Bobby Wine
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Robert Paul Wine Sr. (born September 17, 1938) is an American former
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 ...
,
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 ...
and
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 ...
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). An excellent fielder who struggled as a hitter, Wine spent 12 seasons in 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 ...
with the Philadelphia Phillies (1960; 1962–68) and the
Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...
(1969–72). He won the NL Gold Glove Award in 1963.


Playing career


Minor leagues

Before the 1957 season, Wine was signed by the Philadelphia Phillies as an amateur free agent out of
Northport High School Northport High School is a four-year secondary school in East Northport, New York, that serves as the high school for the Northport-East Northport Union Free School District which is composed of Northport, Eatons Neck, Asharoken and much of East N ...
. His first season of professional baseball would see him with the class D Appalachian League (Short Season)
Johnson City Phillies Johnson is a surname of Anglo-Norman origin meaning "Son of John". It is the second most common in the United States and 154th most common in the world. As a common family name in Scotland, Johnson is occasionally a variation of ''Johnston'', a ...
. The 18-year-old infielder appeared in 54 games, got 202 at bats, 68 hits—including 6 home runs—and hit for a .337 average. Wine moved up to the class C California League
Bakersfield Bears Bakersfield is a city in Kern County, California, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Kern County. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Valley (California), Central Valley r ...
in 1958. Bobby appeared in 112 games, got 440 at bats, had 137 hits with 11 home runs, and hit for a .311 average. 1959 would find him with the class A Eastern League
Williamsport Grays The Williamsport Grays were a minor league baseball team in Williamsport, Pennsylvania between 1923 and 1962. The club began play in 1923 in the New York–Pennsylvania League and were a charter member of the Eastern League in 1938. The team was ...
, playing in 120 contests, getting 426 at bats, but only 89 hits and his batting average fell to .209.


First taste of the majors

Wine played with the International League
Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen ...
in 1960, appearing in 154 games with 569 at bats and 153 hits for a .269 average. He recorded a .958 fielding percentage at the shortstop position. He made his major league debut that season, when the Philadelphia Phillies used him in 4 games. He picked up 2 base hits and fielded 19
total chances In baseball statistics, total chances (TC), also called ''chances offered'', represents the number of plays in which a defensive player has participated. It is the sum of putouts plus assists plus errors. ''Chances accepted'' refers to the total ...
at shortstop without an
error An error (from the Latin ''error'', meaning "wandering") is an action which is inaccurate or incorrect. In some usages, an error is synonymous with a mistake. The etymology derives from the Latin term 'errare', meaning 'to stray'. In statistics ...
for a 1.000 percentage.


Back to the minors

In 1961 he was back with the Buffalo team where he hit for a .243 average and fielded at a .961 clip. He also spent time in 1962 with Buffalo, hitting .242 and fielding at a .977 percentage. This was his last minor league action, as he finished out the year with the Phillies, hitting at a .244 average and fielding .979. He played 20 games at
third base 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 ...
in 1962 for the Philadelphia team and did not have an error.


In the majors to stay

Wine spent the next ten seasons (1963–1972) in the major leagues. Wine was with the memorable 1964 Philadelphia team, which was in first place most of the year but collapsed in the last two weeks to let the
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 ha ...
take the pennant on the last day of the season. He played shortstop during the late innings of
Jim Bunning James Paul David Bunning (October 23, 1931 – May 26, 2017) was an American professional baseball pitcher and politician who represented Kentucky in both chambers of the United States Congress. He was the sole Major League Baseball athlete to ha ...
's perfect game against the
New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...
on
Father's Day Father's Day is a holiday of honoring fatherhood and paternal bonds, as well as the influence of fathers in society. In Catholic countries of Europe, it has been celebrated on 19 March as Saint Joseph's Day since the Middle Ages. In the Unite ...
of that year. His last season with the Phillies was 1968, when a back injury limited him to 27 games. Wine was sent to the expansion Montreal Expos at the end of spring training in 1969 as compension for pitcher
Larry Jackson Lawrence Curtis Jackson (June 2, 1931 – August 28, 1990) was an American right-handed professional baseball pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, and Philadelphia Phillies from to . In , ...
, who had been selected from the Phillies in the 1969 expansion draft but chose to retire rather than join the Expos. At first he was the back-up to
Maury Wills Maurice Morning Wills (October 2, 1932 – September 19, 2022) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) primarily for the Los Angeles Dodgers from 1959 through 1966 and the latter part of ...
, but he took over when Wills was traded to the
Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...
in June 1969. Although he played in just 121 games, Wine led the league in errors with 31, and batted just .200. In the 1970 season Bobby was 5th in the league in games played with 159 to his credit. He participated in a then-record 137 double plays in 1970. While his hitting was still awful, with no power to speak of, he registered his best batting average of his tenure with the Expos at .232. He also posted the best on-base percentage of his career, a paltry .287. Despite the low averages, Wine did manage to drive in 51 runs (meaning: his average went up with men on base) In 1971, Wine regressed to batting numbers even worse than 1969, including a career-worst .235
slugging average In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at bats for a given player, ...
. Just before Opening Day of the 1972 season, the Expos acquired
Tim Foli Timothy John Foli (born December 6, 1950), is an American former professional baseball player, coach and minor league manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a shortstop for the New York Mets, Montreal Expos, San Francisco Giants, Pi ...
from the
New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...
, replacing Wine as the starter at shortstop. While he remained with Montreal as a back-up to Foli early in 1972, Wine played very little - he went to bat only 18 times in 34 games - as the more versatile
Héctor Torres Héctor Epitacio Torres Marroquin (born September 16, 1945) is a Mexican former Major League Baseball shortstop. Nicknamed "La Malita" in his native Mexico, he played all or parts of nine seasons in the majors, between and , with the Houston As ...
assumed the role of utility infielder. The Expos released him on July 10, ending his career.


Overview

Known for his strong arm, Wine rarely played enough, or enough full games, to accumulate high statistical totals. He was bothered by a bad back and missed most of the 1966 and 1968 seasons because of it. He had surgery for a ruptured spinal disc in 1968. However, he won the 1963 Gold Glove Award, led the NL in fielding in 1967, and, as mentioned above, he set a ML shortstop record with 137 double plays in 1970. That was in fact his only season with more than 420 at bats, as he had 501. His best batting average came in his rookie 1962 season, when he hit .244 in 311 at bats. His .215 lifetime average is the fourth-worst all-time with 2,500 or more at bats. A jokester, "Wino" once pulled the
Hidden ball trick A hidden ball trick is a play in which a player deceives the opposing team about the location of the ball. Hidden ball tricks are most commonly observed in baseball, where the defence deceives the runner about the location of the ball, to tag out t ...
on, of all people,
Baseball Hall of Famer The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-re ...
Willie Mays Willie Howard Mays Jr. (born May 6, 1931), nicknamed "the Say Hey Kid" and "Buck", is a former center fielder in Major League Baseball (MLB). Regarded as one of the greatest players ever, Mays ranks second behind only Babe Ruth on most all-tim ...
. When chided for his lack of home run power in his playing career, Wine has cracked, "That's OK. I had one more than Ashburn," referring to
Richie Ashburn Don Richard Ashburn (March 19, 1927 – September 9, 1997), also known by the nicknames, "Putt-Putt", "The Tilden Flash", and "Whitey" (due to his light-blond hair), was an American center fielder in Major League Baseball. (Some sources give his ...
, the Phillies' Hall of Fame center fielder, who had 29 home runs in his career to Wine's 30. Five of Wine's 30 home runs came against Hall of Fame pitchers: two each off
Juan Marichal Juan Antonio Marichal Sánchez (born October 20, 1937), nicknamed "the Dominican Dandy", is a Dominican former right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for three teams from 1960 to 1975, almost entirely the San Francisco Giant ...
and
Warren Spahn Warren Edward Spahn (April 23, 1921 – November 24, 2003) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). A left-handed pitcher, Spahn played in 1942 and then from 1946 until 1965, most notabl ...
and one off
Bob Gibson Robert Gibson (born Pack Robert Gibson; November 9, 1935October 2, 2020) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals (1959–1975). Nicknamed "Gibby" and "Hoot" ( ...
.


Coaching and managerial career

Wine became a coach almost immediately after his playing days ended. He worked with the Phillies from July 1972 through the 1983 season — an era in which the Phils rebounded from cellar-dwellers to
National League East Division The National League East is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. Along with the American League Central it is one of two divisions to have every member win at least one World Series title. The division was created when the National Leag ...
champions from 1976 through 1978,
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 ...
champions in 1980 and
1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...
and
1980 World Series The 1980 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) season. The 77th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the National League (NL) champion Philadelphia Phillies and the Ameri ...
champions. After the 1979 season, it was reported that Wine was considered for manager of the big league club, a job that eventually was kept by interim manager Dallas Green. He remained with the Phillies as bench coach to Dallas Green and was an important factor in the Phillies winning their first ever World Series title in 1980. Wine stayed as bench coach until the 1983 season when manager
Pat Corrales Patrick Corrales (born March 20, 1941) is an American former professional baseball catcher, manager, and coach, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 1964 to 1973, primarily for the Cincinnati Reds as well as the Philadelphia Phillies, S ...
was fired at mid-season despite the team being in first place. Wine, thought by many to be the natural selection to ascend to manager, was not given the job but was in fact let go by the Phillies when
general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...
Paul Owens took over as manager. He then moved to the Braves, serving as a coach in 1985. He was the interim manager of the 1985 Braves from August 26 through season's end, replacing the fired Eddie Haas. Under Wine, the Braves won 16 and lost 25 (.390) and remained lodged in fifth place in the
National League West The National League West is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. This division was formed for the 1969 season when the National League expanded to 12 teams by adding the San Diego Padres and the Montreal Expos. For purpose of keeping a re ...
. Wine's last years in uniform were as a
New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...
coach from 1993 to 1996. In 1996, he was subjected to a very unusual ejection from a game due to not presenting the lineup card to the umpiring crew on time. He has been a major league advance scout for the Braves since. A large part of Atlanta's success in its string of division titles in the
National League East The National League East is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. Along with the American League Central it is one of two divisions to have every member win at least one World Series title. The division was created when the National Leag ...
has been linked to his work in sharing his astute baseball observations directly with longtime Braves' manager
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 ...
.


Personal life

Wine lives with his wife, Fran, in Norristown, Pennsylvania. His son,
Robbie Robbie or Robby is a surname. It is usually encountered as a nickname or a shortened form of Robert, Rob or Robin. The name experienced a significant rise in popularity in Northern Ireland in 2003. People Given name Robbie * Robbie Amell (born ...
, is a former major league
catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the ca ...
and the former head baseball coach of the
Penn State Nittany Lions The Penn State Nittany Lions are the athletic teams of Pennsylvania State University, except for the women's basketball team, known as the Lady Lions. The school colors are navy blue and white. The school mascot is the Nittany Lion. The interc ...
. Wine was inducted into the
Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame The Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame is an American sports hall of fame based in Suffolk County on Long Island, New York. The non-profit was established during 1990 to honor outstanding people, living or deceased, who have gained prominence and made s ...
on Long Island in the Baseball Category with the Class of 1993. In 2007, Wine was inducted into the
Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame The Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame (PSHF) is a nonprofit organization established in 1962.Home page
Pennsylvania Sports Hall o ...
. In 2009, his grandson, Cory Wine, was drafted by his former team, the Philadelphia Phillies, in the 38th round of the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft.


References


External links

*
Bobby Wine
at SABR (Baseball BioProject)
Bobby Wine
at Baseball Almanac {{DEFAULTSORT:Wine, Bobby 1938 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada Atlanta Braves coaches Atlanta Braves managers Atlanta Braves scouts Bakersfield Bears players Baseball coaches from New York (state) Baseball players from New York (state) Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Caribbean Series managers Gold Glove Award winners Johnson City Phillies players Major League Baseball bench coaches Major League Baseball shortstops Major League Baseball third base coaches Montreal Expos players New York Mets coaches Philadelphia Phillies coaches Philadelphia Phillies players Sportspeople from New York City Williamsport Grays players American expatriate baseball people in Venezuela