Jim Fregosi

James Louis "Jim" Fregosi (April 4, 1942 – February 14, 2014) was an American professional baseball shortstop and manager, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1961 to 1978, primarily for the Los Angeles / California Angels. He also played for the New York Mets, Texas Rangers, and Pittsburgh Pirates.

Having been the Angels’ most productive and popular player for that franchise's first eleven years of play, Fregosi quickly became its first star. He led the American League (AL) in defensive double plays twice, winning the 1967 Gold Glove Award, and, upon leaving the team, ranked ninth in AL history, with 818 double plays. Fregosi holds the franchise record with 70 career triples; several of his other team records, including career games (1,429), hits (1,408), doubles (219), runs (691), and runs batted in (546), were broken by Brian Downing over the course of the 1986 through 1989 seasons.

Fregosi returned to the team as manager, guiding it to its first-ever postseason appearance in 1979, and later managed the Philadelphia Phillies to the 1993 National League pennant.

Fregosi was born on April 4, 1942, in San Francisco, California, and spent part of his youth growing up in nearby in San Mateo. He was the son of Archie and Margaret Fregosi and also spent time growing up in South San Francisco. His paternal grandparents were Italian, while his maternal grandparents were English and Irish.

A right-handed batter, Fregosi is one of many notable alumni of Junípero Serra High School in San Mateo, California, where he excelled in football, basketball, and baseball, and also ran track. Other graduates include Tom Brady, Barry Bonds, and Lynn Swann. He graduated in 1959, and was inducted to the school's inaugural Athletic Hall of Fame class in 1990.

Fregosi was signed as an amateur free agent by the Boston Red Sox in 1960. The Red Sox assigned him to the Alpine (Texas) Cowboys of the Sophomore League, where he played shortstop and second base, with a .267 batting average in 1960. In December of the same year, after the Red Sox chose not to protect him, he was selected by the Angels in the 1960 MLB Expansion Draft.

The Angels assigned him to the Dallas-Fort Worth Rangers of the Triple-A American Association in 1961, where he hit .254, playing solely at shortstop. He was called up by the Angels in September 1961 and played in 11 games. In 1962, he played in 64 games for Dallas-Fort Worth, his final games in the minor leagues, and joined the Angels after hitting .283 in 219 at bats.

On September 14, 1961, Fregosi made his MLB debut. After hitting .291 in 175 at-bats as a reserve in 1962 and starting 49 games at shortstop, he batted .287 – ninth in the AL – in his first full season in 1963. He was second in the league in triples and fifth in hits. He made his first All-Star squad in 1964, batting .277. Fregosi was the leadoff hitter for the American League All-Star Team, and had one hit in four at bats.