Peter Thomas Ward (July 26, 1937 – March 16, 2022) was a Canadian-born

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 leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who ...

who appeared in 973 games over nine seasons 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), ...

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 ...

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 c ...

and

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 ...

for the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

(),

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 ...

(–) and

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

(). Ward was the runner-up for 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 ...

(AL) Rookie of the Year Award (to

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 ...

and teammate

Gary Peters Gary Charles Peters Sr. (born December 1, 1958) is an American lawyer, politician, and former military officer serving as the junior United States senator from Michigan since 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the U.S. representa ...

) in 1963, but was named that season's AL Rookie of the Year by ''

The Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

''. He finished in the Top 10 in the AL's Most Valuable Player poll in both 1963 (ninth) and (sixth).

Early life

Ward batted

left-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subject ...

, threw

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

, and was listed as tall and (13

stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

, 3 pounds). Born in

Montréal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-p ...

, he was the son of former

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

forward Jimmy Ward, who played 11 seasons for the

Montreal Maroons The Montreal Maroons (officially the Montreal Professional Hockey Club) were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL). They played in the NHL from 1924 to 1938, winning the Stanley Cup in 1926 and 1935. They were the las ...

and

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

, and who later became a longtime coach in professional and amateur hockey in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

. Pete Ward attended Portland's Jefferson High School and played college baseball at

Lewis & Clark College Lewis & Clark College is a private liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon. Originally chartered in 1867 as the Albany Collegiate Institute in Albany, Oregon, the college was relocated to Portland in 1938 and in 1942 adopted the name Lewis & C ...

Playing career

Ward signed with the Orioles in 1958 as a

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 wh ...

, but soon moved to the outfield; although he would be known in the major leagues as a third baseman, the big-league Orioles possessed future Baseball Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson, only a month older than Ward, at the position. Ward batted over .300 at three levels of minor league baseball and won the batting title in the Class B Three-I League in 1960 with a .345 mark. After he was selected to the International League All-Star team in 1962 as an outfielder, Ward received a September trial with Baltimore; he hit .143 with two doubles in 21

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 ...

. On January 14, 1963, he was included in one of the off-season's biggest transactions when the Orioles traded him, future Hall of Fame pitcher

Hoyt Wilhelm James Hoyt Wilhelm (July 26, 1922 – August 23, 2002), nicknamed "Old Sarge", was an American Major League Baseball pitcher with the New York Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Cleveland Indians, Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox, California Angel ...

, shortstop Ron Hansen and outfielder

Dave Nicholson David Lawrence Nicholson (August 29, 1939 – February 25, 2023) was an American professional baseball outfielder who played in Major League Baseball for the Baltimore Orioles ( and ), Chicago White Sox (–), Houston Astros () and Atlanta Brav ...

to the White Sox for shortstop and future Hall of Famer

Luis Aparicio Luis Ernesto Aparicio Montiel (born April 29, 1934), nicknamed "Little Louie", is a Venezuelan former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a shortstop from 1956 to 1973 for three American League (AL) teams, m ...

and veteran outfielder Al Smith. The White Sox installed Ward as their regular third-baseman, and he responded with a stellar

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

campaign: 177 hits (second in the league), 34 doubles (again second in the AL), 22

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, and a .295 batting average (fifth in the league). Chicago won 94 games and finished second to the Yankees. In 1964, Ward avoided the " sophomore jinx" by hitting .282 with 23 home runs and a career-best 94

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the ba ...

, as the White Sox battled the Yankees and Orioles to the wire before finishing second by a single game. Ward's production fell off in , when he hit only .247 in 138 games and, troubled by a back injury, he would fail to reach the .250 mark for the rest of his Chicago tenure. He appeared in only 84 games in , and although he was able to play regularly as the White Sox'

left fielder In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering system ...

in and third baseman in , only his power numbers (18 and 15 home runs) remained robust. He was traded to the Yankees in December 1969 for pitcher Mickey Scott and played a single season for the Yankees as a pinch hitter and back-up first baseman to

Danny Cater Danny Anderson Cater (born February 25, 1940) is an American former professional baseball first baseman, third baseman, outfielder, and designated hitter. He signed with the Philadelphia Phillies at the age of 18, on June 8, 1958. Cater played i ...

, a former White Sox teammate. For his nine-year MLB career, Ward amassed 776 hits, including 136 doubles, 17 triples and 98 home runs; he batted .254 with 427 career runs batted in. He related that during his tenure with the Sox, his team engaged in sign stealing that involved a scout on a chair next to the flagpole at center field with binoculars that would signal a pitch based on if he sat on the chair, stood up, or leaned on a pole, although Ward stated that it would sometimes mess up a hitter's swing.

Manager and coach

Ward remained with the Yankees as a minor-league

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

(1972–1977), then coached for one season () for

Bobby Cox Robert Joe Cox (born May 21, 1941) is an American former professional baseball third baseman and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). Cox played for the New York Yankees and managed the Atlanta Braves and Toronto Blue Jays. He is a member of ...

with the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...

, before returning to the minors, where he eventually managed his hometown

Portland Beavers The Portland Beavers was the name of separate minor league baseball teams, which represented Portland, Oregon, in the Pacific Coast League (PCL). The team was established in 1903, the first year of the PCL. Franchise history Many baseball teams ...

. He was inducted into the

Oregon Sports Hall of Fame The Oregon Sports Hall of Fame honors Oregon athletes, teams, coaches, and others who have made a significant contribution to sports in Oregon. The first class was inducted in 1980, with new inductees added in the fall. Operated by the Oregon Sports ...

, the

Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame The Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum (french: Temple de la renommée du baseball canadien) is a museum located in St. Marys, Ontario, Canada. The museum commemorates great players, teams, and accomplishments of baseball in Canada. H ...

, and the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame.

Personal life

Ward died on March 16, 2022, at the age of 84.R.I.P. Pete Ward
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References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, Pete 1937 births 2022 deaths Anglophone Quebec people Ardmore Rosebuds players Atlanta Braves coaches Baltimore Orioles players Baseball coaches from Oregon Baseball people from Quebec Baseball players from Portland, Oregon Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame inductees Canadian emigrants to the United States Canadian expatriate baseball players in the United States Chicago White Sox players Fort Lauderdale Yankees managers Fox Cities Foxes players Jefferson High School (Portland, Oregon) alumni Lewis & Clark College alumni Little Rock Travelers players Major League Baseball first base coaches Major League Baseball left fielders Major League Baseball players from Canada Major League Baseball third basemen New York Yankees players Sportspeople from Lake Oswego, Oregon Portland Beavers managers Rochester Red Wings players Sportspeople from Montreal Sportspeople from Portland, Oregon Stockton Ports players Syracuse Chiefs managers Vancouver Mounties players Victoria Rosebuds players