Tom Tresh
Template:Infobox MLB retired Thomas Michael Tresh (born September 20, 1937, in Detroit, Michigan) is a former Major League Baseball infielder and outfielder who played for the New York Yankees (1961-69) and Detroit Tigers (1969). Tresh was a switch-hitter and threw right-handed. He is the son of All-Star catcher Mike Tresh.
Career
Tresh started his career with the Yankees as a shortstop when Tony Kubek was in military service. In 1962 he won both the MLB Rookie of the Year and The Sporting News Rookie of the Year awards, after hitting .286 (the highest mark of his career) with 20 home runs and 93 RBI in 157 games. When Kubek returned during the 1962 season, Tresh was moved to left field. At various times with the Yankees, Tresh played shortstop, outfield, and third base.
On Opening Day of that 1962 season, Tresh was in the Yankees' lineup at shortstop. Not until Derek Jeter in 1996 would another Yankee rookie shortstop gain such an honor.
Tresh hit 114 home runs from 1962-66, with a career-high 27 in 1966, and made the American League All-Star team in 1962-63. A Gold Glove winner in 1965, he also homered from each side of the plate in three times, including a doubleheader in that season when he hit four home runs, three of them in the second game. After nine years in New York, he was sent to Detroit in the 1969 midseason. Tresh was born and grew up in Detroit, making him a home-town favorite. However, he retired a year later after being released by the Tigers.
In a nine-season career, Tresh was a .245 hitter with 153 home runs and 530 RBI in 1192 games.
Following his playing career, Tresh helped to invent the Slide-Rite, a training tool to teach sliding and diving skills for baseball, softball, football and soccer. He currently resides in Florida, with his wife, Sandi.
See also
- Top 500 home run hitters of all time
- List of second generation MLB players
- Major League Baseball hitters with three home runs in one game