Vada Pinson Marquee

b. August 11, 1938 · Cincinnati Redlegs 1958–1959, Cincinnati Reds 1960–1968, St. Louis Cardinals 1969, Cleveland Indians 1970–1971, California Angels 1972–1973, Kansas City Royals 1974–1975

Vada Pinson played center field for the Cincinnati Reds for eleven seasons before a well-traveled second half of his career carried him through St. Louis, Cleveland, California and Kansas City, retiring in 1975.

He batted .286 with 2,757 hits over 2,469 games, hitting 256 home runs and stealing 305 bases, an eighteen-season career built on a genuinely complete offensive game.

He won a Gold Glove in 1961, recognition of his defensive work in center early in his career.

His two All-Star selections came in 1959 and 1960. Memphis, Tennessee is where Pinson was born, on August 11, 1938; he batted and threw left-handed. He died on October 21, 1995, twenty years after his final major-league game.

Honors

Award	Times	Years
All-Star selection	2	1959, 1960
Gold Glove	1	1961

Batting, season by season

Year	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	AVG
1958	CIN	27	96	20	26	7	0	1	8	11	18	2	.271
1959	CIN	154	648	131	205	47	9	20	84	55	98	21	.316
1960	CIN	154	652	107	187	37	12	20	61	47	96	32	.287
1961	CIN	154	607	101	208	34	8	16	87	39	63	23	.343
1962	CIN	155	619	107	181	31	7	23	100	45	68	26	.292
1963	CIN	162	652	96	204	37	14	22	106	36	80	27	.313
1964	CIN	156	625	99	166	23	11	23	84	42	99	8	.266
1965	CIN	159	669	97	204	34	10	22	94	43	81	21	.305
1966	CIN	156	618	70	178	35	6	16	76	33	83	18	.288
1967	CIN	158	650	90	187	28	13	18	66	26	86	26	.288
1968	CIN	130	499	60	135	29	6	5	48	32	59	17	.271
1969	STL	132	495	58	126	22	6	10	70	35	63	4	.255
1970	CLE	148	574	74	164	28	6	24	82	28	69	7	.286
1971	CLE	146	566	60	149	23	4	11	35	21	58	25	.263
1972	CAL	136	484	56	133	24	2	7	49	30	54	17	.275
1973	CAL	124	466	56	121	14	6	8	57	20	55	5	.260
1974	KCR	115	406	46	112	18	2	6	41	21	45	21	.276
1975	KCR	103	319	37	71	14	5	4	21	10	21	5	.223
Career	—	2469	9645	1365	2757	485	127	256	1169	574	1196	305	.286

On this day & linked events

1938

Born August 11, 1938

Memphis, TN, USA

1995

Died October 21, 1995

1958

Major-league debut: Vada Pinson

Vada Pinson made a major-league debut on April 15, 1958.

1975

Final major-league game: Vada Pinson

Vada Pinson played a final major-league game on September 28, 1975.

Image: Unknown author Unknown, public domain