by Paul Semendinger
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The late 1970s were a time when teams sometimes described their shortstops with poultry nicknames. The Red Sox had Rick Burleson, “The Rooster.” The Yankees had Fred “Chicken” Stanley.
Fred Stanley is another of these guys who while forgotten by many today, in his career, he seemed to play forever. Stanley played 14 years to be exact. He was a solid, if unspectacular shortstop who also saw time at second base and third base. He made the plays. He wasn’t showy. He didn’t make highlight reels. I doubt if he was ever featured on “This Week in Baseball.”
Fred Stanley was a Yankee from 1973 through 1980. He played eight seasons in the Bronx. That's many more than most people remember. In fact, in 1976, the first year the Yankees returned to the World Series, the year before Reggie, Fred Stanley played the bulk of the games at shortstop. He he played a solid enough shortstop - defensively. In the years from 1973 through 1976, Stanley posted a positive dWAR every season. His high was 1975 when his dWAR was 1.3.
It was important that he could field the position well enough (this was an age when shortstop’s main job was fielding) because he never really hit much:
In 1973, he batted .212
In 1974, he batted .184
In 1975, he batted .222
In 1976, he batted .238
Fred Stanley’s best season, batting average wise, at least, was 1977 when he hit .265. That was the only season in his career when he hit over .238 (his previous year’s best which was the only other time he ever batted higher than .225).
For his career, Fred Stanley batted .216, but as a Yankee, his lifetime mark was .222. Stanley also did not hit for power. In his career, Stanley hit only ten home runs. Six of Stanley's long balls came as a Yankee.
And, just because, here are his six home runs as a Yankee:
September 8, 1973 (vs Milwaukee off Kevin Kobel)
August 16, 1976 (vs Texas off Gaylord Perry)
July 2, 1977 (vs Detroit off John Hiller)
June 20, 1978 (at Boston off Mike Torrez)
August 16, 1979 (vs Minnesota off Geoff Zahn)
August 21, 1979 (at Kansas City off Paul Splittorff)
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When I was a kid, I got to meet Fred Stanley and get his autograph. He was one of the first big league baseball players I ever met. If I recall correctly, he spoke at the school where my father taught in Oakland, New Jersey.
I still have the autograph.
In fact, even today, when I think of a player who wore #11 for the Yankees, I think first of Fred Stanley.
Oswaldo Cabrera is the modern day version of Fred Stanley, except that he can also play the outfield, which Stanley did not.
I think uneventful career of Fred Chicken Stanley will always stick out in a negative way. He made that costly error in game 2 of the 1976 WS against the big red machine. That prompted George to get Bucky Dent in 1977. From then on Fred would be the utility infielder for the Yankees behind Dent and Randolph.
I always liked Fred Stanley. He always seemed to work hard and show up, even if he didn't have the greatest talent. Fun fact: He debuted with the Seattle Pilots as a September call-up obtained from the Astros organization, but was not part of the deal that sent Jim Bouton to Houston.
Stanley can say he hit a homer off a Hall of Famer. Must have connected with Gaylord Perry's pitch on the dry side.
So Torrez gave up 'taters to Stanley and Dent in '78! That's over 10% of the HRs he gave up that year. He shoulda stayed with the Yankees.
The Chicken was a very solid backup utility player, glove first. But seeing your list 5 of his 6 NYY HRs, 5 brand names.
I don't mind if Cabrera is 2 or 3 steps up from Stanley. To me it's a 26 man roster, you need all stars, solid starters, both starters and relievers, and backups. All the NYY backup catchers for 11 years were homegrown, and this year, another one has taken the starters role with his play. And it's not inconceivable that if the Yankees re-sign Soto, Carlos Narvaez could very well be the backup catcher next year too. So what if Cabrera couldn't grab the 3B job? I don't see many better utility players out there.
Phil Linz had a more eventful Yankee career
one with a bigger 'footprint' than the Chicken