Pete Daley
From BR Bullpen
Peter Harvey Daley
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 6' 0", Weight 195 lb.
- Debut May 3, 1955
- Final Game October 1, 1961
- Born January 14, 1930 in Grass Valley, CA USA
[edit] Biographical Information
Before the 1948 season Pete Daley signed as an amateur free agent with the Boston Red Sox. The 18 year old catcher would spend his first season with the class C San Jose Red Sox appearing in 47 games and hitting for a .225 average.
He would play for the class B Roanoke Red Sox in 1949, get into 121 games and hit .295. 1950 would see him with the class A Scranton Miners playing 35 games and hitting .243. He would also spend time in 1950 with the AAA Louisville Colonels, appearing in 62 games and hitting .263.
His career would be interrupted for two years in 1951 and 1952 by Military Service in the United States Armed Forces, during the Korean War.
He would spend the next two seasons in the American Association with the AAA Louisville Colonels, appearing in 84 games with a .256 Batting average in 1953 and catching 115 games and hitting .275 in 1954.
Pete would get his chance in the majors with the 1955 Boston Red Sox appearing in 17 games and hitting .220. He fielded flawlessly in the catchers job, not committing an error. Pete's performance would keep him with the Red Sox through the 1959 season and he then would be traded on December 3, to the Kansas City Athletics for Tom Sturdivant.
Daley would be with the Athletics for the 1960 season, appearing in 73 games, hitting .263 and fielding the catchers' position at a .990 pace. However, on December 14, he was drafted by the Washington Senators in the 1960 expansion draft.
Pete would spend the 1961 season, his last in the majors, with the Senators, catching in 72 outings, hitting .192 and again fielding his job with near perfection with a percentage of .988. Pete spent seven years in the majors, appearing in 391 contests, hitting at a .239 average and making only eleven errors in his career for a .993 percentage.
At age 32 Daly would try one more season of catching in pro baseball. He would spend 1962 with the Raleigh Capitals and the Toronto Maple Leafs where he hit for a combined .258 average and fielded at a .994 percentage. Pete would spend 13 seasons in pro baseball from 1948 through 1962. His minor league work sheet shows he appeared in 537 games, with 1797 at bats and 480 base hits, including 44 home runs, for a minor league career .267 average.
After baseball Pete managed a bowling alley for a time, then went into sales for the Schick Razor Company and later the English Leather Company. As of this writing (January 2009) he has retired to Newbury Park, California.
[edit] Sources
Baseball-Reference.com
Baseball Players of the 1950s
SABR MILB Database:page
