| Al Bumbry | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Center fielder | |
| Born: (1947-04-21)April 21, 1947 (age 78) Fredericksburg, Virginia, U.S. | |
Batted: Left Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| September 5, 1972, for the Baltimore Orioles | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| October 5, 1985, for the San Diego Padres | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .281 |
| Home runs | 54 |
| Runs batted in | 402 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| As player As coach | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
Alonza Benjamin Bumbry (néBumbrey; born April 21, 1947) is an American formerMajor League Baseball (MLB)outfielder who played for theBaltimore Orioles andSan Diego Padres from 1972 through 1985. Bumbry was the 1973American League Rookie of the Year, and went on to be anAll-Star andWorld Series champion. He is an inductee of theBaltimore Orioles Hall of Fame and theVirginia Sports Hall of Fame. Prior to his major league career, Bumbry served in theUS Army during theVietnam War and was awarded aBronze Star.[1]
Bumbry was born inFredericksburg, Virginia, and graduated fromRalph Bunche High School inKing George, Virginia.[2] He attendedVirginia State College on a basketball scholarship, which he played for four years.[2] While Bumbry was at Virginia State, the school restarted its baseball program; Bumbry played during his final year,batted .578, and was named the team's Most Outstanding Player.[2] Bumbry was inROTC at Virginia State, obligating him to serve for two years in the US military.[1] Bumbry served in the United States Army and led a platoon during theVietnam War, receiving theBronze Star Medal.
Bumbry was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 11th round of the1968 Major League Baseball draft.[3] He started his professional career in 1969 for theStockton Ports of the Class ACalifornia League, where he appeared in 35 games,batting .178 with 3runs batted in (RBIs) and 10stolen bases. To fulfill his military service obligation, Bumbry served in the US Army from July 1969 to June 1971, as aplatoon leader during the Vietnam War.[1] After his military service completed in 1971, Bumbry appeared in 66 games for theAberdeen Pheasants of the Class ANorthern League, where he batted .336 with 53 RBIs, 6 home runs, and 34 stolen bases. In 1972, Bumbry appeared with two minor league teams; theAsheville Orioles of the Class AASouthern League, and theRochester Red Wings of the Class AAAInternational League. He appeared in 134 total games for those teams, batting .345 with 57 RBIs, 10 home runs, and 32 stolen bases.
Bumbry appeared in 9 games for the Orioles late in the1972 season. His first MLB appearance came on September 5, as apinch hitter against theNew York Yankees; he flied out to center field.[4] After several other pinch hitting andpinch running appearances, Bumbry collected his first hit on October 3, a single againstDick Tidrow of theCleveland Indians.[5] Bumbry finished the season batting 4-for-11 (.364) with 5runs scored.
For the1973 season, Bumbry appeared mostly as a pinch runner during the first month of the season. In May he began to play more, usually batting as theleadoff hitter, then in June he appeared in all but one game the team played, as he was hitting well. At the All-Star break in July he had a .304 average, at the end of August he was batting .312, and he finished the season with a .337 average, and had 34 RBIs, 73 runs scored, 23 stolen bases, and 7 home runs. He also had a league-leading 11triples, including three on September 22 against theMilwaukee Brewers,[6] tying both the American League (AL) and MLB records for most triples in a single game.[7] Defensively, Bumbry started 82 games in the outfield (58 in left field, 24 in right field) and had a .978fielding average. The Orioles won theAL East division, but lost to theOakland Athletics in theALCS. Bumbry played left field in the third and fifth game of the series; he had awalk in each game, but was hitless in seven at bats. Bumbry was named the ALRookie of the Year, receiving 13 of 23 first place votes.[8]
Bumbry did not hit well in1974 – he was batting below .200 as late as July 3, and finished the season with a .233 average, 19 RBIs, 35 runs scored, 12 stolen bases, and 1 home run. Defensively he started 65 games in left field, and had a .953 fielding average. The Orioles again won the AL East, and again lost to the Oakland Athletics in theALCS. Bumbry made one appearance as a pinch runner, and struck out in one appearance as a pinch hitter. Over the next three seasons, Bumbry batted .269 (1975), .251 (1976), and .317 (1977), as the Orioles finished in second place in the AL East each year. In1978, Bumbry broke his leg on a slide into second base during a game against theTexas Rangers on May 12.[9][10] He missed over 100 games before returning to play five games in September – for the season he only appeared in 33 games, and had a .237 average.
The1979 Orioles won the AL East, and Bumbry batted .285 with 49 RBIs, 80 runs scored, 37 stolen bases, and 7 home runs. Defensively, he started 127 games in the outfield (all but one in center field) and had a .984 fielding percentage. In theALCS the Orioles defeated the thenCalifornia Angels in four games – Bumbry was the center fielder in each game, and batted 4-for-16 (.250) in the series. Bumbry made a costly error in the ninth inning of ALCS Game 3, getting a glove on but dropping aBobby Grich line drive that allowedRod Carew to score the tying run.[3] The Angels won the game on a walk-off hit during the next at bat, but the Orioles won Game 4 convincingly and spared Bumbry.[11]
The1979 World Series went the full seven games, with the Orioles losing to thePittsburgh Pirates despite leading the series 3–1, as the Pirates won the final three games. Bumbry appeared in center field in all seven games – four as a starter, and entering as a pinch hitter in the other three – for the series he batted .143 (3-for-21).
Bumbry hit well throughout the1980 season; he played in all but two of the Orioles' games, including 152 complete games as center fielder and batting leadoff. At the end of May he was batting .349, and .326 at the end of June. Bumbry was selected as an All-Star; he and pitcherSteve Stone represented the Orioles on the AL squad. The1980 All-Star Game was played on July 8 atDodger Stadium and was won by the National League (NL) 4–2. Bumbry entered the game defensively in center field in the bottom of the 5th inning; he batted once, grounding out in the 8th inning.[12] During the second half of the season, Bumbry continued to hit well, and he finished the year with a .318 average and career highs in RBIs (53), runs scored (118), stolen bases (44), walks (78), and hits (205). He was the first Oriole to collect 200 hits in a season –Bob Dillinger had last accomplished the feat in 1948 when the franchise was still theSt. Louis Browns.[13] Bumbry had a .990 fielding percentage, and he received some consideration during ALMost Valuable Player voting, finishing 13th; the award was won byGeorge Brett.[14]
Both the1981 and1982 seasons found the Orioles finishing a single game behind theMilwaukee Brewers in the AL East. Bumbry hit .273 in 1981, and .262 in 1982, while continuing to be the team's primary leadoff hitter. Defensively, he continued to play predominantly in center field, and had .992 and .986 fielding percentages.
The Orioles won the AL East in1983, with Bumbry batting .275 with 31 RBIs, 63 runs scored, 12 stolen bases, and 3 home runs. Defensively, he started 95 games in the outfield (all but one in center field) and had a .981 fielding percentage. Bumbry continued to bat leadoff when he started games, however managerJoe Altobelli substituted for him fairly often; of the 95 games Bumbry started, he only completed 44 of them. In theALCS the Orioles defeated theChicago White Sox in four games. Bumbry was the starting center fielder in the first and third games, and he pinch ran in the fourth game – overall he batted 1-for-8 (.125). In the1983 World Series the Orioles defeated thePhiladelphia Phillies in five games, for their first championship since 1970. Bumbry was the starting center fielder in each game except for the third game, which he did not play in. He batted 1-for-11 (.091) during the series, and was substituted for in each game.
In1984, theOrioles dropped to fifth place in the AL East, and Bumbry batted .270 while appearing in 119 games. He still hit leadoff when he started games, but of 99 starts he only had 44 complete games played. He became afree agent after the conclusion of the season when the Orioles on September 28, 1984, elected to let his contract expire.[15]
Overall, Bumbry spent 13 of his 14 MLB seasons with the Orioles, appearing in 1428 games and batting .283 with 392 RBIs, 772 runs scored, 252 stolen bases, and 53 home runs. Through the end of the 2016 season, his stolen base total is the 4th highest in Orioles franchise history, and runs scored is 9th highest.[16]
In March1985, Bumbry signed with theSan Diego Padres, whose regular left fielder,Carmelo Martínez, was recovering from hand surgery.[17] When Martínez missed the first five games of the season, Bumbry started three games in left field, but after Martínez joined the club, Bumbry was mostly used as a pinch hitter. For the season, Bumbry appeared in 68 games – starting six games in left field and four games in center field – while batting .200 with ten RBIs, six runs scored, two stolen bases, and one home run. Bumbry retired after the season ended, finishing his MLB career with 1,496 games played, with 54 home runs, 402 RBI and a .281 batting average. Defensively, he recorded a .986fielding percentage playing at all three outfield positions.
Bumbry served as the first base coach for three MLB teams;Boston Red Sox (1988–1993),Baltimore Orioles (1995), andCleveland Indians (1998, and 2002 from July through the end of the season). In 2007, he served as the outfield andbase running coach for theindependent leagueYork Revolution.
Bumbry was inducted into theBaltimore Orioles Hall of Fame in 1987, and theVirginia Sports Hall of Fame in 2002.[2] He is the co-owner of asports memorabilia store inTimonium, Maryland.[18] His son, outfielder Steve Bumbry, was picked by the Orioles in the 12th round of the2009 Major League Baseball draft, and played for several minor league and independent teams from 2009 through 2014.[19]
| Preceded by | Boston Red SoxFirst-Base Coach 1988–1993 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Baltimore OriolesFirst-Base Coach 1995 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Cleveland IndiansFirst-Base Coach 1998 2002 | Succeeded by |