| Joe DeMaestri | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Shortstop | |
| Born:(1928-12-09)December 9, 1928 San Francisco, California, U.S. | |
| Died: August 26, 2016(2016-08-26) (aged 87) San Rafael, California, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| April 19, 1951, for the Chicago White Sox | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 27, 1961, for the New York Yankees | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .236 |
| Home runs | 49 |
| Runs batted in | 281 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
Joseph Paul DeMaestri (December 9, 1928 – August 26, 2016),[1] nicknamed "Froggy", was an American professionalbaseball player who was ashortstop inMajor League Baseball (MLB) for theChicago White Sox (1951),St. Louis Browns (1952),Philadelphia / Kansas City Athletics (1953–59) andNew York Yankees (1960–61). Born inSan Francisco, he batted and threw right-handed, stood 6 feet (1.83 m) tall and weighed 170 pounds (77 kg).[2]
DeMaestri graduated a fromTamalpais High School inMill Valley, California, and began his 15-yearprofessional baseball career in theBoston Red Sox' organization in 1947. He was selected by the White Sox in the 1950Rule 5 Draft. In an 11-seasonMLB career, DeMaestri was a .236hitter with 813hits, 49home runs and 281RBI in 1,121games played. Defensively, he recorded a .967fielding percentage. He played 905 of those games with the Athletics and made theAmerican League All-Star team in 1957.
On July 8, 1955, atBriggs Stadium, DeMaestri collected six hits in sixat bats in an 11-inning game against theDetroit Tigers. All his hits weresingles and he scored tworuns, but Detroit won the contest, 11–8.[3]
In December 1959, Demaestri was traded to the New York Yankees in the seven-player deal that famously broughtRoger Maris to the Bronx Bombers.[4] When the Yankees won the1960 American Leaguepennant, he appeared in his first and onlyWorld Series, getting into four games and collecting one hit, asingle offJoe Gibbon of thePittsburgh Pirates in the opening contest, in twoat bats.
In the eighth inning of Game 7, DeMaestri took over for regular Yankee shortstopTony Kubek when Kubek was struck in the throat by a bad-hop ground ball hit byBill Virdon; the play sparked a five-run Pittsburgh rally. However, DeMaestri was off the field when, one inning later,Bill Mazeroski hit his famouswalk-off homer againstpitcherRalph Terry.Dale Long had pinch hit for DeMaestri in the top of the ninth, andClete Boyer had moved fromthird base to shortstop to take his place on defense.[5]
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