Del Wilber

Del Wilber
Catcher
Born: February 24, 1919(1919-02-24) Detroit, Michigan
Died: July 18, 2002(2002-07-18) (aged 83) St. Petersburg, Florida
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
Career statistics
Batting average	.242
Home runs	19
RBI	115
Teams
As Player St. Louis Cardinals (1946-1949) Philadelphia Phillies (1951-1952) Boston Red Sox (1952-1954) As Manager Texas Rangers (1973)
Career highlights and awards
Three Home Run Game: August 27, 1951

This article is about the professional baseball player. For his grandson, the author and Washington Post journalist, see Del Quentin Wilber.

Delbert Quentin Wilber (February 24, 1919 — July 18, 2002), born in Lincoln Park, Michigan, was a catcher for the St. Louis Cardinals (1946–49), Philadelphia Phillies (1951–52) and Boston Red Sox (1952–54).

He helped the Cardinals win the 1946 World Series.

In 8 seasons he played in 299 Games and had 720 At Bats, 67 Runs, 174 Hits, 35 Doubles, 7 Triples, 19 Home Runs, 115 RBI, 1 Stolen Base, 44 Walks, .242 Batting Average, .286 On-base percentage, .389 Slugging Percentage, 280 Total Bases and 5 Sacrifice Hits.

On August 27, 1951, Wilber hit three home runs 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 RBIs, making him one of the few major leaguers to have more RBIs than hits in a season.^[2][3]

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]

Manager, scout and coach

Wilber managed in minor league baseball both during his playing career and after it ended. He led the Cardinals' Houston Buffaloes Double-A farm club as a catcher-manager in 1949. Then, after hanging up his catching gear for good, he managed Triple-A affiliates of the Baltimore Orioles, as well as both the original and expansion editions of the Washington Senators franchise, and their current incarnations as the Texas Rangers and Minnesota Twins. His one-game stint as skipper of the 1973 Texas Rangers — as interim pilot between Whitey Herzog and Billy Martin, he won his only game as manager — occurred after Wilber led the Rangers' Spokane Indians affiliate to the 1973 championship of the Pacific Coast League, one of three league titles in his minor-league resume. Wilber also served as a major-league coach for the 1955-56 Chicago White Sox and the 1970 Senators, and scouted for the Orioles, Twins, Cincinnati Reds and Detroit Tigers.

Del Wilber died in St. Petersburg, Florida at the age of 83.

References

1. ^ Wilber, p.8
2. ^ "Del Wilber Stats". Baseball Almanac. http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=wilbede01. Retrieved 2008-05-14. 
3. ^ Wilber, p.58
4. ^ Spink, J.G. Taylor, publisher, The Official 1956 Baseball Register. St. Louis: The Sporting News, 1956.

Sources

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference
• Wilber, Rick. My Father's Game. McFarland, 2008. ISBN=9780786429844.

Persondata
Name	Wilber, Del
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	February 24, 1919
Place of birth	Lincoln Park, Michigan
Date of death	July 18, 2002
Place of death	St. Petersburg, Florida