| Jerry Lumpe | |
|---|---|
 Lumpe in 1967 | |
| Second baseman | |
| Born:(1933-06-02)June 2, 1933 Lincoln, Missouri, U.S. | |
| Died: August 15, 2014(2014-08-15) (aged 81) Springfield, Missouri, U.S. | |
Batted: Left Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| April 17, 1956, for the New York Yankees | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| October 1, 1967, for the Detroit Tigers | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .268 |
| Home runs | 47 |
| Runs batted in | 454 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Jerry Dean Lumpe (/ˈlʌmpiː/LUMP-ee;[1] June 2, 1933 – August 15, 2014) was an American professionalbaseball player andcoach. He had a 12-season career inMajor League Baseball, primarily as asecond baseman, for theNew York Yankees (1956–1959),Kansas City Athletics (1959–1963) andDetroit Tigers (1964–1967),[2] played in twoWorld Series, and was selected to the1964 American League All-Star team. Named forNational Baseball Hall of FamepitcherJerome "Dizzy" Dean,[3] Lumpe was born inLincoln, Missouri. He batted left-handed, threw right-handed, and was listed as 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m) tall and 175 pounds (79 kg).
Lumpe was born on June 2, 1933, inLincoln, Missouri, to W.J. "Pete" and Anna Lumpe, and was raised inWarsaw, Missouri.[4][5] His father was aSt. Louis Cardinals baseball fan, and gave his son the middle name Dean, after Cardinals pitching great,Dizzy Dean.[4]
Lumpe attendedWarsaw High School, where he played basketball, graduating in 1951.[6][4] He was an excellent high school basketball player.[6][7] The high school did not have a baseball team, and he played for the Warsaw JuniorAmerican Legion baseball team, and played youth baseball for the Sedalia Chiefs of the Ban Johnson League.[6][4][7]
In 1951, Lumpe was signed by scoutTom Greenwade to play with the Yankees as ashortstop.[7][4] Greenwade was the same scout who earlier signed future Yankee hall of fame greatMickey Mantle.[4][8] Lumpe began in the Yankees minor league system in 1951,[9] but also attended college atSouthwest Missouri State College (SMS; now Missouri State University).[6]
Lumpe and future MLB teammateNorm Siebern werebasketball players together for SMS, where they won twoNAIA Championships in 1952 and 1953, although both needed to miss some tournament games (including the title games) to report to baseballspring training camp.[4] Yankees managerCasey Stengel had ordered them to spring training in 1953, but they played in a couple tournament games after their coach negotiated with Stengel.[10] Those teams have been inducted into the Missouri State University Athletics Hall of Fame.[11] Lumpe maintained strong ties to the university and died in 2014 inSpringfield, Missouri, the school's home, where he had been a longtime resident.[10]
Lumpe was drafted into theU.S. Army in 1953, and played baseball for the Fort Leonard Wood team that won the National Baseball Congress championship.[6] He did not play professional baseball in 1954.[9]
Lumpe rose through the Yankeefarm system during the early 1950s, although he missed part of the 1953 and all of the 1954minor league seasons while performing military service.[9] In 1952, he played a full season for theClass-CJoplin Miners, and had a .293batting average. His next full season came in 1955, playing for theDouble-ABirmingham Barons, where Lumpe hit .301 and scored 94runs, while playing shortstop. In 1956, he played shortstop for theTriple-ARichmond Virginians, batting .279 in 129 games.[9]
He made theBombers' roster for the first time in1956, appearing in 20 games, as a member of the expanded early-season 28-man squad (though the number 28 was formally instituted in 1957 and was greater in 1956),[12] and the post-September-1 40-man allotment.[12] He started 14 games as the Yankees' shortstop, and played in one game at third base; batting .258.[9]
He began1957 at Richmond, batting .297 in 98 games. Unlike prior years he played third base, not shortstop.[9] He was recalled to New York in July. With another young player,Bobby Richardson, installed as the club's second baseman, andGil McDougald andTony Kubek at shortstop,[13] Lumpe started 21 games atthird base, and appeared in 40 contests, hitting a robust .340 with 35hits in 101at bats.[14]
He also appeared in three games of the1957 World Series as the Yankees' starting third baseman in Games 3,[15] 5[16] and 6.[17] Lumpe collected four hits, allsingles, in 14at bats (including three additional appearances as apinch hitter), and tworuns batted in,[14] but theMilwaukee Braves triumphed in seven games.[18] In1958, his first full year as a major leaguer, Lumpe earned a world championship ring. He appeared in 81 games, with 54 starts at third base, and hit his first three MLBhome runs,[14] as the Yankees won anotherAmerican Leaguepennant. In the1958 World Series, a rematch with the Braves,[19] he again was the Yankees' starting third baseman in three games,[20][21] including the decisive Game 7, won by New York 6–2,[22] for the 18th title in the team's history.[23]
But Lumpe could not break into the Yankees' regular lineup. In1959, again beginning the season as autility infielder, he was hitting only .222 in 18 games[14] when he was dealt to thesecond-division Kansas City Athletics on May 26 with pitchersJohnny Kucks andTom Sturdivant foroutfielderHéctor López and pitcherRalph Terry.[24] Lumpe started 54 games as Kansas City's second baseman and 47 as their shortstop, although he still showed rust at the plate, hitting only .243 with the Athletics in 108 games.[14]
In1960, Lumpe's first year as a starting second baseman[25] (playing 127 games at second base and only 14 at shortstop), he began to find his stride. He raised his batting average to .271 and led his club in hits with 156. He had a .982fielding percentage at second base, third highest among American League second basemen; and was fourth inputouts, fifth inassists and fifth indouble plays turned among third basemen.[26][27]
His best two offensive seasons came in1961 and1962, as he held down the right side of the Kansas City infield withfirst baseman Siebern, his teammate in college and with the Yankees. In 1961, Lumpe batted .293 with 167 hits, including ninetriples, second in the American League.[14][28] Then, in 1962, he batted .301, with ten home runs, 89 runs scored, and 83 RBI.[14] He was second in the league in hits with 193, second again in triples (ten), fifth indoubles (34) and eighth in batting average.[29] All were personal bests,[14] and Lumpe finished 25th in voting for theJunior Circuit'sMVP race.[14] His fielding percentage at second base in 1961 was .978 (fourth best in the AL),[30] and .980 in 1962 (second best in the AL).[31]
After a solid1963campaign with Kansas City, when he batted .271 in 157 games, and had a full season career high .988 fielding percentage in a league leading 155 games at second base (barely behind the league leaderNellie Fox who had the same .988 percentage),[14][32] he was traded along withDave Wickersham andEd Rakow to the Detroit Tigers forRocky Colavito,Bob Anderson and $50,000 on November 18.[33][24] The lowly Athletics were making room for young second basemanDick Green, who would become a fixture on theOakland Athletics' early 1970s dynasty.[34]
Lumpe, in turn, became the first-string second baseman for the first-division Tigers, playing alongside shortstopDick McAuliffe.[35][36] He started 156 games at second base in1964, leading all American League second basemen along withBobby Knoop,[37] and was also in the top five among AL second basemen, in putouts, assists and double plays turned.[38] Lumpe was named to the 1964 AL All-Star team as a reserve behind his former Yankee teammate Richardson. Lumpe did not appear in the July 7 contest atShea Stadium, won by theNational League onJohnny Callison'swalk-off home run.[7][39]
Lumpe also was a regular for the Tigers in both1965 and1966, although his offensive production began to fall off as he approached his mid thirties, while his fielding percentage remained strong.[14] In1967, the year of a feverish, four-team pennant race featuring the Tigers,Chicago White Sox,Minnesota Twins andBoston Red Sox,[40] McAuliffe moved over from shortstop to become the club's second baseman (starting 123 games).[41] Lumpe hit .232 in 81 contests,[14] with only 59 appearances in the field, and 31 starts at second base.[14] He started the final game of the year on October 1 in the second game of adoubleheader against theCalifornia Angels (the fourth game the two teams had played in two days[40]); the Tigers needed to win to clinch a tie for the pennant with the Red Sox. He singled in his only at bat before being replaced byDick Tracewski in the thirdinning.[42] Detroit dropped the game, 8–5, handing the championship to the Red Sox (who won the games they needed to win against theMinnesota Twins over the same weekend).[43][40] Lumpe retired as an active player upon his unconditional release 19 days later.[24]
In 12 MLB seasons, Jerry Lumpe played in 1,371 games and had 4,912 at bats. He scored 620runs with 1,314 hits, 190 doubles, 52 triples, 47 home runs, 454 RBI, 20stolen bases, 428walks, and a .268 average, .325 on-base percentage, .356 slugging percentage, 1,749 total bases, 57 sacrifice hits, 36 sacrifice flies and 21 intentional walks. Defensively, he recorded a .980fielding percentage playing at second and third base and shortstop. In 12 World Series games (1957–1958), Lumpe collected six hits, all singles, in 26 at bats (.231), with two runs batted in. In the field, at third base, he handled 15total chances without committing anerror.[14]
Lumpe returned to the game for one season,1971, as the first-base coach of the Oakland Athletics[5] on the staff of his former Kansas City teammateDick Williams (who had also managed the 1967 Red Sox).[44][45] The1971 Athletics won theAmerican League West Division championship on the strength of 101 regular-season victories, but dropped the1971 ALCS to theBaltimore Orioles in three straight games.[46] Lumpe then stepped down from the Oakland coaching staff, ending his MLB career.
After leaving baseball, he worked in banking and insurance.[3] In 1994, Lumpe was inducted into theMissouri Sports Hall of Fame.[7]
Lumpe died of cancer on August 15, 2014. He was survived by his wife of 60 years, Vivian, along with their children and grandchildren.[5][4]
| Preceded by | Oakland Athleticsfirst base coach 1971 | Succeeded by |