Wally Moon

Wallace Wade Moon (April 3, 1930 – February 9, 2018) was an American professional baseball outfielder in Major League Baseball. Moon played his 12-year career in the major leagues for the St. Louis Cardinals (1954–1958) and Los Angeles Dodgers (1959–1965). He batted left-handed and threw right-handed.

Moon was the 1954 National League Rookie of the Year. He was an All-Star for two seasons and a Gold Glove winner one season. Moon batted .295 or more for seven seasons. He led the National League in triples in 1959 and in fielding percentage as a left fielder in 1960 and 1961.

Moon was a three-time World Series champion with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1959, 1963, and 1965.

Youth

Moon was named after Wallace Wade, a former college football coach at the University of Alabama and Duke University. From a family of educators, he earned a master's degree in administrative education from Texas A&M University in College Station while he was still in the minor leagues. Moon hit a home run in the sixth and final game of that World Series, which the Dodgers won over the Chicago White Sox. He also caught Luis Aparicio's fly ball for the final out of the Series.

Moon was a Gold Glove Award winner for left field in 1960 leading National League left fielders in assists, double plays, and fielding percentage. He had another good season in 1961, batting .328 with 17 home runs and 88 runs batted in while leading National League left fielders in fielding percentage.

A career .289 hitter, Moon hit 142 home runs with 661 runs batted in during 1457 games, with a .371 on-base percentage and a .445 slugging average for a combined .816 on-base plus slugging percentage. His career fielding percentage at all three outfield positions and first base was .980. He also scored the last run ever in the Coliseum.