Former Dodgers Infielder Passes Away

A detail view of Los Angeles Dodgers hat and glove at Tropicana Field on May 21, 2019. | Kim Klement-Imagn Images

Bart Shirley was a standout in baseball and football at the University of Texas when the Dodgers signed him as an amateur in 1961.

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Three years later, Shirley was a big leaguer. Although he didn't see much time in a Los Angeles Dodgers uniform — only 69 games — he would spend 10 seasons in the organization from 1961-70.

Shirley, who died at age 85 in his home town of Corpus Christi, Texas, was an important if easily overlooked part of the successful Dodgers teams of the 1960s.

Along the way he recorded hits against some of the greatest pitchers of his era — Bob Gibson, Steve Carlton, Jim Bunning, and Fergie Jenkins, all future Hall of Famers. Shirley finished his major league career with a .204 batting average (33-for-162), before playing two seasons in Japan, then managing in the Dodgers' minor league system.

After four seasons in the minors, Shirley made his major league debut with the Dodgers on Sept. 14, 1964. He saw action in 18 games, splitting his time between shortstop and third base, and hitting .274 (17 for 62) with a double and a triple.

Shirley spent all of the 1965 season and most of 1966 in the minors, which led him to be chosen in the Rule 5 draft by the New York Mets. But after going 0-for-12 to start the 1967 season, Shirley was returned to the Dodgers in May.

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In 1968, Shirley would play a career-high 39 games for the Dodgers and hit .181. That ultimately proved to be the end of his big league career. He spent the 1969 and 1970 seasons with the Triple-A Spokane Indians of the Pacific Coast League, the Dodgers' top farm team.

In 1971 Shirley headed overseas to Japan. He played two seasons with the Chunichi Dragons before retiring as a player after the 1972 season.

In January 1973, Shirley was hired to manage the Dodgers' Single-A Dayton Beach farm team in the Florida State League. He was only 33 years old at the time, but guided the team to a 71-68 record. The following year, Shirley managed the Class-A Orangeburg Dodgers of the Western Carolinas League, a team that featured an 18-year-old Pedro Guerrero.

In 1975, Shirley managed the Class-A Danville Dodgers of the Midwest League, matching against future Hall of Fame manager Jim Leyland of the Clinton Pilots. He returned to Japan to coach for the Dragons in 1976 and 1977.

Shirley then returned to Corpus Christi, where he was active in amateur slowpitch softball.

Shirley's baseball career was not worthy of a Hall of Fame outside his high school in Corpus Christi, but he was a fantastic subject of Dodger trivia. He was the last Dodger to wear number 11 before franchise legend Manny Mota, who donned the uniform as a player or coach from 1969 to 2013.

Shirley also wore number 2 during his 1966 cup of coffee, a decade before Tommy Lasorda claimed the number as a coach en route to his Hall of Fame tenure as the Dodgers' manager.

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