Robert Jacob Farley (born November 15, 1937) is a retired American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

player. He was a

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

and

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

who played part of and all of in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

for the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

and

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

. Farley threw and batted left-handed, stood tall and weighed . Farley first came to the Majors with the Giants in

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

, appearing with them in a total of 13 games before the mid-May cutdown date and after the post-September 1 roster expansion.Retrosheet
/ref> He batted only .100 with two

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

in 20

at bats In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

, but in between fashioned his best

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

season, hitting .307 with 20

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

for the Triple-A Tacoma Giants. That November he was included in the multi-player interleague trade with the White Sox that brought veteran left-handed

starting pitcher In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pit ...

Billy Pierce Walter William Pierce (April 2, 1927 – July 31, 2015) was an American starting pitcher in Major League Baseball between 1945 and 1964 who played most of his career for the Chicago White Sox. He was the team's star pitcher in the decade from 19 ...

to San Francisco. Pierce would help lead the 1962 Giants to the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

championship by winning 16 games. Farley, meanwhile, spent all of 1962 in the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

and continued to struggle at the plate. After batting .189 with the White Sox, he was traded to the Tigers in June for veteran outfielder

Charlie Maxwell Charles Richard Maxwell (born April 8, 1927) is an American former professional baseball outfielder who played 14 seasons in Major League Baseball with the Boston Red Sox (1950–52, 1954), Baltimore Orioles (1955), Detroit Tigers (1955–62) ...

. The change of scenery did not help, as Farley hit only .160 for Detroit. He hit two home runs that season, one for the White Sox (ironically, off Detroit

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

Paul Foytack Paul Eugene Foytack (November 16, 1930 – January 23, 2021) was an American professional baseball player and right-handed pitcher who appeared in 312 games in Major League Baseball between 1953 and 1964 for two American League clubs, the Detroit ...

on May 31) and one for the Tigers (against

Bob Giggie Robert Thomas Giggie (August 13, 1933 – December 9, 2018) was an American professional baseball player and Major League Baseball pitcher. He appeared in 30 games pitched (all but two in relief) for the Milwaukee Braves during the and season ...

of the

Kansas City Athletics The history of the Athletics Major League Baseball franchise spans the period from 1901 to the present day, having begun as a charter member franchise in the new American League in Philadelphia before moving to Kansas City in 1955 for 13 seas ...

on July 20). All told, Bob Farley appeared in 84 MLB

games played Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. Basebal ...

, batted 123 times and notched 20

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...

, including three doubles and one

triple Triple is used in several contexts to mean "threefold" or a " treble": Sports * Triple (baseball), a three-base hit * A basketball three-point field goal * A figure skating jump with three rotations * In bowling terms, three strikes in a row * ...

, with those two home runs. He played the final three seasons of his professional career in the minors, retiring after the 1965 campaign.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Farley, Bob 1937 births Living people Baseball players from Pennsylvania Chicago White Sox players Detroit Tigers players Fresno Giants players Hawaii Islanders players Major League Baseball first basemen Major League Baseball outfielders Michigan City White Caps players People from Lycoming County, Pennsylvania People from Northumberland County, Pennsylvania San Francisco Giants players Springfield Giants players Syracuse Chiefs players Tacoma Giants players Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players Williamsport Mets players