The Pittsburgh Pirates lost a long-time member of their baseball family on Tuesday when 1958-65 infielder Dick Schofield passed away at 87 years old. He batted .333 during the 1960 World Series winning season, seeing most of his time that year when he took over for MVP Dick Groat in September after an injury sidelined the star. Schofield batted .403 in 21 games, helping the Pirates get to the World Series. He spent eight seasons in Pittsburgh and played 19 years total in the majors from 1953 until 1971.
Here’s his bios from this site:
Dick “Ducky” Schofield, infielder for the 1958-65 Pirates. He began his MLB career at age 18 with the Cardinals, spending his first 5 1/2 seasons in St Louis playing sparingly, appearing in just 208 games during that stretch. Schofield was signed under the Bonus Baby rule, which meant that he had to spend his first two full years in the majors from the day that he signed. The Cardinals handed him a $40,000 bonus at 18 years old in June of 1953 and he debuted in the majors weeks later on July 3rd. He played just 88 games over his two full years before the rule requirements were filled, then he was sent to the minors for the rest of 1955 (he returned in late September) and the better part of 1956. He was mostly a bench player in St Louis, picking up just 244 at-bats during his 208 games. As a rookie, Schofield batted .179 with two homers in 39 at-bats. He would hit just two homers total during the next eight seasons combined. The Cardinals got him into 43 games in 1954, though he batted just seven times all year, with four of those at-bats coming during the first eight games of the season. He ended up scoring 17 runs, as he was used 37 times as a pinch-runner. In his split season in 1955, he went 0-for-4 in 12 games with the Cardinals. The rest of the year was spent with Omaha of the Triple-A American Association, where he batted .273 with 24 extra-base hits in 107 games. Schofield played 108 games for Omaha in 1956, hitting .295 with 60 runs, 37 extra-base hits and 57 RBIs. With the Cardinals that year, he went 3-for-30 in 16 games.
Schofield spent all of 1957 with the Cardinals, where he hit .161 in 65 games, though he batted just 64 times. He started off much better in 1958, batting .213 in 39 games over the first two months. The Pirates acquired him on June 15, 1958 along with cash for infielders Gene Freese and Johnny O’Brien. Schofield hit .148 over 26 games with the Pirates during that 1958 season. He saw limited playing time in 1959, getting into 81 games, but receiving only 163 plate appearances in which he hit .234 with 21 runs scored. The Pirates were battling for the National League pennant in 1960 and Schofield was getting very limited playing time until an injury struck the Pirates starting shortstop Dick Groat in early September. Ducky was hitting just .200 at the time (7-for-35), but he stepped into the shortstop position and hit .403 the rest of the way (21 games) to help the Pirates maintain their first place lead and win the pennant. He was back on the bench for the World Series with Groat returning to the lineup, but he managed to get to the plate four times, with a hit and walk to show for it.
Schofield was back to a limited role in 1961, getting 90 plate appearances over 60 games, and he hit just .192 with two RBIs all year. He did better in 1962, batting .288/.382/.375 in 54 games, though still saw limited time as the backup for three infield spots. The Pirates traded Dick Groat in November of 1962 and Schofield became the regular shortstop, playing a career high 138 games in 1963, finishing with a .246 average, 69 walks and 54 runs scored. He hit .246 again in 1964 in the same role, getting into 121 games that year. That season he hit 22 doubles, five triples and three homers, which were all career highs. He also added 50 runs scored and 54 walks. He was the Pirates shortstop to begin the 1965 season, but a month into the schedule, the Pirates traded him to the San Francisco Giants for infielder Jose Pagan. Schofield was in the majors until 1971, playing a total of 1,321 games over 19 seasons, while moving around a lot after he left Pittsburgh. He spent parts of the 1965-66 seasons with the Giants, then played for the New York Yankees for 25 games in 1966. From there it was the 1966-67 Los Angeles Dodgers, the 1968 Cardinals, the 1969-70 Boston Red Sox, before splitting the 1971 season between the Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers. He also saw some brief minor league time during that 1971 season.
After the trade in 1965, Schofield batted .203 in 101 games for the Giants, with 39 runs scored and 19 RBIs. In 1966, he hit .194 in 56 games between his three stops, combing for a .504 OPS. With the Dodgers in 1967, he batted .216 in 84 games, with 23 runs scored and 31 walks. For the 1968 Cardinals, he hit .220 in 69 games, with 14 runs scored and eight RBIs. The Cardinals went to the World Series that year, but he didn’t get any at-bats in the postseason. For the 1969 Red Sox, Schofield hit .257 in 94 games, with 30 runs scored and 20 RBIs. In 1970, that average dropped down to .187 in 76 games. He made 22 starts that season, split between second base and third base. During his final season split between the Brewers and a third stint with the Cardinals, Schofield hit .182 in 57 games. He was a career .227 hitter with 21 homers, 211 RBIs and 394 runs. For the Pirates in eight seasons, he hit .248 with 107 RBIs and 184 runs in 576 games. Schofield played 660 games at shortstop during his career, 159 at second base and 95 at third base. He also saw brief time at the two corner outfielder spots. His son Dick Schofield played 14 seasons in the majors and his grandson Jayson Werth played 15 seasons.
