American baseball player (1931?2020)
Baseball player
Eddie Kasko
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![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8c/Eddie_Kasko_-_St._Louis_Cardinals_-_1957.jpg/220px-Eddie_Kasko_-_St._Louis_Cardinals_-_1957.jpg) Kasko in 1957
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Shortstop
/
Third baseman
/
Manager
|
Born:
(
1931-06-27
)
June 27, 1931
Elizabeth, New Jersey
, U.S.
|
Died:
June 24, 2020
(2020-06-24)
(aged 88)
Richmond, Virginia
, U.S.
|
Batted:
Right
Threw:
Right
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April 18, 1957, for the St. Louis Cardinals
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September 10, 1966, for the Boston Red Sox
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Batting average
| .264
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Home runs
| 22
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Runs batted in
| 261
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Managerial record
| 345?295
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Winning %
| .539
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|
- As player
- As manager
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Edward Michael Kasko
(June 27, 1931 ? June 24, 2020) was an American
infielder
,
manager
,
scout
and front office executive in
Major League Baseball
(MLB).
[1]
Kasko was born in
Elizabeth, New Jersey
, and raised in nearby
Linden
. He graduated from
Linden High School
in 1949.
[2]
Standout defensive player
[
edit
]
Kasko stood 6 feet (1.83 m) tall and weighed 180 pounds (82 kg). A standout defensive player as a
shortstop
and
third baseman
, he began his professional career in 1949. After six years in
minor league baseball
and two in the military at the time of the
Korean War
, Kasko played for ten MLB seasons (1957?66) with the
St. Louis Cardinals
,
Cincinnati Reds
,
Houston Colt .45s / Astros
and
Boston Red Sox
. He led
National League
third basemen in
fielding percentage
in 1960 and NL shortstops in that category
four years later
.
A right-handed batter, Kasko had a career
batting average
of .264 in 1,077
games
and 3,546
at bats
. His 935 Major League
hits
included 146
doubles
and 13
triples
, as well as 22 home runs. Selected to the 1961
National League All-Star team
, he appeared in that year's
second all-star classic
, played July 31 at
Fenway Park
. In the contest, a 1?1 tie shortened by rain, Kasko replaced starter
Maury Wills
at shortstop in the fourth
inning
and
singled
off
Don Schwall
of the Red Sox in the sixth frame to help the Senior Circuit score the tying
run
.
Hall of Fame
shortstop
Ernie Banks
pinch-hit
for Kasko in the eighth inning and replaced him in the field.
[3]
Kasko appeared in one
World Series
?also in
1961
, with Cincinnati. He started all five games (the
New York Yankees
defeated the Reds, four games to one) at shortstop, led the Reds with seven hits (all singles), scored one run, and batted .318. Defensively, he made one
error
in 27
chances
in the field and participated in five
double plays
.
Managing career
[
edit
]
After the 1966 season, his only campaign with Boston, Kasko retired as an active player and managed the Red Sox'
Triple-A
clubs, the
Toronto Maple Leafs
(1967) and
Louisville Colonels
(1968?69), to a cumulative 213?213 record and one playoff berth.
He succeeded the popular
Dick Williams
as Red Sox manager in 1970, and guided the club through 1973. The Red Sox finished above the .500 mark each season, but only contended in 1972 when they finished a half-game out of first place, behind the
Detroit Tigers
, in the
American League East Division
. The half-game differential was due to the brief
players' strike
that spring: between six and eight games were lopped off each club's schedule and it was agreed that lost games would not be "made up" to resolve pennant races.
During Kasko's four-year managerial term, he incorporated young players such as
Carlton Fisk
and
Dwight Evans
into the Red Sox lineup, converted
relief pitcher
Bill Lee
into a successful
starter
, and showed patience with sore-armed veteran
Luis Tiant
as he returned to form. But when the
1973 Red Sox
again could not measure up to the powerful
Baltimore Orioles
of the era, Kasko was reassigned to an executive scouting position within the organization and replaced as manager by
Darrell Johnson
upon season's end on
September 30
.
[4]
His final record with Boston, over four seasons, was 345?295 (.539).
Managerial record
[
edit
]
Team
|
Year
|
Regular season
|
Postseason
|
Games
|
Won
|
Lost
|
Win %
|
Finish
|
Won
|
Lost
|
Win %
|
Result
|
BOS
|
1970
|
162
|
87
|
75
|
.537
|
3rd in AL East
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
BOS
|
1971
|
162
|
85
|
77
|
.525
|
3rd in AL East
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
BOS
|
1972
|
155
|
85
|
70
|
.548
|
2nd in AL East
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
BOS
|
1973
|
161
|
88
|
73
|
.547
|
2nd in AL East
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
Total
|
640
|
345
|
295
|
.539
|
|
0
|
0
|
?
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Scouting director
[
edit
]
Kasko remained with the Red Sox for another two decades as a scout (1974?77), director of scouting (1977?92) and vice president, baseball development (1992?94). While he was scouting director, the Red Sox drafted and signed impactful players like
Roger Clemens
,
Marty Barrett
,
Ellis Burks
,
Mike Greenwell
,
John Valentin
,
Tim Naehring
,
Jeff Bagwell
,
Curt Schilling
,
Brady Anderson
and
Mo Vaughn
, although Bagwell, Anderson and Schilling became stars for other teams after Boston traded them for veteran talent. Kasko was named to the
Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame
in 2010.
[5]
He died in
Richmond, Virginia
, his longtime adopted home city, at age 88 on June 24, 2020.
[6]
References
[
edit
]
- The Baseball Encyclopedia
, Macmillan Books, 10th edition.
- ^
Eddie Kasko, former Red Sox player, manager and executive, dies at 88
- ^
Nowlin, Bill.
Eddie Kasko
,
Society for American Baseball Research
. Accessed September 4, 2019. "Eddie was born at a hospital in Elizabeth, New Jersey on June 27, 1931, but was raised from birth in Linden, New Jersey, and it was from Linden High School that he graduated in 1949."
- ^
1961 Major League Baseball All-Star Game (game 2) box score
from
Retrosheet
- ^
"Darrell Johnson New Sox Leader,"
The Associated Press (AP)
, Monday, October 1, 1973.
Retrieved August 17, 2019
- ^
"redsox.com"
. Archived from
the original
on April 11, 2010
. Retrieved
April 8,
2010
.
- ^
Marquard, Bryan (July 14, 2020).
"Eddie Kasko, Former Red Sox Manager With Sharp Mind for the Game, Dies at 88"
. The Boston Globe
. Retrieved
January 2,
2022
.
External links
[
edit
]
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Charter inductees
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Additional inductees
(chronological)
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