Jerry Lumpe

Jerry Dean Lumpe ( ; June 2, 1933 – August 15, 2014) was an American professional baseball player and coach. He had a 12-season career in Major League Baseball, primarily as a second baseman, for the New York Yankees (1956–1959), Kansas City Athletics (1959–1963) and Detroit Tigers (1964–1967), played in two World Series, and was selected to the 1964 American League All-Star team. Named for National Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Jerome "Dizzy" Dean, Lumpe was born in Lincoln, Missouri. He batted left-handed, threw right-handed, and was listed as tall and .

Early life Lumpe was born on June 2, 1933, in Lincoln, Missouri, to W.J. "Pete" and Anna Lumpe, and was raised in Warsaw, Missouri. The high school did not have a baseball team, and he played for the Warsaw Junior American Legion baseball team, and played youth baseball for the Sedalia Chiefs of the Ban Johnson League. Lumpe began in the Yankees minor league system in 1951, but also attended college at Southwest Missouri State College (SMS; now Missouri State University). Those teams have been inducted into the Missouri State University Athletics Hall of Fame. Lumpe maintained strong ties to the university and died in 2014 in Springfield, Missouri, the school's home, where he had been a longtime resident. and the post-September-1 40-man allotment. Lumpe started 21 games at third base, and appeared in 40 contests, hitting a robust .340 with 35 hits in 101 at bats.

He also appeared in three games of the 1957 World Series as the Yankees' starting third baseman in Games 3, 5 and 6. Lumpe collected four hits, all singles, in 14 at bats (including three additional appearances as a pinch hitter), and two runs batted in, In , his first full year as a major leaguer, Lumpe earned a world championship ring. He appeared in 81 games, with 54 starts at third base, and hit his first three MLB home runs, he again was the Yankees' starting third baseman in three games, including the decisive Game 7, won by New York 6–2, for the 18th title in the team's history.

Kansas City Athletics But Lumpe could not break into the Yankees' regular lineup. In , again beginning the season as a utility infielder, he was hitting only .222 in 18 games Lumpe started 54 games as Kansas City's second baseman and 47 as their shortstop, although he still showed rust at the plate, hitting only .243 with the Athletics in 108 games. (playing 127 games at second base and only 14 at shortstop), he began to find his stride. He raised his batting average to .271 and led his club in hits with 156. He had a .982 fielding percentage at second base, third highest among American League second basemen; and was fourth in putouts, fifth in assists and fifth in double plays turned among second basemen.

His best two offensive seasons came in and , as he held down the right side of the Kansas City infield with first baseman Siebern, his teammate in college and with the Yankees. In 1961, Lumpe batted .293 with 167 hits, including nine triples, second in the American League. Then, in 1962, he batted .301, with ten home runs, 89 runs scored, and 83 runs batted in (RBIs). All were personal bests, and .980 in 1962 (second best in the AL).

Detroit Tigers

After a solid campaign with Kansas City, when he batted .271 in 157 games, and had a full season career high .988 fielding percentage in a league leading 155 games at second base (barely behind the league leader Nellie Fox who had the same .988 percentage), he was traded along with Dave Wickersham and Ed Rakow to the Detroit Tigers for Rocky Colavito, Bob Anderson and $50,000 on November 18.

Lumpe, in turn, became the first-string second baseman for the first-division Tigers, playing alongside shortstop Dick McAuliffe. He started 156 games at second base in , leading all American League second basemen along with Bobby Knoop, and was also in the top five among AL second basemen, in putouts, assists and double plays turned. Lumpe was named to the 1964 AL All-Star team as a reserve behind his former Yankee teammate Richardson. Lumpe did not appear in the July 7 contest at Shea Stadium, won by the National League on Johnny Callison's walk-off home run.

Lumpe also was a regular for the Tigers in both and , although his offensive production began to fall off as he approached his mid thirties, while his fielding percentage remained strong. McAuliffe moved over from shortstop to become the club's second baseman (starting 123 games). Lumpe hit .232 in 81 contests, Detroit dropped the game, 8–5, handing the championship to the Red Sox (who won the games they needed to win against the Minnesota Twins over the same weekend). on the staff of his former Kansas City teammate Dick Williams (who had also managed the 1967 Red Sox). The 1971 Athletics won the American League West Division championship on the strength of 101 regular-season victories, but dropped the 1971 ALCS to the Baltimore Orioles in three straight games. Lumpe then stepped down from the Oakland coaching staff, ending his MLB career.

Post-baseball After leaving baseball, he worked in banking and insurance. In 1994, Lumpe was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.

Death Lumpe died of cancer on August 15, 2014. He was survived by his wife of 60 years, Vivian, along with their children and grandchildren.