Moose Skowron
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William Joseph "Moose" Skowron Jr. (born December 18, 1930) is a former Major League Baseball player, primarily a first baseman.
Skowron was born in Chicago, Illinois, and is of Polish descent. His father was a garbage collector. His friends called him "Mussolini" as a joke, after his grandfather gave him a haircut which looked like the dictator's, but his family shortened the nickname to "Moose." The name stuck throughout his career.
He went to Purdue University on a football scholarship, but found himself better suited to baseball when he hit .500 as a sophomore, a record in the Big Ten Conference that lasted ten years.
Signed by the New York Yankees in 1950 as an amateur free agent, he played his first game for the Yankees on April 13, 1954. He wore uniform number 53 in the 1954 season, but switched to #14 in 1955 and stayed with that number for the rest of his years with the Yankees. In the beginning, he was platooned at first base with Joe Collins, but from 1958 on he became the Yankees' full time first baseman. He played in five All-Star Games as a Yankee: 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, and 1961.
On November 26, 1962 he was traded by the Yankees to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Stan Williams. He kept his Yankee uniform number, 14, on the Dodgers.
On December 6, 1963 he was purchased from the Dodgers by the Washington Senators (currently the Texas Rangers). The Senators gave him uniform number 3.
On July 13, 1964 he was traded by the Senators to the Chicago White Sox. He took uniform number 5 on the Sox at first, but with the 1965 season went back to his old uniform number on the Yankees and Dodgers, 14. In 1965 he once more got to play in the All-Star Game.
On May 6, 1967 he was traded by the White Sox to the California Angels. He kept his uniform number 14 on the Angels.
He was released by the Angels on October 9, 1967.
He played in a total of 1478 games, all but 15 as a first baseman. (He was in 13 games as a third baseman and two as a second baseman.)
Skowron made the last out of the 1957 World Series, but the following year knocked in the winning run in game six of the '58 World Series. Skowron also hit a 3-run home run in game seven to propel the Yankees to a World Series win, and a comback from a 3-1 series deficit.
On June 12, 1980 he was inducted into the National Polish-American Hall of Fame.
[edit] External links
- Baseball-Reference.com - career statistics and analysis
- Baseball Almanac
- Baseball Digest
- Baseball Library
Categories: Major league players from Illinois | 1957 American League All-Stars | 1958 American League All-Stars | 1959 American League All-Stars | 1960 American League All-Stars | 1961 American League All-Stars | 1965 American League All-Stars | 1956 New York Yankees World Series Championship Team | 1958 New York Yankees World Series Championship Team | 1961 New York Yankees World Series Championship Team | 1962 New York Yankees World Series Championship Team | 1963 Los Angeles Dodgers World Series Championship Team | California Angels players | Chicago White Sox players | Los Angeles Dodgers players | New York Yankees players | Washington Senators (1961-1971) players | Major league first basemen | Polish-Americans | Living people
