Carney Ray Lansford (born February 7, 1957) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

player and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

. He played 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), ...

(MLB) as a

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

from 1978 to 1992, most notably as a member of the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

team that won three consecutive American League pennants and a

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 ...

championship in . He also played for 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 ...

and the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

. Lansford was the 1981 American League batting champion as a member of the Red Sox and was an American League All-Star in 1988 with the Athletics.

Career

Drafted by the California Angels in the 3rd round of the

1975 Major League Baseball draft First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1975 Major League Baseball draft. Many baseball draft experts consider the 1975 draft to be the weakest in MLB history. Other notable selections ''*'' Did not sign N ...

, Lansford was the Angels' most successful rookie in 1978 and finished third in the overall AL Rookie of the Year vote. He was traded along with Rick Miller and

Mark Clear Mark Alan Clear (born May 27, 1956) is an American former two-time All Star Major League Baseball relief pitcher who played for the California Angels (1979–80, 1990), Boston Red Sox (1981–85), and Milwaukee Brewers (1986–88). He batted an ...

from the

Angels In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...

to the

Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

for

Rick Burleson Richard Paul "Rooster" Burleson (born April 29, 1951) is an American former Major League Baseball shortstop. Burleson, who played for three American League teams over 13 seasons, was a very intense ballplayer. Former Boston Red Sox teammate Bil ...

and

Butch Hobson Clell Lavern "Butch" Hobson Jr. (born August 17, 1951) is an American former professional baseball third baseman and manager. He is the current manager for the Chicago Dogs of the American Association of Professional Baseball. Hobson played in ...

on December 10, 1980. In 1981, he won the American League batting title in the strike-shortened season, becoming the league's first right-handed hitter to do so in 11 years. However, the emergence of

Wade Boggs Wade Anthony Boggs (born June 15, 1958) is an American former professional baseball third baseman. He spent 18 seasons in Major League Baseball, primarily with the Boston Red Sox. He also played for the New York Yankees (1993-1997), and the Tampa ...

resulted in the Red Sox sending Lansford to Oakland in a trade involving

Tony Armas Antonio Rafael Armas Machado (born July 2, 1953) is a Venezuelan former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as an outfielder from 1976 to 1989. He is the father of pitcher Tony Armas Jr. and the older brother of ...

during the 1982 off-season. Lansford became the A's regular third baseman and was there for their 1988 through 1992 dynasty, typically hitting second behind

Rickey Henderson Rickey Nelson Henley Henderson (born December 25, 1958) is an American retired professional baseball left fielder who played his 24 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for nine teams from 1979 to 2003, including four separate tenures with hi ...

. Lansford narrowly missed winning his second batting title in 1989 with a .336 average (Minnesota's

Kirby Puckett Kirby Puckett (March 14, 1960 – March 6, 2006) was an American professional baseball player. He played his entire 12-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career as a center fielder for the Minnesota Twins (1984–1995). Puckett is the Twins' all- ...

finished with a .339 average). Although his power numbers dropped off during those years, and he missed almost all the 1991 season with an injury, Lansford's speed and solid hitting made him a significant contributor to the A's dynasty. He played in three

with the A's, losing in and and winning in . In his 15-year career, Lansford was a .290 hitter with 151

home run 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 ...

s, 874 RBI, and 224

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...

s in 1862

games A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (such ...

. In five

American League Championship Series The American League Championship Series (ALCS) is a best-of-seven playoff and one of two League Championship Series comprising the penultimate round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) postseason. It is contested by the two winners of the American ...

and three World Series covering 33 games, he hit .305 (39-for-128) with two home runs and 18 RBI. Baseball writer

Bill James George William James (born October 5, 1949) is an American baseball writer, historian, and statistician whose work has been widely influential. Since 1977, James has written more than two dozen books devoted to baseball history and statistics. ...

ranked Lansford as the 39th best 3rd baseman all-time but heavily criticized his defense and wrote 'he was a good hitter but he was an awful third baseman.

Coaching career

Lansford was a hitting coach for the San Francisco Giants during the 2008 and 2009 seasons. Lansford was relieved of his duties following the 2009 season. Lansford was hired by the Rockies for the 2011 season. In 2015, Lansford was a Batting Coach for the Lamigo Monkeys of the CPBL.

Personal life

Lansford had a cameo role as Kit "Hit or Die" Kesey, the

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 ...

batter that Mel Clark (played by

Tony Danza Tony Danza (born Anthony Salvatore Iadanza; April 21, 1951) is an American actor. He is known for co-starring in the television series ''Taxi'' (1978–1983) and '' Who's the Boss?'' (1984–1992), for which he was nominated for an Emmy Award a ...

) retires for the final out in the Angels' pennant-winning game in the 1994 remake of '' Angels in the Outfield''. He claims to be a direct descendant of Sir

Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( – 28 January 1596) was an English explorer, sea captain, privateer, slave trader, naval officer, and politician. Drake is best known for his circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition, from 1577 to 1580 (t ...

, who died with no known children. His son, Jared, was drafted by Oakland in the second round of the 2005 amateur draft. His other son, Josh, was a third baseman in the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

minor league system. His brother,

Jody Lansford Joseph Dale Lansford (born January 15, 1961) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a first baseman for the San Diego Padres in 1978 and 1979. He also played nine seasons in the minor leagu ...

, spent nine seasons in the minor leagues, briefly breaking into the big leagues with the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

, for whom he recorded 30 at bats with six hits in parts of two seasons, with one career home run. His other brother, Phil Lansford, was drafted 10th overall in the 1978 draft but never made it to the majors. He played for the Briarwood Little League team, from

Santa Clara, California Santa Clara (; Spanish for " Saint Clare") is a city in Santa Clara County, California. The city's population was 127,647 at the 2020 census, making it the eighth-most populous city in the Bay Area. Located in the southern Bay Area, the cit ...

, which made it to the finals of the 1969

Little League World Series The Little League World Series is an annual baseball tournament for children—typically boys—aged 10 to 12 years old, held in the Eastern United States. Originally called the National Little League Tournament, it was later renamed for the Wor ...

. In the final game of the World Series on August 2, Carney's team was defeated 5-0 by the team from

Taipei City Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the Capital city, capital and a Special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality of the Taiwan, Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Regions of Taiwan, Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of t ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

. Lansford is one of fewer than a dozen men who have played in both the Little League World Series and the MLB World Series. In 2019, Lansford created a personal web page where he announced he would be starting a web page dedicated to recapping and commenting on the

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...

series

The Mandalorian ''The Mandalorian'' is an American space Western television series created by Jon Favreau for the streaming service Disney+. It is the first live-action series in the ''Star Wars'' franchise, beginning five years after the events of ''Retur ...

. Lansford is an avid Star Wars fan and has always stated that his favorite character was Boba Fett. However, as of 2020, the web page has been deactivated and Lansford never offered any additional public commentary on the show. Lansford went to Wilcox High School in Santa Clara, California. The school's baseball field is named for him.

References

External links

Baseball GaugeCarney Lansford
- Baseballbiography.com
Venezuelan Professional Baseball League
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lansford, Carney 1957 births Living people American League All-Stars American League batting champions Baseball players from San Jose, California Boston Red Sox players California Angels players Colorado Rockies (baseball) coaches El Paso Diablos players Idaho Falls Angels players Leones del Caracas players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Major League Baseball first basemen Major League Baseball hitting coaches Major League Baseball third basemen Minor league baseball managers Oakland Athletics coaches Oakland Athletics players Quad Cities Angels players St. Louis Cardinals coaches San Francisco Giants coaches Tacoma Tigers players Silver Slugger Award winners

Career

Coaching career

Personal life

See also

References

External links