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So Long, Farewell
2008-10-16 05:04
by Alex Belth

Tommy Tresh died yesterday. Vic Ziegel writes that Tresh was a nice guy, always available to chat with reporters, even if he didn't have much to offer. I hunted around my Yankee library last night, found some stuff on Tresh, and Ziegel was right, he wasn't especially interesting. But he was a good Yankee and Ziegel shares his one good Tresh story here.

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Comments
2008-10-16 06:10:57
1.   williamnyy23
It's always sad to see the ranks of those great Yankee teams thin out. In addition to the hall of famers and perennial all stars, those Yankees seemed to have a lot of guys like Tresh who really made an impact in their often abbreviated careers. RIP Tommy Tresh.
2008-10-16 07:15:46
2.   JL25and3
How times change...In 1967 Tresh hit .219/.301/.377. That was good for an OPS+ of 104.

The following year, the team was so completely lost at sea that they moved Tresh to shortstop, a position he hadn't played in 6 years. I was 11 when that season started, and even I knew it was a bizarre and desperate move. He was probably on the decline already, but I wonder if that didn't contribute.

2008-10-16 08:13:51
3.   OldYanksFan
This is purely from memory, so take it at that:
There was a brief timeframe when Tresh played 3rd, and Boyer was moved to SS. (Why I have NO idea, as I just watched what was in front of me).

Anyway, one game Tresh is moved to 3rd, and in one inning, he makes 2 fielding errors in a row. Sure enough, another grounder is hit to his left... he moves a few steps to field it.... AND right under his glove for seemingly his 3rd error in a row.

But somehow Boyer has ranged behind him, and deep in the hole on the edge of the grass, to throws out the runner by a hair.

Rizzuto was calling the game on (B&W 12") TV. He was all over Boyer's play, which was amazing. ".....Aaaaaaaaaand poor Tommy Tresh!"

No idea if this happened, but I have a very long, vivid memory of it

2008-10-16 09:22:58
4.   williamnyy23
3 Tresh wound up playing 64 games at 3B in 1966. Perhaps you are recalling the game on Friday, June 3, 1966. The Yankees beat Boston 15-5, but Tresh made 3 errors at 3B. With two outs in the 9th inning of that game, three of the next four Sox batters reached base on a Tresh error before Yaz ended the game by grounding out SS to 1B.

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