosi Hits for the Cycle, 1964

Jim Fregosi hit for the cycle for the Los Angeles Angels against the New York Yankees on July 28, 1964.

1968

Jim Fregosi Hits for the Cycle, 1968

Jim Fregosi hit for the cycle for the California Angels against the Boston Red Sox on May 20, 1968.

1978

Final major-league game: Jim Fregosi

Jim Fregosi played a final major-league game on May 31, 1978.

Image: Unknown author Unknown, public domain