Roland Americo "Buddy" Biancalana Jr. (; born February 2, 1960) is a retired

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), ...

(MLB)

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists who ...

. Biancalana played for two teams in his career: the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

(–) and

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

().

Biography

Biancalana was born on February 2, 1960 in

Greenbrae Greenbrae is a small unincorporated community in Marin County, California. It is located south-southeast of downtown San Rafael, at an elevation of 33 feet (10 m), located adjacent to U.S. Route 101 at the opening of the Ross Valley. Part of ...

, California. Biancalana attended Redwood High School in Larkspur. He played baseball all four of his years at Redwood, 1975 through 1978, garnering local and national honors along the way. In 1977, he was named to the Mythical National Champion Team, a squad composed of the best high school baseball players in the United States. Biancalana was drafted by the Royals in the first round (25th overall pick) of the 1978 June Regular Phase draft. He made his MLB debut on September 12, 1982, and played his final game on October 4, 1987. Biancalana was a member of the Royals team that won the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

in 1985. Although he had only started 35 games all season, manager

Dick Howser Richard Dalton Howser (May 14, 1936 – June 17, 1987) was an American Major League Baseball shortstop, coach, and manager who was best known as the manager of the Kansas City Royals during the 1980s and for guiding them to the franchise's first W ...

benched regular shortstop Onix Concepcion in favor of Biancalana on September 20. Biancalana started 13 of the next 15 games as the Royals won the

American League West The American League West is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. The division has five teams as of the 2013 season, but had four teams from 1994 to 2012, and had as many as seven teams before the 1994 realignment. Although its teams curr ...

division by one game over the

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

. Biancalana was the starting shortstop for the Royals in all 14 post-season games, playing error-free defense in every game, and was an integral part in several run-scoring innings for the Royals in the

. He batted .278 in the series with an on-base percentage of .435, both well above his career numbers. Biancalana had been mentioned in a joke on

Late Night with David Letterman ''Late Night with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on NBC, the first iteration of the ''Late Night'' franchise. It premiered on February 1, 1982, and was produced by Letterman's production company ...

earlier in the season (mocking the mania over

Pete Rose Peter Edward Rose Sr. (born April 14, 1941), also known by his nickname "Charlie Hustle", is an American former professional baseball player and manager. Rose played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1963 to 1986, most prominently as a membe ...

's assault on the baseball all-time hit record by unveiling a "Buddy Biancalana Hit Counter"), and after his successful postseason run, he appeared on the show, presented Letterman with a World Series bat and admitted that he had enjoyed the publicity the joke had brought him. Biancalana is a former field manager for the

Amarillo Dillas The Amarillo Dillas were a professional baseball team based in Amarillo, Texas, in the United States. The Dillas were a member of United League Baseball, an independent professional league which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball or Mi ...

of independent

United League Baseball United League Baseball was an independent baseball league that operated in Texas. The league operated from 2006 to 2009. The league then temporarily merged with the Northern League and the Golden Baseball League to form the North American Leagu ...

, the infield coordinator of the

Tampa Bay Devil Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home venu ...

and the manager of two South Atlantic League (Class Low A) teams, the Lakewood BlueClaws (affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies) and the Charleston Riverdogs (affiliate of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays). He is also the co-author of ''The 7 Secrets of the World Class Athlete''. In 2009, Biancalana was inducted into the first Redwood High School Athletic Hall of Fame.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Biancalana, Buddy 1960 births American sportspeople of Italian descent Baseball players from California Fort Myers Royals players Gulf Coast Royals players Houston Astros players Jacksonville Suns players Kansas City Royals players Living people Major League Baseball shortstops Minor league baseball managers Omaha Royals players People from Larkspur, California Tucson Toros players People from Greenbrae, California Redwood High School (Larkspur, California) alumni