Buchek Passes

St. Louis native and former Cardinals infielder Jerry Buchek died on January 2 of 2019.

The McKinley High product rarely was a regular here, playing behind the likes of Dick Groat, Julian Javier and Dal Maxvill, but he was valuable enough to earn a World Series ring.

“That wasn’t easy at all, playing behind those guys,” said Cardinals radio voice Mike Shannon, another “bonus baby” of that time and a teammate of Buchek.

“With those guys playing in front of him, it was just a tribute that they brought him up,” Shannon said. “He was a South St. Louis kid (like Shannon), he was a heck of a player and he made the big leagues in a hurry. And he wasn’t awed by anything.”

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

My thoughts go out to his family and friends.

Buchek was not much of an offensive player, posting a .220/.269/.325 slash line in 1275 PA. That was poor even for the low offense 1960s. Fourteen of his 22 career home runs came in 1967 when he played a full season for the Mets. He played little in his prime, done after his age 26 season. It is typical that if a player doesn’t prove himself by his mid-prime years, he’s usually out of the league.

from baseballmusings.com http://bit.ly/2LVF62N