Bill Virdon
Bill Virdon meeting and signing autographs for fans prior to a Pirates spring training game held at McKechnie Field on March 4, 2012.
Center fielder
Born: (1931-06-09) June 9, 1931 (age 81) Hazel Park, Michigan
Batted: Left	Threw: Right
MLB debut
April 12, 1955 for the St. Louis Cardinals
Last MLB appearance
July 26, 1968 for the Pittsburgh Pirates
Career statistics
Batting average	.267
Hits	1,596
Runs batted in	502
Teams
As player St. Louis Cardinals (1955–1956) Pittsburgh Pirates (1956–1965, 1968) As manager Pittsburgh Pirates (1972–1973) New York Yankees (1974–1975) Houston Astros (1975–1982) Montreal Expos (1983–1984)
Career highlights and awards
World Series champion (1960) Gold Glove Award winner (1962) 1955 NL Rookie of the Year

William Charles Virdon (born June 9, 1931 in Hazel Park, Michigan) is a former outfielder, manager and coach in Major League Baseball. A premier defensive outfielder during his playing days (1955–65) as a center fielder for the St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates (winning a Gold Glove in 1962), Virdon also had a long tenure in the major leagues as a manager, with the Pirates (1972–73), New York Yankees (1974–75), Houston Astros (1975–82), and Montreal Expos (1983–84). He was the American League Manager of the Year in 1974, his only full season working for the Yankees of George Steinbrenner. Bill also was named National League Manager of the Year in 1980 while with the Houston Astros.

Virdon initially signed with the Yankees, but he never played for the big league club. As a minor league prospect, he was traded to the Cardinals in a multi-player deal before the 1954 season for veteran outfielder Enos Slaughter, now a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame. After one more year of seasoning in the minors, Virdon joined the Cardinals in 1955 and was named National League Rookie of the Year. He was traded to Pittsburgh in May 1956.

A left-handed batter (who threw right-handed), Virdon's career batting average was .267 with 91 home runs during his 1,583-game NL career. He was the starting center fielder on the 1960 world champion Pirates, batting .241 in seven World Series games. His ground ball in Game 7 took a bad hop and struck Yankees shortstop Tony Kubek in the throat, enabling Virdon to reach base and the Pirates to mount a furious rally in a game (and series) eventually won by Bill Mazeroski's dramatic home run.

Bill Virdon being honored on June 19, 2010 at PNC Park for his role on the Pirates' 1960 World Series Championship team.

As a manager, he led the Pirates to the 1972 NL East title, but the Buccos dropped the NLCS to the Cincinnati Reds when Pittsburgh pitcher Bob Moose unleashed a wild pitch in the final inning of Game 5, allowing the winning run to score. His 1980 Astros won the NL West championship, but fell to the Philadelphia Phillies in a five-game NLCS. His career managerial record, over all or parts of 13 seasons, was 995–921 (.519). He also served three different terms as a Pirates coach. He has the unusual distinction of having been replaced on two separate occasions by the manager he replaced; in Montreal (Jim Fanning) and in Pittsburgh (Danny Murtaugh).

Currently Bill lives in Springfield, Missouri, and serves as a special outfield instructor for the Pirates during spring training.

A part of US 63 BUS in West Plains, MO is also named Bill Virdon Boulevard. He was nicknamed "Quail" for his style of hits in the Major Leagues.

See also [edit]

• List of Major League Baseball triples champions

External links [edit]

• Baseball-Reference.com – career managing record and playing statistics