From 1959 - 1963, Jerry Lumpe played second base for the Kansas City Athletics.
Lumpe died last month, August 15, at his Springfield, Missouri home.
He was 81 years old.
Of the many players dumped on the A's in the team's lopsided trades with the New Yankees in the late 1950s, Lumpe was one of the two that had productive seasons for Kansas City.
The New York Yankees were involved in sixteen trade transactions of players with the Kansas City Athletics between 1954 and 1960.
The Yankees would send players they no longer considered productive, their outcasts, to Kansas City.
In exchange, the A's would give up talented players with potential which New York used to build the team that won five straight American League pennants from 1960 - 1964 and two World Series Championships (1961 and 1962).
Except for Lumpe and his former college basketball teammate at Southwest Missouri State (now Missouri State) Norm Siebern, the other former Yankees were not productive after coming to Kansas City and eventually were traded, released, or they retired.
Lumpe established himself as one of the better second basemen in the American League in his five years with the Athletics.
The 6'2" and 180 pound infielder was born June 2, 1933 in Lincoln, Missouri.
He was signed in 1951 by Yankee scout Tom Greenwade who had discovered Yankee star Mickey Mantle in 1949.
After attending college and going through the Yankee's minor league system, Lumpe made his Major League debut on August 8, 1956.
Used as a utility infielder in 1958, his first full year with the Yankee's, he batted.
254 with 3 home runs and 34 RBI while playing in 81 games.
He got two hits in twelve plate appearances in the Yankee's defeat of the Milwaukee Braves in that year's World Series.
But his prospects for breaking into the starting lineup were slim.
Veteran Gil McDougald was established at second base with Bobby Richardson (22 years old) the heir apparent.
And at shortstop, Tony Kubek (22 years old) had been the American League Rookie of the Year in 1957.
On May 26, 1959; the Yankee's made their fifteenth trade with the Kansas City Athletics.
They sent Lumpe along with pitchers Johnny Kucks and Tom Sturdivant to the A's in exchange for Hector Lopez and pitcher Ralph Terry.
Both Kucks and Sturdivant despite some past successes were no longer productive pitchers and of no use to the Yankees.
In contrast, Lopez hit 17 home runs with 73 RBIs and the 22 years old Terry won 11 games for the A's in 1958.
Sturdivant had a 2 - 6 records in one season with the A's and was then traded.
In his two years with Kansas City, Kucks had a 12 - 21 record and retired after the 1960 season.
Meanwhile, Lopez became a top utility player and pinch hitter for the Yankees.
Terry, from 1960 - 1964, won 76 games for New York; including an American League leading 23 wins in 1962.
After batting.
241 with the A's in 1959, Lumpe over the next four years hit a cumulative.
284.
His best season was 1962 when he batted.
301, with 192 hits, and had a hitting streak of 20 games.
He also had career highs of 10 home runs and 83 RBI.
The other offensive leader (25 home runs, 117 RBI,.
308 batting average) for the next to last place Athletics that season was Norm Siebern, Lumpe's former college basketball and New York Yankee teammate.
Siebern had come to the A's in a six player trade with the Yankees in December 1959.
In that trade, the final between the two teams in that decade, the Yankees received Roger Maris who won two American League Most Valuable Player awards (1960, 1961) while with New York.
In a five player deal on November 18, 1963, Lumpe was traded to the Detroit Tigers; home run slugger Rocky Colavito being the key player received by the A's.
For the first time in his career, Lumpe was named to the American League All Star Game team in 1964.
He retired from baseball after his 1967 season with Detroit.