Albie Pearson Stats

Albie Pearson was born on Wednesday, September 12, 1934, in Alhambra, California. Pearson was 23 years old when he broke into the big leagues on April 14, 1958, with the Washington Senators. 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 Albie Pearson baseball stats page.

Baseball Almanac Top Quote

"I was popular mainly because of my lack of size. I never heard a 'Boo' in my life. I was the hero for the guy who never made it. They always saw me as the underdog because I was competing at the highest level against guys a foot taller." - Pearson, Albie. 100 Things Angels Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die. Haakenson, Joe. Author. Triumph Books. 66. Little Man - Albie Pearson. 1 April 2013. Page 108.

Albie Pearson

Albie Pearson Autograph on a 1963 Topps Baseball Card (#182 | <a href='../baseball_cards/baseball_cards_oneset.php?s=1963top01' title='1963 Topps Baseball Card Checklist'>Checklist</a>)

Albie Pearson Autograph on a 1963 Topps Baseball Card (#182 | Checklist)

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Birth Name:   Albert Gregory Pearson
Nickname:   Albie or Littlest Angel
Born On:   09-12-1934  (Virgo)
Place of Birth Data Born In:   Alhambra, California
Year of Death Data Died On:   02-21-2023 (500 Oldest Living)
Place of Death Data Died In:   La Quinta, California
Cemetery:   Not Yet Determined
High School:   El Monte Union High School (El Monte, CA)
College:   None Attended
Batting Stances Chart Bats:   Left   Throwing Arms Chart Throws:   Left
Player Height Chart Height:   5-05   Player Weight Chart Weight:   141
First Game:   04-14-1958 (Age 23)
Last Game:   07-16-1966
Draft:   Not Applicable

Albie Pearson

Albie Pearson Pitching Stats

- - Did Not Pitch - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Albie Pearson

Albie Pearson Hitting Stats

1958 24 Senators 146 530 63 146 25 5 3 0 33 64 1 31 11 3 2 11 .275 .354 .358
1959 25 Senators 25 80 9 15 1 0 0 0 2 14 0 3 3 0 0 0 .188 .309 .200
1959 25 Orioles 80 138 22 32 4 2 0 0 6 13 0 5 0 1 0 4 .232 .296 .290
1960 26 Orioles 48 82 17 20 2 0 1 1 6 17 0 3 1 1 0 3 .244 .370 .305
1961 27 Angels 144 427 92 123 21 3 7 0 41 96 1 40 7 2 3 3 .288 .420 .400
1962 28 Angels 160 614 115 160 29 6 5 0 42 95 3 36 7 1 1 7 .261 .360 .352
1963 29 Angels 154 578 92 176 26 5 6 0 47 92 5 37 10 1 3 5 .304 .402 .398
1964 30 Angels 107 265 34 59 5 1 2 0 16 35 2 22 4 0 1 4 .223 .316 .272
1965 31 Angels 122 360 41 100 17 2 4 0 21 51 0 17 8 0 2 6 .278 .370 .369
1966 32 Angels 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
9 Years 988 3,077 485 831 130 24 28 1 214 477 12 195 51 9 12 43 .270 .369 .355

Albie Pearson

Albie Pearson Fielding Stats

1958 Senators CF 136 132 3,487 339 2.5 332 327 5 7 0 n/a n/a n/a .979 2.57
1958 Senators RF 6 5 123 8 1.3 8 7 1 0 1 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 1.76
1959 Senators CF 12 11 292 21 1.8 20 20 0 1 0 n/a n/a n/a .952 1.85
1959 Senators RF 10 10 270 17 1.7 17 17 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 1.70
1959 Orioles CF 17 12 350 37 2.2 36 36 0 1 0 n/a n/a n/a .973 2.78
1959 Orioles LF 22 2 157 10 0.5 10 10 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 1.72
1959 Orioles RF 15 9 312 31 2.1 31 29 2 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 2.68
1960 Orioles CF 6 4 116 12 2.0 12 12 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 2.79
1960 Orioles LF 11 1 102 4 0.4 4 4 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 1.06
1960 Orioles RF 16 12 297 26 1.6 25 24 1 1 0 n/a n/a n/a .962 2.27
1961 Angels CF 46 42 1,126 109 2.4 105 103 2 4 1 n/a n/a n/a .963 2.52
1961 Angels LF 1 0 6 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a .000 0.00
1961 Angels RF 76 65 1,767 135 1.8 128 123 5 7 1 n/a n/a n/a .948 1.96
1962 Angels CF 145 138 3,729 340 2.3 336 330 6 4 0 n/a n/a n/a .988 2.43
1962 Angels RF 15 15 404 32 2.1 32 31 1 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 2.14
1963 Angels CF 132 129 3,456 311 2.4 305 298 7 6 5 n/a n/a n/a .981 2.38
1963 Angels LF 2 0 6 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a .000 0.00
1963 Angels RF 18 17 480 34 1.9 34 34 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 1.91
1964 Angels CF 51 43 1,192 96 1.9 93 92 1 3 1 n/a n/a n/a .969 2.11
1964 Angels LF 12 9 222 25 2.1 25 25 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 3.04
1964 Angels RF 8 5 139 10 1.3 10 10 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 1.94
1965 Angels CF 12 9 249 34 2.8 34 33 1 0 1 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 3.69
1965 Angels LF 7 4 117 5 0.7 5 5 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 1.15
1965 Angels RF 88 76 2,026 125 1.4 123 118 5 2 0 n/a n/a n/a .984 1.64
1966 Angels LF 1 0 12 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a .000 0.00
CF Totals 557 520 13,997 1,299 2.3 1,273 1,251 22 26 8 n/a n/a n/a .980 2.46
RF Totals 252 214 5,818 418 1.7 408 393 15 10 2 n/a n/a n/a .976 1.89
LF Totals 56 16 622 44 0.8 44 44 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 1.91
9 Years 865 750 20,437 1,761 2.0 1,725 1,688 37 36 10 n/a n/a n/a .980 2.28

Albie Pearson

Albie Pearson Miscellaneous Stats

1958 Senators 7 8 .467 6 0 n/a 176.7 17.1 16.1 - - -
1959 Senators 1 1 .500 4 0 n/a 0.0 26.7 40.0 - - -
1959 Orioles 4 0 1.000 28 10 n/a 0.0 27.6 23.0 - - -
1960 Orioles 4 0 1.000 17 7 n/a 82.0 27.3 13.7 - - -
1961 Angels 11 3 .786 30 6 n/a 61.0 10.7 10.4 - - -
1962 Angels 15 6 .714 0 4 n/a 122.8 17.1 14.6 - - -
1963 Angels 17 10 .630 7 0 n/a 96.3 15.6 12.3 - - -
1964 Angels 6 4 .600 37 11 n/a 132.5 12.0 16.6 - - -
1965 Angels 12 1 .923 28 2 n/a 90.0 21.2 17.1 - - -
1966 Angels 0 0 .000 2 0 n/a 0.0 3.0 0.0 - - -
9 Years 77 33 .700 159 40 n/a 109.9 15.8 14.4 - - -

Albie Pearson

Albie Pearson Miscellaneous Items of Interest

1958 Washington Senators 6 $4,200.00 - -
1959 Washington Senators 6 $6,500.00 - -
1959 Baltimore Orioles 21 "     "     - -
1960 Baltimore Orioles 21 $11,000.00 - -
1961 Los Angeles Angels 28 $20,000.00 - -
1962 Los Angeles Angels 28 $25,000.00 - -
1963 Los Angeles Angels 28 $25,000.00 Stats -
1964 Los Angeles Angels 28 $30,000.00 - -
1965 Los Angeles Angels 28 $30,000.00 - -
1966 California Angels 28 $35,000.00 - -

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Albert Gregory Pearson was a Major League Baseball player with the Washington Senators (1958-1959), Baltimore Orioles (1959-1960), Los Angeles Angels (1961-1965), and California Angels (1966). Albie, his nickname, won the 1958 American League Rookie of the Year — making him the first Washington Senators (Minnesota Twins) player to receive the honor! Baseball Almanac likes to take a look "beyond the stats" and we hope you enjoy the following article, which is essentially a superbly detailed Albie Pearson self-interview, which appeared in the October 1958 issue of Baseball Digest, Page 11:

Albie Pearson Rookie Card | Baseball Almanac

Albie Pearson Rookie Card | 1958 Topps Baseball Card (#317 | Checklist)
Baseball Almanac Research Library

Washington's five-foot-five outfielder tells how it feels to be the smallest player in the big leagues

by ALBIE PEARSON

As told to Richard Dozer — Chicago Tribune

How does it feel to be the smallest guy in the major leagues?

If you want the truth, it feels great - it's a thrill just to be IN the big leagues with my five feet five and one-half inches and 141 pounds. That's enough for me, even if I DO have to look up to Nellie Fox of the White Sox. Come to think of it, there's nothing wrong with THAT little guy.

I never have the satisfaction of looking an umpire in the eye, I'm forever signing autographs for kids taller than I am, and human skyscrapers like Norm Zauchin and Jim Lemon (newspaper clipping below) of our club make me feel like a midget when they walk by but, hand me a bat and let me step into the box, and I'm as good as the next guy — some of 'em, at least.

Albie Pearson Newspaper Story | Baseball Almanac

Albie Pearson | The Sunday News | 23 March 1958
Baseball Almanac Research Library

I guess my psychology professor in junior college at Pomona, Cal., got me started in baseball when he suggested on day that I was more interested in gazing out the window at the athletic field than I was in his lectures.

That was two months after I enrolled — and on impulse I decided the professor was right! So I excused myself from class as politely as I could and went out to sign a contract with the Boston Red Sox.

Now, six years later, here I am in the Washington Senators' outfield — the smallest man in basbeall and proud of it.

Yes, of course they told me I was too small. I came out of high school as a left-handed pitcher but I guess the Red Sox never would have given me a second look back there in the fall of 1952 if it hadn't been for the fact that Bobby Shantz had just won 24 games for the A's. Bobby's less than a full inch taller than I am, you know, and he's still a pretty good left-hander.

Even though I signed as a pitcher, I made only rare trips to the mound during my minor league career. Last year I pitched a couple of innings for San Francisco in the Pacific Coast League. But that first year, 1953, the Red Sox sent me to San Jose in the California State League, and it developed that when the season began the club had only two outfielders.

They decided I was the guy to full this emergency and I guess you might say an outfielder was born.

I got lucky and made four hits, so they put me out there the next night, too, and what happened? Four hits again. They left me there, and I hit .334 in 125 games.

I really had intended to make it to the big leagues as a pitcher. In high school I had run the 100-yard dash under ten seconds, and I played four years of football as a 125-pound halfback. But pitching was my real love — and Shantz was my idol. Now, when I analyze myself, however, I don't think I ever would have been a Major League pitcher — maybe triple A, but no better.

My best season was 1956, when I hit .371 for Oklahoma City and won the Texas League batting championship. I was .297 for San Francisco last year, and then the Red Sox traded me to Washington along with Zauchin for Pete Runnels. This was the best thing that could have happened to me.

Another thing that really helped me to succeed was the confidence gained by winning the ball players' golf championship before Florida spring training started this year. Instead of being just another half-pint trying to make the big leagues, I was Gregory Albert Pearson — competitor!

I've got a lot to learn about baseball. I don't think I play the outfield as well yet as I will. Yes, I'm plenty confident — you have to be. But I'm careful not to think for a minute that I know it all. When you do, you're ready for a fall.

I've been making a habit this year of studying the other small men in our league. There is a lot I can learn from Fox. He is a self-made ball player and has learned to compensate for lack of size by developing hitting into a science. I'm trying to do the same. He plays hard and slides hard. So do I.

You could call me a third generation athlete of the Pearson family. I'm no relation to that jockey who knows all about paintings, but my dad was a five-five halfback and spring champion at Pasadena City College, and grandpa, who was only five-two, had 113 professional fights as a pretty good bantamweight.

They accuse me of being a singer, too, and I guess I don't do too badly. I sang two baritone solos at my own wedding five years ago. Since that time, my wife and I have been blessed with two fine daughters, and any day now we expect to be parents again.

And maybe this child will be a fourth generation athlete for the California Pearsons.

On April 11, 1961, the Angels first game in franchise history took place and in the bottom of the first inning, with two outs, Albie Pearson was walked - the first player in franchise history to be walked. While on first, Ted Kluszewski came to bat, hit a home run to right field (also the first), and Pearson scored the first run in Angels history.

Los Angeles Angels First Game | Baseball Almanac

Los Angeles Angels First Game | The Post-Standard (Syracuse, NY) | April 12, 1961
Baseball Almanac Research Library

Albie Pearson wrote a letter to General Manager Fred Haney of the newly created expansion team, Los Angeles Angels, and said, "Mr. Haney: I'm Albie Pearson. I was Rookie of the Year in the American League. I've been sent down to Rochester, but I want you to know my back is well and I can play. I want to come home and play in Los Angeles where I was born and raised. Please consider this letter as you make your draft. Sincerely, Albie Pearson." Let's take a look at the (Angels Only) 1960 Major League Baseball Expansion Draft:

Los Angeles Angels Expansion Draft

Order Name

Team (Position)

1. Eli Grba

New York Yankees (P)

2. Duke Maas

New York Yankees (P)

3. Jerry Casale

Boston Red Sox (P)

4. Tex Clevenger

Minnesota Twins (P)

5. Bob Sprout

Detroit Tigers (P)

6. Aubrey Gatewood

Detroit Tigers (P)

7. Ken McBride

Chicago White Sox (P)

8. Ned Garver

Kansas City Athletics (P)

9. Ron Moeller

Baltimore Orioles (P)

10. Bob Davis

Kansas City Athletics (P)

11. Ed Sadowski

Boston Red Sox (C)

12. Buck Rodgers

Detroit Tigers (C)

13. Eddie Yost

Detroit Tigers (3B)

14. Ken Aspromonte

Cleveland Indians (2B)

15. Ken Hamlin

Kansas City Athletics (SS)

16. Gene Leek

Cleveland Indians (3B)

17. Jim Fregosi

Boston Red Sox (SS)

18. Bob Cerv

New York Yankees (OF)

19. Ken Hunt

New York Yankees (OF)

20. Jim McAnany

Chicago White Sox (OF)

21. Earl Averill

Chicago White Sox (OF)

22. Faye Throneberry

Minnesota Twins (OF)

23. Ted Kluszewski

Chicago White Sox (1B)

24. Don Ross

Baltimore Orioles (IF)

25. Julio Becquer

Minnesota Twins (1B)

26. Dean Chance

Baltimore Orioles (P)

27. Fred Newman

Boston Red Sox (P)

28. Red Wilson

Cleveland Indians (C)

29. Steve Bilko

Detroit Tigers (1B)

30. Albie Pearson

Baltimore Orioles (OF)