Curt Blefary Stats

Curt Blefary was born on Monday, July 5, 1943, in Brooklyn, New York. Blefary was 21 years old when he broke into the big leagues on April 14, 1965, with the Baltimore Orioles. His biographical data, year-by-year hitting stats, fielding stats, pitching stats (where applicable), career totals, uniform numbers, salary data and miscellaneous items-of-interest are presented by Baseball Almanac on this comprehensive Curt Blefary baseball stats page.

Baseball Almanac Top Quote

"It is the time of the cuckoo in baseball and for the Baltimore Orioles that can only mean Curt Blefary, who has progressed from being called, 'Hot Dog,' to 'Flake,' to Cuckoo,' in two seasons and a piece. Who else would have 'Hot Dog,' boldly inscribed on his shower room scuffs? Who else would have to combat a dog in the outfield while scrambling after a ground ball? Who else would take 35 seconds giving it a home run trot around the bases after hitting a grand-slam against the Tigers early this year? 'Half the time,' says Manager Hank Bauer, 'I don't know what he's going to do up at the plate. Did you see that stance he's been using against left-handed pitchers? He looks like a guy sitting on a commode.' 'He's just a little different,' says Brooks Robinson." - Gross, Milton. Des Moines Register Staff Writer. They Call Blefary Cuckoo -- He has Mind of His Own. 24 May 1997. Page 3-S.

Curt Blefary

Curt 'Cuckoo' Blefary Autograph on a 1967 Topps Baseball Card (#180 | <a href='../baseball_cards/baseball_cards_oneset.php?s=1967top01' title='1967 Topps Baseball Card Checklist'>Checklist</a>)

Curt 'Cuckoo' Blefary Autograph on a 1967 Topps Baseball Card (#180 | Checklist)

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Birth Name:   Curtis Le Roy Blefary
Nickname:   Clank or Cuckoo
Born On:   07-05-1943  (Cancer)
Place of Birth Data Born In:   Brooklyn, New York
Year of Death Data Died On:   01-28-2001 (1,000 Oldest Living)
Place of Death Data Died In:   Pompano Beach, Florida
Cemetery:   Cremated (Ashes Scattered at Memorial Stadium)
High School:   Mahwah High School (Mahwah, NJ)
College:   Wagner College
Batting Stances Chart Bats:   Left   Throwing Arms Chart Throws:   Right
Player Height Chart Height:   6-02   Player Weight Chart Weight:   195
First Game:   04-14-1965 (Age 21)
Last Game:   10-04-1972
Draft:   Not Applicable / Signing Bonus = $40,000

Curt Blefary

Curt Blefary Pitching Stats

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Curt Blefary

Curt Blefary Hitting Stats

1965 22 Orioles 144 462 72 120 23 4 22 1 70 88 4 73 7 1 3 10 .260 .381 .470
1966 23 Orioles 131 419 73 107 14 3 23 0 64 73 3 56 7 3 6 6 .255 .371 .468
1967 24 Orioles 155 554 69 134 19 5 22 2 81 73 11 94 7 3 8 5 .242 .337 .413
1968 25 Orioles 137 451 50 90 8 1 15 0 39 65 11 66 7 8 4 4 .200 .301 .322
1969 26 Astros 155 542 66 137 26 7 12 0 67 77 10 79 4 5 4 8 .253 .347 .393
1970 27 Yankees 99 269 34 57 6 0 9 0 37 43 3 37 0 3 3 6 .212 .324 .335
1971 28 Yankees 21 36 4 7 1 0 1 0 2 3 0 5 0 0 0 1 .194 .256 .306
1971 28 Athletics 50 101 15 22 2 0 5 0 12 15 2 15 1 0 1 1 .218 .325 .386
1972 29 Athletics 8 11 1 5 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 .455 .417 .636
1972 29 Padres 74 102 10 20 3 0 3 0 9 19 3 18 0 1 0 1 .196 .320 .314
8 Years 974 2,947 394 699 104 20 112 3 382 456 47 444 33 25 29 42 .237 .342 .400

Curt Blefary

Curt Blefary Fielding Stats

1965 Orioles LF 63 62 1,583 108 1.7 107 103 4 1 0 n/a n/a n/a .991 1.83
1965 Orioles RF 73 69 1,825 136 1.9 132 126 6 4 3 n/a n/a n/a .971 1.95
1966 Orioles 1B 20 11 397 128 6.4 127 115 12 1 9 n/a n/a n/a .992 8.64
1966 Orioles LF 109 104 2,543 167 1.5 163 157 6 4 0 n/a n/a n/a .976 1.73
1967 Orioles 1B 52 48 1,326 468 9.0 463 413 50 5 34 n/a n/a n/a .989 9.43
1967 Orioles LF 86 84 2,219 161 1.9 155 143 12 6 4 n/a n/a n/a .963 1.89
1967 Orioles RF 20 15 427 25 1.3 25 23 2 0 1 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 1.58
1968 Orioles 1B 12 7 226 83 6.9 82 78 4 1 9 n/a n/a n/a .988 9.80
1968 Orioles C 40 38 1,017 241 6.0 237 215 22 4 1 9 18 19 .983 6.29
1968 Orioles LF 55 43 1,125 87 1.6 85 83 2 2 0 n/a n/a n/a .977 2.04
1968 Orioles RF 45 42 1,060 52 1.2 50 47 3 2 1 n/a n/a n/a .962 1.27
1969 Astros 1B 152 149 3,968 1,355 8.9 1,338 1,235 103 17 117 n/a n/a n/a .987 9.10
1969 Astros LF 1 1 24 3 3.0 3 3 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 3.38
1970 Yankees 1B 6 4 135 58 9.7 58 56 2 0 9 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 11.60
1970 Yankees RF 79 75 1,752 102 1.3 99 99 0 3 0 n/a n/a n/a .971 1.53
1971 Yankees 1B 4 4 87 43 10.8 43 41 2 0 1 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 13.34
1971 Athletics LF 8 5 156 12 1.5 12 11 1 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 2.08
1971 Yankees RF 6 5 111 7 1.2 6 6 0 1 0 n/a n/a n/a .857 1.46
1971 Athletics RF 6 1 72 4 0.7 4 4 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 1.50
1971 Athletics 2B 2 0 9 1 0.5 1 1 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 3.00
1971 Athletics 3B 5 2 72 14 2.8 13 2 11 1 0 n/a n/a n/a .929 4.88
1971 Athletics C 14 12 343 79 5.6 77 70 7 2 0 4 9 4 .975 6.06
1972 Athletics 1B 1 0 3 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a .000 0.00
1972 Athletics 2B 1 0 3 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a .000 0.00
1972 Athletics LF 1 1 27 3 3.0 3 3 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 3.00
1972 Padres 1B 6 4 114 39 6.5 38 34 4 1 3 n/a n/a n/a .974 9.00
1972 Padres 3B 3 1 18 1 0.3 1 0 1 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 1.50
1972 Padres C 12 7 213 55 4.6 54 51 3 1 0 1 8 3 .982 6.85
1972 Padres RF 3 3 75 1 0.3 1 1 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 0.36
LF Totals 323 300 7,677 541 1.7 528 503 25 13 4 n/a n/a n/a .976 1.86
1B Totals 253 227 6,256 2,174 8.6 2,149 1,972 177 25 182 n/a n/a n/a .989 9.27
RF Totals 232 210 5,322 327 1.4 317 306 11 10 5 n/a n/a n/a .969 1.61
C Totals 66 57 1,573 375 5.7 368 336 32 7 1 14 35 26 .981 6.32
3B Totals 8 3 90 15 1.9 14 2 12 1 0 n/a n/a n/a .933 4.20
2B Totals 3 0 12 1 0.3 1 1 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 2.25
8 Years 885 797 20,930 3,433 3.9 3,377 3,120 257 56 192 14 35 26 .984 4.36

Curt Blefary

Curt Blefary Miscellaneous Stats

1965 Orioles 4 2 .667 12 0 n/a 21.0 6.3 6.6 - - -
1966 Orioles 1 4 .200 16 0 n/a 18.2 7.5 6.5 - - -
1967 Orioles 4 4 .500 8 0 n/a 25.2 5.9 6.8 - - -
1968 Orioles 6 3 .667 7 0 n/a 30.1 6.8 11.6 - - -
1969 Astros 8 7 .533 4 0 n/a 45.2 6.9 8.1 - - -
1970 Yankees 1 3 .250 17 0 n/a 29.9 7.3 7.3 - - -
1971 Yankees 0 0 .000 11 1 n/a 36.0 7.2 18.0 - - -
1971 Athletics 0 1 .000 22 1 n/a 20.2 6.7 8.4 - - -
1972 Athletics 0 0 .000 7 0 n/a 0.0 11.0 11.0 - - -
1972 Padres 0 0 .000 59 0 n/a 34.0 5.7 11.3 - - -
8 Years 24 24 .500 163 2 n/a 26.3 6.6 7.7 - - -

Curt Blefary

Curt Blefary Miscellaneous Items of Interest

1965 Baltimore Orioles 3 $15,000.00 - -
1966 Baltimore Orioles 3 $18,000.00 - Stats
1967 Baltimore Orioles 3 $21,000.00 - -
1968 Baltimore Orioles 3 $26,000.00 - -
1969 Houston Astros 13 $32,000.00 - -
1970 New York Yankees 13 $35,000.00 - -
1971 New York Yankees 13 $35,000.00 - -
1971 Oakland Athletics 39 "     "     - -
1972 Oakland Athletics 3 $35,000.00 - -
1972 San Diego Padres 3 "     "     - -

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Curtis Leroy Blefary was a Major League Baseball player with the Baltimore Orioles (1965-1968), Houston Astros (1969), New York Yankees (1970-1971), Oakland Athletics (1971-1972), and San Diego Padres (1972). Did you know that Curt, his nickname, won the American League Rookie of the Year Award in 1965? Too easy? Did you know that Clank, another nickname, is the only first baseman in Major League history to participate in seven double plays in a nine-inning game? [Double Play Records for First Basemen]

Curt Blefary Rookie Card | Baseball Almanac

Curt Blefary Rookie Card | 1965 Topps Baseball Card (#49 | Checklist)
Baseball Almanac Research Library

The 1969 San Francisco Giants set the team specific / still standing Major League record for Most Double Plays Grounded into during a 9-inning Game on May 4, 1969, when they became the first, and only, team to ground into seven double plays. Curt Blefary, who was playing first base that historic day, was on the receiving end of all seven fielding plays, which were scored as follows:

1st inning: Menke-Morgan-Blefary. Hart grounded into the double play (shortstop to second to first). [Double Play #1]

3rd inning: Rader-Morgan-Blefary. Dietz grounded into the double play (third to second to first). [Double Play #2]

4th inning: Menke-Morgan-Blefary. Etheridge grounded into the double play (shortstop to second to first). [Double Play #3]

5th inning: Morgan-Blefary. Johnson grounded into the double play (second to first). [Double Play #4]

7th inning: Menke-Blefary. Marichal grounded into the double play (shortstop to first). [Double Play #5]

8th inning: Blefary-Menke. Hunt grounded into the double play (first to shortstop). [Double Play #6]

9th inning: Morgan-Menke-Blefary. Etheridge grounded into the double play (second to shortstop to first). [Double Play #7]

Curt Blefary, Double Play Record

Curt Blefary Double Play Record | The Mexia Daily News | May 5, 1969 | Page 8

Frank Robinson nicknamed Blefary "Clank" due to the sound the ball made when it landed in his glove. The Baltimore Orioles wanted to keep Curt's bat (who was often criticized for his less than stellar defensive skills) in the lineup, so they used Blefary in left field, they used him in right field, they used him at first base, and in 1968, they even put him behind the plate to catch forty games — one of those was a no-hitter tossed by Tom Phoebus on April 27, 1968.

Oakland Athletics, 1st Home Game Ticket Stub

Oakland Athletics Ticket Stub | April 17, 1968 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum

On April 17, 1968, Boog Powell hit the first Major League home run in the history of the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum (a second inning homer, off Lew Krausse, and it was also the first hit of any type). It was the first regular season baseball game played in The Coliseum by the just relocated Kansas City Athletics, who were now playing as the modern day Oakland Athletics. In the first inning that day, Curt Blefary went down in the Baseball Almanac history books as the first batter, and the first player ever walked. The second batter, center fielder Paul Blair, hit into a double play making Blefary-Blair the first two outs recorded by the A's.