American baseball player (born 1951)
Baseball player
Alan Bannister (born September 3, 1951)[ 1] is an American former professional baseball player who played in Major League Baseball for the Philadelphia Phillies (1974–75), Chicago White Sox (1976–80), Cleveland Indians (1980–83), Houston Astros (1984) and Texas Rangers (1984–85). Developed as a shortstop , he became a utility player during his major league career.
Biography
Bannister attended John F. Kennedy High School in La Palma, California and then played college baseball at Arizona State University .[ 2] He represented the United States at the 1971 Pan American Games , where he won a silver medal.[ 3] Highly touted in college, Bannister was the Phillies' first-round pick in the 1973 draft (January). Although versatile (he played every position but pitcher and catcher) he never lived up to his college billing and was rarely a regular.[ 4] He opened the 1975 season as the Phillies' starting center fielder until the arrival of Garry Maddox from the San Francisco Giants on May 4. He was traded with Dick Ruthven and Roy Thomas to the Chicago White Sox for Jim Kaat and Mike Buskey on December 10, 1975.[ 5] He was the 1977 White Sox' starting shortstop following the trade of Bucky Dent in April, the only season in which he played over 100 games at a position, and he led all American League shortstops in errors (40). That same season he led the AL in sacrifice flies with 11.
In 12 major league seasons he played in 972 games and recorded 3,007 at bats, 430 runs, 811 hits, 143 doubles, 28 triples, 19 home runs, 288 RBI, 108 stolen bases, 292 walks, with a .270 batting average, .334 on-base percentage and a .355 slugging percentage.
After his playing career, he managed two years in the Montreal Expos minor league system and three years for the AZL Giants of the Arizona League . He was inducted to the College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2010.[ 6]
As an amateur, Bannister was involved in a play which resulted in a fatality. In July 1972, he was a participant in a Baseball Federation tour of Japan . While attempting to complete a double play during a game against a Japanese team, he made a throw to first base which struck the head of Akira Tohmon , who was advancing from first base to second base. Tohmon was knocked unconscious, and later died at a hospital as a result of cerebral contusion .[ 7] [ 8]
References
^ "Great White" . OLDIES.com .
^ "Former baseball player Bannister enters Hall of Fame" . Arizona State University. February 18, 2010. Retrieved June 27, 2018 .
^ Olderr, Steven (2009). The Pan American Games / Los Juegos Panamericanos: A Statistical History (Bilingual ed.). Jefferson, North Carolina and London: McFarland & Company. p. 41. ISBN 9780786443369 . Retrieved March 15, 2020 .
^ "Alan Bannister" . Retrieved May 27, 2011 .
^ "Phillies Acquire Jim Kaat," The Associated Press (AP), Thursday, December 11, 1975. Retrieved May 2, 2020
^ "Former baseball player Bannister enters Hall of Fame | ASU News" . news.asu.edu . Retrieved March 13, 2024 .
^ "Bannister Prize In Free Agent Draft Today ", United Press International, January 10, 1978.
^ [1] ", United Press International, July 15, 1972.
External links
Players Coaches Veteran players (pre-1947 era) Executives Umpires
1965 : Spencer
1966 : DeNeff
1967 : Nunn
1968 : Allen
1969 : Bannister
1970 : Dade
1971 : Tanana
1972 : Chalk
1973 : Taylor
1974 : Miley
1975 : Goodwin
1976 : Landreaux
1977 : Dotson
1978 : Brunansky
1979: None
1980 : Rasmussen
1981 : Schofield
1982 : Kipper
1983 : Doran
1984 : Pappas
1985 : Fraser , Cook
1986 : Hernández , Stevens , Carr, Fetters , Green
1987 : Orton , Holdridge
1988 : J. Abbott
1989 : K. Abbott
1990: None
1991 : Pérez , Fábregas
1992 : Janicki, Schmidt
1993 : Anderson
1994 : Christensen
1995 : Erstad
1996: None
1997 : Glaus
1998 : Etherton
1999: None
2000 : Torres , Bootcheck
2001 : Kotchman , Mathis
2002 : Saunders
2003 : Wood
2004 : Weaver
2005 : Bell
2006 : Conger
2007 : Bachanov
2008: None
2009 : Grichuk , Trout , Skaggs , Richards , Kehrer
2010 : Cowart , Bedrosian , Clarke, Lindsey , Bolden
2011 : Cron
2012: None
2013: None
2014 : Newcomb
2015 : Ward
2016 : Thaiss
2017 : Adell
2018 : Adams
2019 : Wilson
2020 : Detmers
2021 : Bachman
2022 : Neto
2023 : Schanuel
2024 : Moore