Outfielder, Washington
Senators
Age: 28 (July 27)
3rd season
with Senators
Bats – Right,
Throws – Right
Height: 6’2” Weight: 195
Prior to 1964:
A Kansas
native, Lock grew up on a farm in Kingman County. At Kingman High School he
lettered in football and basketball. He played semipro baseball prior to being
awarded a basketball scholarship to Wichita State University, from where he
received a degree in Physical Education. Signed by the New York Yankees in 1958
he was assigned to Fargo-Moorhead of the Class C Northern League where he
batted .257 with 10 doubles, 6 triples, 13 home runs, 78 RBIs, and a .422
on-base percentage. Between the 1958 and ’59 seasons he spent six months in the
Army. Moving up to Greensboro of the Class B Carolina League in 1959, Lock
improved his offensive production to .283 with 27 doubles, 7 triples, 30 home
runs, 122 RBIs, a .393 OBP, and a .549 slugging percentage. He finished the
season with the Binghamton Triplets of the Class A Eastern League, where he
spent most of the 1960 season and hit .262 with 14 doubles, 9 triples, 35 home
runs, 117 RBIs, a .372 OBP, and a .549 slugging percentage. After a brief stop
in Class AA with Amarillo of the Texas League, Lock ended up in Class AAA with
Richmond in the International League. 1961 was spent entirely with Richmond
where he batted .236 with 29 home runs, 77 RBIs, a .323 OBP, and a .471
slugging percentage. He started the 1962 season with Richmond and was hitting
only .194 with 13 home runs and a .343 OBP (not yet a statistic that was
tracked) when the Yankees, disappointed by his low batting averages despite his
good power totals, traded him to the Senators in July. Joining the Senators
immediately, Lock appeared in 71 games and batted .253 with 12 home runs, 37
RBIs, a .336 OBP, and a .458 slugging percentage. Prone to taking big swings,
he also tended to strike out a great deal. The pattern continued in his first
full major league season in 1963 as he whiffed 151 times while hitting .252
with 20 doubles, 27 home runs, a .338 OBP thanks to drawing 70 walks, and a
.446 slugging percentage. Having taken over as the starting center fielder, he
led AL outfielders in putouts (377) and double plays (6) while placing second
in assists (14). The team’s Grandstand Managers fan club selected him as club
MVP.
1964 Season Summary
Appeared in 152
games
CF – 133, RF – 27,
PH – 6
[Bracketed
numbers indicate AL rank in Top 20]
Batting
Plate
Appearances – 598
At Bats – 512
Runs – 73
Hits – 127
Doubles – 17
Triples – 4
Home Runs – 28 [10,
tied with Brooks Robinson, Joe Pepitone & Jim Gentile]
RBI – 80 [14,
tied with Don Demeter & Bill Freehan]
Bases on Balls
– 79 [8]
Int. BB – 3
Strikeouts – 137
[2]
Stolen Bases – 4
Caught Stealing
– 2
Average - .248
OBP - .346
Slugging Pct. -
.461 [16]
Total Bases – 236
GDP – 12
Hit by Pitches
– 1
Sac Hits – 0
Sac Flies – 6
[10, tied with five others]
Midseason snapshot: 2B – 6, HR - 11, RBI - 32, AVG - .240, OBP - .371, SLG – .434
---
Most hits, game
– 4 (in 4 AB) at Boston 7/19
Longest hitting
streak – 7 games
Most HR, game –
2 on five occasions
HR at home – 14
HR on road – 14
Multi-HR games
– 5
Most RBIs, game
– 5 at Boston 7/19, vs. Chi. White Sox 8/1 – 10 innings
Pinch-hitting– 1
for 6 (.167) with 1 HR & 3 RBI
Fielding
Chances – 378
Put Outs – 354
Assists – 19
Errors – 5
DP - 3
Pct. - .987
Awards & Honors:
33rd
in AL MVP voting (1 point – 1% share)
---
The Senators went 62-100 to finish ninth in the AL, 37 games behind the pennant-winning New York Yankees, while leading the league in batting strikeouts (1124), fewest hits (1246), lowest batting average (.231), and lowest OBP (.299). Hindered by a weak offense, the Senators were at 19-29 by the end of May but dropped into the AL cellar thanks to a 13-32 stretch that commenced in late June. Entering September while apparently heading toward another disastrous finish, they still managed to do better than the Kansas City Athletics.
Aftermath of 1964:
Lock followed up with a down season at the plate in 1965, batting .215 with 15 doubles, 16 home runs, 39 RBIs, a .315 OBP, and only a .371 slugging percentage. He remained proficient in the outfield. The results were only marginally better in 1966 as he hit .233 with 16 home runs, 48 RBIs, and a .333 OBP. Lock was also over 100 strikeouts for the fourth straight year. In the offseason he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies for reliever Darold Knowles, with the Phillies attracted to his defensive ability in center field. In 1967 with the Phillies, Lock proved to be a disappointment as he batted .252 with 13 doubles, 14 home runs, 51 RBIs, a .349 OBP, and a .435 slugging percentage, while striking out 98 times. Lock’s playing time fell to 99 games in 1968 and he hit .210 with 8 home runs, 34 RBIs, and a .283 OBP. In 1969, the arrival of promising young outfielder Larry Hisle relegated Lock to the bench and he was traded to the Boston Red Sox in May. Limited to 53 games with the Red Sox, as a reserve outfielder and pinch-hitter, he batted .224 with one home run. Sent down to the Louisville Colonels of the International League in 1970, he hit .237 with 15 home runs and 41 RBIs in his final season as a player. For his major league playing career, Lock batted .238 with 642 hits that included 92 doubles, 12 triples, and 122 home runs. He scored 359 runs and compiled 373 RBIs, a .331 OBP, and a .417 slugging percentage. He struck out 776 times (24.9 %). With the Senators he batted .240 with 498 hits and scored 278 runs with 71 doubles, 9 triples, 99 home runs, 286 RBIs, a .334 OBP, and a .427 slugging percentage, while striking out 592 times. Lock never appeared in the postseason. After his playing career he was a minor league manager for three years before returning to Kansas to operate the family farm. He died in 2017 at age 81.
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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.