Highlighted Year: Clay Dalrymple, 1962

Catcher, Philadelphia Phillies

Age: 25

3^rd season with Phillies

Bats – Left, Throws – Right

Height: 6’0”    Weight: 195 

Prior to 1962:

A native of Chico, California, Dalrymple played baseball in high school and with the semipro Chico Colts. In college at Chico State College (now Cal State – Chico) he was a physical education major and with his good size, played football as well as baseball and was also a champion boxer. In 1956 Dalrymple joined the unaffiliated Sacramento Solons of the Pacific Coast League and appeared in 15 games in which he had two hits. Sent to the Amarillo Gold Sox of the Class A Western League in 1957 he hit .298 with 18 doubles, 17 home runs, 81 RBIs, a .372 on-base percentage, and a .463 slugging percentage. Returning to Sacramento in 1958, he batted only .191 with 5 home runs, 21 RBIs, and a .257 OBP. His defense kept him in the lineup and made him valuable to the team. In the offseason Dalrymple played winter ball in Venezuela and briefly Cuba. Invited to spring training by the Milwaukee Braves in 1959, Dalrymple was returned to Sacramento where he hit .230 with 16 doubles, 12 home runs, 48 RBIs, and a .319 OBP. In the offseason he was selected by the Phillies in the minor league draft. Dalrymple caught on with the Phillies as a backup catcher in 1960. Platooned with Jim Coker, Dalrymple was at his best as a pinch-hitter, batting .286 in 47 pinch appearances on his way to an overall average of .272 with 4 home runs, 21 RBIs, and a .343 OBP. He also worked on his defense. One of the many young players on the rebuilding Phillies, he encountered throwing problems at the start of 1961 and had a rough first half with the bat until coming on to end up at .220 with 11 doubles, 5 home runs, 42 RBIs, and a .281 OBP. Dalrymple entered 1962 as Philadelphia’s starting catcher.

1962 Season Summary

Appeared in 123 games

C – 119, PH – 12

[Bracketed numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]

Batting

Plate Appearances – 451

At Bats – 370

Runs – 40

Hits – 102

Doubles – 13

Triples – 3

Home Runs – 11

RBI – 54

Bases on Balls – 70 [10, tied with Billy Williams, Norm Larker & Al Spangler]

Int. BB – 7 [14, tied with four others]

Strikeouts – 32

Stolen Bases – 1

Caught Stealing – 3

Average - .276

OBP - .393 [Non-qualifying]

Slugging Pct. - .416

Total Bases – 154

GDP – 7

Hit by Pitches – 4

Sac Hits – 3

Sac Flies – 4

Midseason snapshot: 2B – 10, HR – 5, RBI – 30, AVG – .289, OBP - .417

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Most hits, game – 3 on five occasions

Longest hitting streak – 9 games

Most HR, game – 1 on eleven occasions

HR at home – 4

HR on road – 7

Multi-HR games – 0

Most RBIs, game – 3 at Pittsburgh 7/8, vs. Mil. Braves 7/22, at NY Mets 8/15 – 13 innings

Pinch-hitting – 1 for 9 (.111) with 1 R & 3 BB

Fielding

Chances – 705

Put Outs – 635

Assists – 61

Errors – 9

Passed Balls – 16

DP – 11

Pct. - .987

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The Phillies went 81-80 to finish seventh in the NL, 20 games behind the pennant-winning San Francisco Giants. Following four straight last-place finishes, the retooling Phillies started slowly but finished strong in August and September to nose just above .500.

Aftermath of 1962:

Having shown great overall improvement in 1962, the prematurely balding Dalrymple continued to be a solid starting catcher again in 1963, batting .252 with 15 doubles, 10 home runs, 40 RBIs, and a .327 OBP. Defensively he led NL catchers by throwing out 50 runners attempting to steal (47.2 %), as well as double plays (90), and assists (16). He also drew plaudits for his skillful handling of pitchers. In 1964, veteran backstop Gus Triandos joined the Phillies and was platooned with Dalrymple, who still carried the heaviest load behind the plate. The Phillies were leading the NL in September until suffering an epic collapse that cost them the pennant and a knee injury hindered Dalrymple at that time. For the season he hit .238 with 16 doubles, 6 home runs, 46 RBIs, and a .303 OBP. He threw out 49.2 % of runners attempting to steal as his defense remained solid. Triandos was traded away during the 1965 season and Pat Corrales became Dalrymple’s platoon partner. Dalrymple ended up batting a disappointing .213 with 14 extra-base hits, 23 RBIs, and a .292 OBP. His defense remained impressive with a 51.4 % caught stealing percentage and a league-leading 70 assists from behind the plate. A popular after-dinner speaker, he also taped a pregame show that appeared prior to Phillies telecasts. But he still drew the ire of the fans for his lack of batting prowess despite his excellent defense. The fans were on his side during one incident in 1964 after he befriended a blind girl who regularly attended Phillies games and following a game he took her onto the field and guided her around the bases so she could have the experience of touching them, which drew appreciative applause from the fans still in attendance. In 1966 he batted .245 with 13 doubles, 4 home runs, 39 RBIs, and a .365 OBP. Bob Uecker was his platoon partner and defensively, he commenced on a then-record errorless streak  of 99-consecutive games that stretched into 1967 and consisted of a total of 628 chances without a miscue. He hit only .172 in 1967 with 11 extra-base hits, 21 RBIs, and a .271 OBP in tandem with veteran catcher Gene Oliver. Defensively he threw out a league-leading 57.7 % of opposing baserunners attempting to steal. Dalrymple played one more season with the Phillies in 1968 and batted .207 with a .272 OBP. Frustrated by the negative treatment he received from the Philadelphia fans, he requested a trade and was dealt to the Baltimore Orioles in the offseason. Dalrymple spent the last three seasons of his career with Baltimore backing up the catching tandem of Andy Etchebarren and Elrod Hendricks. He had the opportunity to appear in two World Series games in 1969 as a pinch-hitter, going two-for-two in his only postseason at bats. A broken ankle suffered in 1970 significantly hindered him and he last appeared with the Orioles in 1971. His wife died of cancer in 1972 and Dalrymple turned down the opportunity to accept another job in baseball to take care of his three daughters. For his major league career, Dalrymple batted .233 with 710 hits that included 98 doubles, 23 triples, and 55 home runs. He scored 243 runs and compiled 327 RBIs, and a .322 OBP. With the Phillies he batted .234 with 674 hits, 225 runs scored, 95 doubles, 22 triples, 50 home runs, 312 RBIs, and a .319 OBP. Defense was always the strongest aspect of his game and he threw out 48.8 % of opposing baserunners attempting to steal against him. A defensive standout who was a spotty hitter, Dalrymple put together a decent major league career.  

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Highlighted Years feature players who led a major league in one of the following categories: batting average, home runs (with a minimum of 10), runs batted in, or stolen bases (with a minimum of 20); or pitchers who led a major league in wins, strikeouts, earned run average, or saves (with a minimum of 10). Also included are participants in annual All-Star Games between the National and American Leagues since 1933. This category also includes Misc. players who received award votes, were contributors to teams that reached the postseason, or had notable seasons in non-award years.