American baseball player (1935?2023)
Baseball player
Joseph O'Neal Christopher
(December 13, 1935 ? October 3, 2023) was an American
professional baseball
outfielder
who played in
Major League Baseball
(MLB) for the
Pittsburgh Pirates
,
New York Mets
, and
Boston Red Sox
from 1959 through 1966. He won the
1960 World Series
with the Pirates.
Career
[
edit
]
Christopher reached the big leagues with the 1959
Pittsburgh Pirates
, spending three years there before moving to the
New York Mets
(1962?65) and
Boston Red Sox
(1966).
While in Pittsburgh, Christopher was used as a backup in all three outfield positions for
Bob Skinner
(
LF
),
Bill Virdon
(
CF
), and
Roberto Clemente
(
RF
). Christopher was first called up when Clemente was injured, making his debut in
Harvey Haddix's near-perfect game
, on May 26, 1959. As a member of the
1960 World Series Champion
Pirates, Christopher was a utility player,
pinch-running
in three games and scoring two runs (in games 2 and 5).
The
New York Mets
selected Christopher from the Pirates with the fifth pick of the
1961 MLB expansion draft
. In 1964, he
batted
.300, with 16
home runs
, 76
runs batted in
(RBI), 78
runs
, 163
hits
, 26
doubles
, and eight
triples
, in 154
games
? all career-highs. Christopher had a career-best day on August 19, collecting two triples, a double, and a home run in an 8?6 victory over his former Pirates teammates. Then, on September 25, he broke up the
no-hit
bid of
Cincinnati Reds
pitcher
Jim Maloney
at
Shea Stadium
. Christopher's second-inning
single
was the only hit against Maloney, who had to settle for a 3?0
shutout
.
After the 1965 season, the Mets traded Christopher to the
Boston Red Sox
for
Ed Bressoud
.
[1]
In June 1966, the Red Sox traded Christopher with pitcher
Earl Wilson
to the
Detroit Tigers
, who sent
Julio Navarro
as part of the package. Although Christopher's major league career had come to an end on June 9, 1966 (he never played for Detroit), he stayed active in the minors through 1968. Christopher also played winter baseball in the
Dominican Republic
,
Mexico
, and
Puerto Rico
. During his time in the Puerto Rican Winter League he played for the
Senadores de San Juan
in 1954?1955,
Indios de Mayaguez
from 1957 to 1963 and later with the
Criollos de Caguas
in 1967?1968. During his time in the PRWL he won multiple championships playing with Mayaguez and Caguas. He was also 4-time stolen base leader in the PRWL.
[2]
An interesting event that occurred during the 1958-1959 Puerto Rican Winter League campaign was Christopher getting beaned in the helmet by a pitch from Ruben "El Divino Loco" Gomez Colon of the
Cangrejeros de Santurce
causing a near riot by irate Mayaguez fans who overturned Gomez's red corvette after the game and were inconsolable even after Christopher attempted to calm the crowd over the PA system.
[3]
[2]
In an eight-season MLB career, Christopher was a .260 hitter, with 29 home runs, and 173 RBI, in 638 games, including one five-hit game and eight four-hit games.
Death
[
edit
]
Christopher died at his
Edgewood, Maryland
, home on October 3, 2023, at the age of 87.
[4]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]