Fred Stanley

[Michael Trzinski]

Frederick Blair Stanley was born in Farnhamville, Iowa. After graduating from Monte Vista High School in Spring Valley, California, he was picked in the eighth round of the 1966 MLB Amateur Draft by the Houston Astros.

Stanley played almost four seasons in the Astros organization before being traded to the Seattle Pilots in September 1969. Stanley made a splash (literally) in his second game, going 3-for-3 with a double and a walk in a 1-1 tie with the California Angels on September 12. The game was rained out in the 11th inning in Seattle’s Sick’s Stadium, but all statistics counted. He finished the year with a slash line of .279/.319/.372 across 43 at-bats. The following season, the team became the Milwaukee Brewers.

The infielder began the 1970 season with Triple-A Portland and was called up to Milwaukee in September. The player known as ‘Chicken’ played only six games for the Brewers. In his first game, he entered the contest as a pinch-runner for Phil Roof, who had doubled. Ted Kubiak singled to score Stanley one batter later. His stats for the year? One run scored.

In 1971 and 1972, Stanley played a total of 105 games for Cleveland and San Diego. His slash line of .212/.337/270 was low, but his BB rate of 15% was impressive. Just before Thanksgiving, Stanley was traded to the New York Yankees.

Stanley became a fixture as a backup in the infield for the Yankees for the next eight seasons. Filling in behind players like Gene Michael, Horace Clarke, Sandy Alomar, Jim Mason, Graig Nettles, Bucky Dent, and Willie Randolph, Stanley played in 521 games for the Yankees.

He played in 17 post-season games across the 1976-1978 seasons, going 8-for-31 with four doubles and one RBI. Stanley went 3-for-4 in the opening game of the 1976 ALCS against the Kansas City Royals with a double and a run scored in the 4-1 win over the Royals. The Yankees were World Champions in 1977 and 1978.

After the 1980 season, Stanley was traded to the Oakland Athletics. He played in 167 games during the 1981-1982 seasons but had a batting line of only .193/.280.239. In the 1981 post-season for the A’s, he played in five games and went 1-for-9.

Stanley retired after the 1982 season and worked in the Giants organization for many years as a manager and director of player development.

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