A photo of Wally Post.
Walter Charles Post (July 9, 1929 — January 6, 1982)[1] was a right fielder in Major League Baseball.[2] From 1949 through 1964, Post played for the Cincinnati Reds & Redlegs (1949, 1951-57, 1960-63), Philadelphia Phillies (1958-60), Minnesota Twins (1963) and Cleveland Indians (1964).[3] He batted and threw right-handed.[1] In a 15-season career, Post was a .266 hitter with 210 home runs and 699 RBI in 1204 games.[4]
A native of St. Wendelin, Ohio,[1] Post spent most of his career with Cincinnati teams.[1] A powerful slugger in the mid-1950s,[5] he also was respected for his strong and accurate throwing arm.[5]
Post broke into professional baseball as a minor league pitcher in 1946[5] and was converted to an outfielder in 1949, the year of his majors debut.[6] Post spent time in both the minor and major leagues for the next two years before finally being permanently called up to Cincinnati in 1954.[6] His most productive season came in 1955, when he hit .309 with 40 home runs with 109 RBI, all career highs.[4]
In 1957, Post and six of his Redleg teammates—Ed Bailey, Johnny Temple, Roy McMillan, Don Hoak, Gus Bell and Frank Robinson—were "voted" starters on the National League All-Star team, the result of a ballot stuffing campaign by Redlegs fans. Bell remained on the team as a reserve, but Post was taken off altogether. Bell and Post were replaced as starters by Hank Aaron and Willie Mays.[7]
Post is also noted as the man who ended Aaron's record-setting stint on the 1950s Home Run Derby show.[8] Post also hit the first home run at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on April 10, 1962.[9]
After playing for the Phillies, Twins, Indians, and in a second stint with the Reds, Post retired in 1963.[1] He was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 1965.[10]
Post died in St. Henry, Ohio in 1982.[8] He had been undergoing treatments for cancer.[6] He was married to Patricia (Beckman) and they had four children together: Sue, John, Mary, and Cynthia. Post has thirteen grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.[6] One of his grandchildren is former Ohio State and NFL quarterback Bobby Hoying[11] and former Ohio State quarterback Tom Hoying.[citation needed]
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Wally Post Player Page at baseball-reference.com, URL accessed August 20, 2009
- ↑ Wally Post Fielding at fangraphs.com, URL accessed August 20, 2009
- ↑ Wally Post Batting at thebaseballcube.com, URL accessed August 20, 2009
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Wally Post Batting at baseball-reference.com, URL accessed August 20, 2009
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Wally Post at baseballlibrary.com, URL accessed August 20, 2009
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 The Obit for Wally Post at thedeadballera.com, URL accessed August 20, 2009
- ↑ 1957 All-Star Game at baseball-almanac.com, URL accessed August 20, 2009
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Walter Charles "Wally" Post at findagrave.com, URL accessed August 20, 2009
- ↑ Building O'Malley's Dream Stadium at walteromalley.com, URL accessed August 20, 2009
- ↑ Hall of Fame & Museum at mlb.com, URL accessed August 20, 2009
- ↑ Wally Post still huge in tiny town at reds.enquirer.com, URL accessed December 11, 2009.
External links[]
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube