John Thomas Winsett (November 24, 1909 – July 20, 1987) was a

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. Nicknamed "Long Tom", he played all or part of seven 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), ...

for 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 ...

(1930–31, 1933),

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals hav ...

(1935) and

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association (19th century), American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the ...

(1936–38), primarily as a

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 ...

. Winsett batted left-handed and threw right-handed. He was born in

McKenzie, Tennessee McKenzie is a city at the tripoint of Carroll, Henry, and Weakley counties in Tennessee, United States. The population was 5,310 at the 2010 census. It is home to Bethel University and the Tennessee College of Applied Technology at McKenzie. ...

. In 1936, Winsett hit 50 home runs for the minor league

Columbus Red Birds The Columbus Red Birds were a top-level minor league baseball team that played in Columbus, Ohio, in the American Association from 1931 through 1954. The Columbus club, a member of the Association continuously since 1902, was previously known as ...

. He enjoyed his most productive major league season in 1937 with the Brooklyn Dodgers, when he posted career-highs in

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 ...

(118), runs (32),

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 ...

(83), doubles (15),

triples TripleS (stylized as tripleS; Help:IPA/English, /ˈtɹɪpəl:ɛs/; ) is a South Korean girl group formed by MODHAUS. They aim to be the world's first decentralized K-pop idol group. The members will rotate between the group, sub-unit, and solo ac ...

(5),

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 (5) and

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 bat ...

(42). Winsett was a .237 career hitter with eight home runs and 76 RBI in 118 games. On April 25, 1938, he was the first baseball player to be featured on the cover of ''LIFE'' magazine, with an inside caption which read: "The rubber-legged batter on the cover is John Thomas Winsett, of McKenzie, Tenn. one of the most curious players on the most curious team in the major leagues. He plays right field for the Brooklyn National League Baseball Club, better known as the 'Daffy Dodgers' because of the way they play. First time Winsett batted in a big-league game he hit a homer, but shortly went back to the minors. The Dodgers paid $40,000 for him last year and Winsett hit a dismal .237. Both Dodgers and Winsett are expected to play better this year." He died in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

, at the age of 77.

References

External links

Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Winsett, Tom Major League Baseball left fielders Boston Red Sox players St. Louis Cardinals players Brooklyn Dodgers players Meridian Mets players Mobile Bears players St. Paul Saints (AA) players Dallas Steers players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Rochester Red Wings players Columbus Red Birds players Jersey City Giants players Sacramento Solons players Houston Buffaloes players New Orleans Pelicans (baseball) players Bethel Wildcats baseball players Baseball players from Tennessee 1909 births 1987 deaths People from McKenzie, Tennessee