Vada Pinson

Major League Baseball Player, Coach. For eighteen seasons (1958 to 1975), he played at the outfielder position with the Cincinnati Redlegs/Reds, St. Louis Cardinals, Cleveland Indians, California Angels and Kansas City Royals. Raised in Oakland, California, he attended McClymonds High School and was signed as an amateur free agent by Cincinnati in 1956. He broke into the Major Leagues on April 15th, 1958 and appeared in 27 games with Cincinnati that year, recording 26 hits with a .271 batting average. Pinson would flourish in his second season (1959), as he led the National League in runs scored (131) and doubles (47), while recording 205 hits with a .316 batting average. He established himself as one of the best all-around players during the 1960s, as he led the NL twice in hits (208 in 1961 and 204 in 1963), doubles (37 in 1960) and triples twice (14 in 1963 and 13 in 1967). He belted or topped 20 home runs seven-times (1959 to 1960, 1962 to 1965 and 1970) and stole 20-or-more bases nine-times (1959 to 1963, 1965, 1967, 1971 and 1974). Pinson's accomplishments were not limited to his offense, as he was an exceptional defensive player; he earned a Gold Glove Award in 1961 and led the league twice in fielding average (.992 in 1965 and .996 in 1969) He was a member of the 1961 National League Pennant-winning Reds' team, and appeared in 5 games while recording 2 hits during that World Series. In 2,469 career regular season games, he amassed 2,757 hits, including 485 doubles, 127 triples, 256 home runs, with 1,170 RBIs , 1,366 runs scored, 305 stolen bases, with a lifetime .286 batting average. Following his playing career, he served as a coach with the Seattle Mariners (1977 to 1980 and 1982 to 1983), Chicago White Sox (1981), Detroit Tigers (1985 to 1991) and Florida Marlins (1993 to 1994). He died suddenly after suffering a stroke at the age of 57. Pinson has been considered for nomination to the Baseball Hall of Fame several times.