Bill Virdon, the steady centerfielder who won the 1955 National League Rookie of the Year for St. Louis has died at the age of 90.
PITTSBURGH — Bill Virdon, the steady centerfielder who won the 1955 National League Rookie of the Year for St. Louis and guided the Houston Astros to three straight postseason appearances as a manager, has died. He was 90.
His greatest success came during an eight-year run with the Astros from 1975-82, when he led the franchise to its first two postseason appearances, both ending with five-game losses. Houston lost to Philadelphia in the 1980 NL Championship Series and to the Los Angeles Dodgers in an NL Division Series prompted by the 1981 players' strike.
Virdon was signed by the Yankees in 1950 and traded to the St. Louis Cardinals in April 1954 in a deal that sent star outfielder Enos Slaughter to New York. “Bill Virdon was a man who took such great pride in being a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates family,” Pirates chairman Bob Nutting said in a statement. “Every fan who followed our 1960 team will always remember the instrumental role that he played to bring a third World Series championship to the city of Pittsburgh.”
Houston promptly signed Virdon and he ended up spending eight years with the Astros. Fueled by a pitching staff that included Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan and stars Joe Niekro and J.R. Richard, Virdon molded the Astros into contenders. They reached the playoffs for the first time in 1980 after going 93-80, the last victory a 7-1 triumph over the Dodgers a a tiebreaker game.
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