Bud Stewart
From BR Bullpen
Edward Perry Stewart
- Bats Left, Throws Right
- Height 5' 11", Weight 170 lb.
- School University of California, Los Angeles
- Debut April 19, 1941
- Final Game June 2, 1954
- Born June 15, 1916 in Sacramento, CA USA
- Died June 21, 2000 in Palo Alto, CA USA
[edit] Biographical Information
Left-Hand hitting outfielder Bud Stewart was destined to be the first player to ever lead both the National League and American League in pinch hits. A native of Sacramento who started out in pro ball in 1937 with the San Diego Padres after earning a degree in physical education from UCLA, he was first up with Pittsburgh in 1941 and led the NL in pinch hits with ten as a rookie.
After spending three years (1943-45) with the United States Military Service during World War II, Bud was aquired by the Yankees and began the 1948 season in New York after hitting .358 for the Kansas City Blues of the American Association the previous year. After just six games with the Yankees he was traded to the Washington Senators where he hit .279 for the year and hit a career high .284 for the Senators in 1949.
From 1951 to 1954 he ws a part-time outfielder and pinch hitter for the Chicago White Sox, leading the American league with nine base hits off the bench in 1951. A .268 hitter with 32 homers during his nine active seasons (1941-54) in the major leagues and a .316 hitter with 41 homers in his eight active minor league years (1937-54), Bud concluded his pro baseball days in 1954, managing the Colorado Springs Sky Sox of the Western League. He was the second of three skippers for the season. The class A club finished last with a 48-104 record, 47 games back.
Stewart had been a high school physical education teacher during the off seasons and also worked as an extra in movies. He appeared in The Stratton Story and in the fictional Frank Merriwell serials. After baseball he worked for North American Aviation, which is now Rockwell International, for 18 years. From 1972 until he retired in 1981 he was the Director of City Parks in Hawthorne, CA. Stewart died June 21, 2000, at age 84 in Palo Alto, CA.
