Dick Stuart

Richard Lee Stuart
Nickname: Dr. Strangeglove
Born: Nov. 7, 1932 in San Francisco, Calif. 
Died: Dec. 15, 2002 in Redwood City, Calif.
Debut: 1958 | Pos: 1B
H: 6-4 | W: 212 | B: R | T: R

>> Visit the Dick Stuart biography on Baseball Almanac for complete statistics.

Dick Stuart, whose colorful nickname "Dr. Strangeglove" referred to his problems fielding, died Dec. 15, 2002, at the age of 70. 

Stuart, a first baseman with Pittsburgh (1958-1962), Boston AL (1963-1964), Philadelphia (1965), New York NL & Los Angeles (1966) and California (1969), hit .264 in his career with 228 home runs and 743 RBI.  While playing for the Red Sox in 1963, he hit 42 home runs and led the American League with 118 RBIs. 

He became the first player to hit 30 home runs and drive in 100 runs in both leagues.

In 1969, he returned to the majors with California after playing in Japan.

When Bill Mazeroski hit his dramatic home run to win the 1960 World Series, Stuart was warming up in the on-deck circle.  

"I was kneeling in the on-deck circle, thinking I was going to be the hero. And all of a sudden, I was out on the field jumping around,'' Stuart said in an interview with AP.

Stuart reportedly caught the attention of major league scouts in 1956 when he was playing for Lincoln of the Class A Western League.  That season, Stuart hit 66 home runs and drove in 158 runs. He is reported to have used a 66 whenever he was signing autographs.

When he made it to the majors in 1958, he had been converted from the outfield to first base as a way around his defensive problems.  Stuart made 16 errors in 64 games in 1958.

In 1963, the first baseman made 29 errors while playing for the Red Sox. That season, however, he led AL first basemen in putouts and assists.

"Everybody liked Dick -- but he did have trouble with that leather thing," said Dick Schofield, former Pirates teammate, in an interview.