Del Wilber
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Del Wilber | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Catcher | |
| Born: February 24, 1919 Detroit, Michigan, U.S. | |
| Died: July 18, 2002 (aged 83) St. Petersburg, Florida, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| April 24, 1946, for the St. Louis Cardinals | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| August 19, 1954, for the Boston Red Sox | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .242 |
| Home runs | 19 |
| Runs batted in | 115 |
| Stats at Baseball Reference | |
| Teams | |
| |
Delbert Quentin Wilber (February 24, 1919 – July 18, 2002) was an American professional baseball player, manager, coach and scout. A catcher, he appeared in 299 Major League games for the St. Louis Cardinals (1946–49), Philadelphia Phillies (1951–52) and Boston Red Sox (1952–54). The native of Lincoln Park, Michigan, threw and batted right-handed. He stood 6 feet 3 inches (1.91 m) tall and weighed 200 pounds (91 kg).
Wilber signed with the American League St. Louis Browns in 1938, but was acquired by the Cardinals in 1940 and played in their extensive farm system until the outbreak of World War II; he missed the 1942–45 seasons while serving in the United States Army Air Force, where he attained the rank of captain. In 1946, he resumed his baseball career and made his Major League debut, appearing in four games before being sent to the Triple-A Columbus Red Birds. He did not appear in the 1946 World Series.
Wilber played in 51 games for the 1947 Cardinals and 27 more in 1948, but did not spend a full season in MLB again until 1951, when he appeared in 84 games, 61 as the starting catcher, for the Phillies. After only two games played for the 1952 Phillies, Wilber's contract was purchased by the Red Sox on May 12. He served for three seasons as the Red Sox' second-string and third-string receiver behind Sammy White, through 1954. Boston then traded him to the New York Giants for infielder Billy Klaus that December, but the Giants granted Wilber his release to enable him to join the coaching staff of the Chicago White Sox for the 1955 season.
On August 27, 1951, Wilber hit three home runs off pitcher Ken Raffensberger, each on the first pitch of each at bat, to lead the Phillies to a 3–0 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.[1] Two years later, while playing for the Red Sox, Wilber had 27 hits and 29 runs batted in, making him one of the few big leaguers to have more RBIs than hits in a season.[2][3]
In all or parts of eight MLB seasons, Wilber compiled 720 at bats, 67 runs, 174 hits, 35 doubles, seven triples, 19 homers, 115 RBI, one stolen base and 44 bases on balls. He batted .242 with an on-base percentage of .286, a slugging percentage of .389, 280 total bases and five sacrifice hits.
According to The Sporting News' Official Baseball Register, Wilber had a unique hobby during his catching career. When a pitcher hurled an especially noteworthy game, Wilber would decorate a game baseball, writing the line score of the contest, as well as game highlights, on the ball, then present it to his pitcher.[4]