Gus Triandos
Gus Triandos | ||
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Runs batted in | 608 | |
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Gus Triandos (July 30, 1930 – March 28, 2013) was an American professional baseball player and scout. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher and a first baseman, most prominently as a member of the Baltimore Orioles where he was a four-time All-Star player. He also played for the New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles, and the Detroit Tigers of the American League (AL) and the Philadelphia Phillies and Houston Astros of the National League (NL).[1] In 1981, he was inducted into the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame.[2]
Playing career
Born in
Although perhaps the slowest runner in the league, Triandos once hit an inside-the-park home run.[8] As of 2021, he also holds the record for the most consecutive games without being caught stealing, 1,206. That accounts for his entire career, in which he had exactly one stolen base.[9] That stolen base came on September 28, 1958, in the 9th inning of the last game of the season, at Yankee Stadium, off rookie pitcher Zach Monroe and catcher Darrell Johnson.[10] [11] Triandos had his best year in 1958, when he hit 16 home runs by mid-season to earn the starting catcher's role for the American League in the 1958 All-Star Game, breaking Yogi Berra's eight-year stranglehold on the position.[12][13] He ended the season leading all American League catchers in putouts with 698, and tied Berra's American League record of 30 home runs by a catcher.[5][14] In 1959, he hit 20 home runs by mid-season and was again selected to be the starting catcher for the American League in the 1959 All-Star Game, However, a hand injury meant that he only had 25 home runs for the entire season.[5][15]
In 1962, he hit .169 in 63 games and was traded to the Detroit Tigers at the end of the year.[3] With the Tigers in 1963, he shared catching duties with Bill Freehan and led American League catchers with a .996 fielding percentage.[5][16] The following winter, he was traded along with Jim Bunning to the Philadelphia Phillies, where he again shared catching duties, this time with Clay Dalrymple. As the Phillies' catcher, Triandos caught Bunning's perfect game against the New York Mets on June 21, 1964, thus becoming the first catcher in Major League history to catch no hitters in both the American and National Leagues.[5] His contract was purchased by the Houston Astros from the Philadelphia Phillies on June 14, 1965. He played in his final major league game at the age of 34 before being released by the Astros on August 20, 1965.[3]
Career statistics
In his 13-year major league career, Triandos played in 1,206
Personal life
Triandos's family origins are from Koroni, Messenia, Greece.[21] He was one of four children of Peter Triandos and Helen Mourgos, Greek immigrants to the U.S. He and wife Evelyn had three children, son Gary Triandos and daughters Lori Luna and Tracey Hook.[22] Triandos served as a scout for the Los Angeles Dodgers from 1973 to 1975. In later years, he lived in San Jose, California. Triandos Drive in Timonium, Maryland is named in honor of the popular catcher.[23]
In popular culture
In
References
- ^ a b c d e "Gus Triandos". Baseball Reference. Retrieved October 18, 2010.
- ^ "Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame at MLB.com". mlb.com. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
- ^ a b c Gus Triandos Trades and Transactions at Baseball Almanac
- ^ "Gus Triandos Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 16, 2020.
- ^ a b c d e "Gus Triandos Looks Back on his Catching Career", Baseball Digest, June 1997, Vol. 56, No. 6, ISSN 0005-609X
- ^ 100 Things Orioles Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die, Dan Connolly, Triumph Books, Chicago, 2015, ISBN 978-1-62937-041-5, p.212
- ^ September 20, 1958 Yankees-Orioles box score at Baseball-Reference
- ^ Inside the Park: Home Runs by Catchers at The Encyclopedia of Baseball Catchers
- Sporting NewsBaseball Record Book, 2007, p.52.
- ^ Baseball Almanac
- ^ "Baltimore Orioles at New York Yankees Box Score, September 28, 1958".
- ^ "1958 Gus Triandos Batting Log". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved November 21, 2010.
- ^ "1958 All-Star Game". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved November 21, 2010.
- ^ 1958 American League Fielding Leaders at Baseball-Reference
- ^ "1959 All-Star Game". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved November 21, 2010.
- ^ Baseball Digest, July 2001, p.86, Vol. 60, No. 7, ISSN 0005-609X
- ^ CS% Seasons at The Encyclopedia of Baseball Catchers
- ^ 100 Best Caught Stealing Totals at The Encyclopedia of Catchers
- ^ "Baltimore Orioles All-Time Hitting Leaders". baltimore.orioles.mlb.com. Retrieved November 16, 2011.
- ^ "Luis Aparicio Shoots For Seventh Straight Base-Stealing Honors". Times Daily. Associated Press. March 6, 1962. p. 8. Retrieved January 4, 2011.
- ^ Baseball Acropolis
- ^ "Gus Triandos, beloved ex-Orioles catcher, dies at 82 - tribunedigital-baltimoresun". Archived from the original on September 11, 2016. Retrieved September 2, 2016.
- ^ "Catching Up With Gus Triandos", The Toy Department (The Baltimore Sun sports blog), Tuesday, May 5, 2009
- ^ Browne, PJ (January 15, 2020). "10 Great Sports Moments From The Wire". The Rewind. Retrieved April 24, 2021.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet
- Gus Triandos at SABR (Baseball BioProject)
- Gus Triandos at Baseball Almanac
- Gus Triandos at Baseball Gauge
- Gus Triandos at Astros Daily
- Klingaman, Mike. "Catching Up With Gus Triandos", The Toy Department (The Baltimore Sun sports blog), Tuesday, May 5, 2009
- "Gus Triandos Looks Back on his Catching Career", Baseball Digest, June 1997