The Fifties had been a massively profitable stretch for the Yankees group. Although the rosters had been typically headlined by future Hall of Fame members and generational greats, they had been rosters full of gifted gamers, a necessity for profitable a number of World Series. Among the gamers with smaller roles was Bob Cerv, who had restricted enjoying time in pinstripes, however would later show himself as a gifted participant in his personal proper.
Although his most important mark could have been made with different golf equipment, Cerv was a authentic huge league bat for a lot of his 12 years in The Show, even when it didn’t at all times include New York. Either approach, the outfielder stuffed a task on the profitable Yankees groups of the early Fifties, one of the franchise’s most spectacular runs of dominance.
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Bob Cerv
Born: May 5, 1925 (Weston, NE)
Died: April 6, 2017 (Blair, NE)
Yankees Tenure: 1951-56, 1960, 1961-62
Born in Nebraska in 1925, Robert Henry Cerv performed baseball in faculty as a Cornhusker and fought in World War II, earlier than finally signing with the Yankees previous to the 1950 season. A yr later, at the age of 26, Cerv would make his Major League debut with New York. The huge right-hander was known as up in August of 1951, kicking off only a cup of espresso with the membership. Although this was extra in the model of a late-season call-up, the part-time position he had in ‘51 became the norm for Cerv for much of his Yankee career.
After just 12 games and 33 plate appearances in that debut season, Cerv combined for barely over 100 combined plate appearances over the next two seasons with the Yankees. The results were not particularly convincing, but enough to keep him around going into the 1954 season, when he would really begin to prove himself.
That ‘54 campaign kicked off a really good run for Cerv, though it notably took place in a limited role, as he spent much of his time on the field in a part-time capacity and as a pinch-hitter. That being said, for the final three years of his first stretch with New York, Cerv was an All-Star level hitter, who likely would have earned himself a lot more time in the modern game. He had a 121 OPS + in ‘54 across 112 plate appearances, and would only come to improve on that number. In the following season, he posted a terrific .341/.411/.541 slash line and was worth 1.2 bWAR in less than 100 plate appearances. And in 1956, he was just as good, in a then career-high 155 plate appearances. He was also a postseason contributor during that impressive run, which included a home run in their losing 1955 Fall Classic, as well a 1-for-1 line in the victorious ‘56 Series, both against the Dodgers.
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Shortly after that World Series win, Cerv’s companies had been bought by the Kansas City Athletics. It was clear that the A’s deliberate on giving Cerv a extra substantial shot, and though the experiment was disappointing in 1957, the veteran turned in a large career-year in the following season. In that 1958 season, Cerv was a star, exploding for 38 residence runs, and hitting to the tune of a near-MVP-level 159 OPS+. Reasonably so, he was rewarded along with his first and solely All-Star choice, and completed fourth in MVP voting that season — not too dangerous for a former part-timer relegated to pinch-hitting obligation.
The highly effective outfielder had a pair of good seasons left in him as he entered his mid-30s, together with one other with KC in ‘59, and a season split between teams in 1960. Despite the post-World Series departure, Cerv’s time in pinstripes was additionally removed from executed. In 1960, he was traded again to the Bombers and performed 87 strong video games with them that season, earlier than being chosen by the Angels in the growth draft that winter.
He returned to the membership as soon as once more through commerce in 1961 for 51 strong video games with the Yankees, and would spend the starting of the ‘62 season with the club as well. By this point, Cerv was entering his late-30s, and was once again largely occupying a part-time role. He wrapped up his big league career in 1962, with his final time coming with Houston in the middle of that season.
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After a dozen seasons, Bob Cerv’s big-league profession was over, and although his position was restricted for a lot of it, he was capable of briefly attain important heights. Born on at the present time 101 years in the past, he lived in his native Nebraska into his 90s, earlier than passing in 2017. Like many gamers featured on this collection, at present marks alternative to look again on an fascinating and at instances excellent profession in Yankees historical past — and one which obtained to be celebrated at a number of futures Old-Timers’ Days. Happy birthday, Bob.
See extra of the “Yankees Birthday of the Day” collection here.