Rookie of the Year: Bill Virdon, 1955

Outfielder, St. Louis Cardinals

Age:  24 (June 9)

Bats – Left, Throws – Right

Height: 6’0”    Weight: 175 

Prior to 1955:

Born in Michigan, Virdon moved with his family to Missouri during the Depression and excelled in basketball, football, and track at West Plains High School, which didn’t have a baseball team. Having played baseball in informal leagues, he went to Kansas following his junior year and successfully tried out for an American Amateur Baseball Congress squad, initially playing shortstop until being moved to center field due to his speed and athletic ability. Signed by the New York Yankees for an $1800 bonus, Virdon began his pro career in 1950 with Independence of the Class D Kansas-Oklahoma-Missouri League where he refined his skills in center field and batted .268 with 29 doubles, 10 triples, and 6 home runs. Promoted to the Kansas City Blues of the Class AAA American Association later in the season, he hit .342 in 14 games. Assigned to the Norfolk Tars of the Class B Piedmont League in 1951 he hit .286 with 30 extra-base hits. Moving on to Binghamton of the Class A Eastern League in 1952, Virdon batted just .261 but was impressive in the outfield. One of many outfield prospects for the Yankees, he started 1953 with Birmingham of the Class AA Southern Association where his hitting improved as he concentrated on spraying line drives to all fields. Batting .317 in 42 games, he moved up to Class AAA Kansas City once more, where he hit only .233, but with a .305 on-base percentage. Dealt to the Cardinals in a spring trade in 1954, Virdon was assigned to the Rochester Red Wings of the Class AAA International League where he hit a league-leading .333 with 28 doubles, 11 triples, 22 home runs, and 98 RBIs., With his trademark round, wire-rimmed glasses, which Virdon credited with helping his hitting, and following a successful winter season in Cuba he made the Cardinals in 1955 as the starting center fielder.

1955 Season Summary

Appeared in 144 games

CF – 110, RF – 33, PH – 8, LF – 1, PR – 1

[Bracketed numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]

Batting

Plate Appearances – 586

At Bats – 534

Runs – 58

Hits – 150

Doubles – 18

Triples – 6 [17, tied with Duke Snider, Gus Bell & Jerry Lynch]

Home Runs – 17

RBI – 68

Bases on Balls – 36

Int. BB – 3

Strikeouts – 64 [17]

Stolen Bases – 2

Caught Stealing – 4 [19, tied with ten others]

Average - .281

OBP - .322

Slugging Pct. - .433

Total Bases – 231

GDP – 10

Hit by Pitches – 1

Sac Hits – 6 [16, tied with ten others]

Sac Flies – 9 [2, tied with Willie Jones, Roy Campanella & Del Ennis]

Midseason snapshot: 2B – 12, 3B – 2, HR - 10, RBI - 35, AVG - .307, OBP – .360

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Most hits, game – 4 (in 5 AB) vs. Milwaukee 5/6

Longest hitting streak – 9 games

Most HR, game – 2 (in 4 AB) vs. NY Giants 8/3

HR at home – 13

HR on road – 4

Multi-HR games – 1

Most RBIs, game – 3 on five occasions

Pinch-hitting – 1 for 6 (.167) with 1 RBI & 1 BB

Fielding

Chances – 358

Put Outs – 339

Assists – 7

Errors – 12

DP – 1

Pct. - .966

Awards & Honors:

NL Rookie of the Year: BBWAA 

NL ROY Voting:

Bill Virdon, StL: 15 of 24 votes, 63% share

Jack Meyer, Phila.: 7 votes, 29% share

Don Bessent, Brook.: 2 votes, 8% share

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Cardinals went 68-86 to finish seventh in the NL, 30.5 games behind the pennant-winning Brooklyn Dodgers. The Cardinals were off to a disappointing 17-19 start when manager Eddie Stanky was replaced by Harry Walker in May, but the club still slid to its lowest finish since 1919.

Aftermath of ‘55:

Virdon slumped at the plate at the start of the 1956 season and was batting .211 when he was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates in May. Joining a perennially losing club, his bat suddenly turned potent and he ended up hitting a combined .319 with 23 doubles, 10 triples, 10 home runs, 46 RBIs, and a .361 OBP. He picked up the nickname “Quail” from radio broadcaster Bob Prince due to his propensity for bloop hits and became one of the young players that helped the Pirates to rise in the standings. Adding his glove in center field to Roberto Clemente in right and Lee Walls in left made for a formidable defensive outfield. Although his average dropped to .251 in 1957, Virdon delivered 28 doubles, 11 triples, and 8 home runs and remained highly capable in the outfield, now joined by Bob Skinner in left. Pittsburgh finished second in the NL in 1958 and Virdon batted .267 with 24 doubles, 11 triples, 9 home runs, and 46 RBIs. He added 10 assists and 396 put outs as he skillfully patrolled the spacious center field in Pittsburgh’s Forbes Field. He led NL outfielders with 16 assists in 1959, when he also hit .254 with 24 doubles and 8 home runs. The Pirates won the National League pennant in 1960 and Virdon contributed 8 home runs, 40 RBIs, and a .264 average along with a .326 OBP and .406 slugging percentage. In the seven-game World Series victory over the Yankees (his only postseason appearance), he added 7 hits and 5 RBIs while making several outstanding defensive plays. Pittsburgh dropped to sixth place in 1961 but Virdon hit .260 with 22 doubles, 8 triples, 9 home runs, 58 RBIs, and a .313 OBP while still providing quality defense in center field. He received his only career Gold Glove in 1962, a year in which, offensively, he led the league with 10 triples while batting .247 with 6 home runs, 47 RBIs, and a .286 OBP. In three more seasons with the Pirates, he became more erratic at the plate, although still appreciated for his defense. He retired after the 1965 season, with the intent of going into coaching, although he was briefly activated in 1968, during which time he hit his last home run. For his major league career, he batted .267 with 1596 hits that included 237 doubles, 81 triples, and 91 home runs. Virdon scored 735 runs and further compiled 502 RBIs, 47 stolen bases, a .316 OBP, and .379 slugging percentage. In his brief time with the Cardinals, he batted .273 with 68 runs scored, 165 hits, 20 doubles, 6 triples, 19 home runs, 77 RBIs, 2 stolen bases, a .316 OBP, and a .420 slugging percentage. A talented player, most appreciated for his defense, the low-key and cerebral Virdon made clear his intention to become a coach or manager following his playing career. After spending two years as a coach in the Mets organization, he returned to the Pirates as a coach in 1968. He became manager in 1972, following Danny Murtaugh’s retirement after the ’71 World Series-winning season (and after managing in the Puerto Rican winter league). After a division-winning season in ’72, he was fired in 1973 near the end of a disappointing campaign. Virdon next managed the New York Yankees in 1974 and most of 1975, when he was replaced with the fiery Billy Martin. Hired by the Houston Astros the week following his dismissal in New York, he managed the club until 1982, during which time Houston reached the postseason for the first time in 1980. His final managerial stop was with the Montreal Expos in 1983 and ’84, although he acted as a coach with the Pirates, Astros, and Cardinals in later years. His major league managerial record was 995-921. He received Manager of the Year recognition with the Yankees in 1974 and the Astros in 1980. Virdon died in 2021 at age 90.

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Rookie of the Year Profiles feature players who were recipients of the Rookie of the Year Award by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (1947 to present). The award was presented to a single major league winner from its inception through 1948 and from 1949 on to one recipient from each major league.