March 23 – Happy Birthday George Scott

The “Boomer” played in over 2000 games during a solid fourteen-year career as a power-hitting American League first baseman. He was an eight-time Gold Glove winner and a three-time AL All Star. Raised dirt poor in Mississippi, Scott was a three-sport star in high school, who chose a baseball career over college scholarship offers to play hoops and football because he didn’t want to wait another four years before he could begin helping his mother live a better life.

He made the big leagues with Boston in 1966 and one year later he was an integral part of the Miracle Sox team that captured the 1967 AL Pennant. Boston traded him to the Brewers after the 1971 season and Scott had his best year in the big leagues for Milwaukee in 1975 when he set  career highs with 36 home runs and 109 RBIs. After slumping the following season, he was traded back to Boston and he blasted 33 home runs in his 1977 return to Fenway. But he had a horrible year in ’78 and then started complaining that the Red Sox front office was mistreating him. In June of 1979, he was traded to the Royals. When he couldn’t get along with manager Whitey Herzog, Kansas City released him and the Yanks picked him up at the end of August. He told the press he had wanted to play for the Yankees’ his entire career and proceeded to average .318 during his brief 16-game tenure in pinstripes. He also hit his 271st and final big league home run while wearing the Yankee uniform. New York released him one month after the ’79 season ended and when no other big league team showed an interest in him, he finished his playing career in Mexico.

George was born on March 23, 1944. This Yankee pitching prospect  and this former Yankee backup catcher both share a March 23rd birthday with Boomer.