Curt Blefary, born Curtis Le Roy Blefary (July 5, 1943 - January 28, 2001), was a left fielder in Major League Baseball who played with the Baltimore Orioles (1965-68), Houston Astros (1969), New York Yankees (1970-71), Oakland Athletics (1971-1972) and San Diego Padres (1972). A native of Brooklyn, New York, he batted left-handed and threw right-handed. July 5 is the 186th day of the year (187th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 179 days remaining. ... 1943 is a common year starting on Friday. ... January 28 is the 28th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... The position of the left fielder A left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder in the sport of baseball who plays defense in left field. ... Major League Baseball (MLB) is the highest level of play in professional baseball in North America. ... Baltimore Orioles American League AAA Ottawa Lynx AA Bowie Baysox A Frederick Keys Delmarva Shorebirds Aberdeen IronBirds R Bluefield Orioles Sarasota Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are a Major League Baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland. ... The Houston Astros are a Major League Baseball team based in Houston, Texas. ... The New York Yankees are a Major League baseball team based in The Bronx, New York City. ... The Oakland Athletics are a Major League Baseball team based in Oakland, California. ... For the minor league franchise in the Pacific Coast League, see: San Diego Padres (PCL). ... For other meanings, see Brooklyn (disambiguation). ...

In a eight-season career, Blefary was a .237 hitter with 112 home runs and 382 RBI in 974 games. In baseball, a home run is a base hit in which the batter is able to circle all the bases, ending at home plate and scoring a run, with no errors on the play that result in the batter achieving extra bases. ... In baseball statistics, a run batted in (RBI) is given to a batter for each run scored as the result of a batters plate appearance. ... In baseball statistics, games played (denoted by G) indicates the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity). ...

In his debut year of 1965, Blefary hit .260 with 22 home runs and 70 RBI, winning both the American League Rookie of the Year and The Sporting News Rookie of the Year awards. The following season, he was a member of the Orioles team that won the 1966 World Series. See also: 1964 in sports, 1966 in sports and the list of years in sports. Auto Racing Stock car racing: Fred Lorenzen wins the Daytona 500 NASCAR Championship - Ned Jarrett Indianapolis 500 - Jimmy Clark USAC Racing - Mario Andretti Formula One Champion - Jimmy Clark of Great Britain 24 hours of Le... In Major League Baseball, the Rookie of the Year Award is given to the top rookie baseball player in the American and National Leagues. ... The Sporting News Rookie of the Year Award was established in 1946 by The Sporting News (TSN). ... The 1966 World Series matched the Baltimore Orioles against the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers, with the Orioles sweeping the Series in 4 games to capture the first championship in franchise history. ...

Nicknamed "Clank" by Frank Robinson, in part for his below-average fielding abilities, Blefary started his career in the outfield, tried at first base, then switched to catcher, in an effort to keeping his bat in the lineup. On April 27, 1968, he caught Tom Phoebus's no-hitter against the Red Sox. Blaming his constant defensive shuffling for his offensive decline, Blefary was sent to Houston in 1969 in the deal that brought Mike Cuellar to the Orioles. Frank Robinson (born August 31, 1935) was a Major League Baseball player and is currently the manager of the Washington Nationals. ... The outfield is a sporting term used in cricket and baseball to refer to the area of the field of play further from the batsman or batter than the infield. ... The position of the first baseman First base, or 1B, is the first of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a base runner in order to score a run for that players team. ... The position of the catcher Catcher is a position played in baseball. ... See also: 1967 in sports, 1969 in sports and the list of years in sports. General sporting events 1968 Summer Olympics takes place in Mexico City, Mexico United States wins the most medals (107), and the most gold medals (45). ... In baseball, a no-hitter refers to a game in which one of the teams has prevented the other from getting a hit during the entire length of the game, which must be at least 9 innings by the current Major League Baseball definition. ... Boston Red Sox American League AAA Pawtucket Red Sox AA Portland Sea Dogs A Wilmington Blue Rocks Greenville Bombers Lowell Spinners R Gulf Coast Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are a Major League Baseball team located in Boston, Massachusetts. ... Miguel Angel Cuellar Santana (born May 8, 1937 in Santa Clara, Cuba), best known as Mike Cuellar (coo-EL-lyar), is a former Major League Baseball starting pitcher who played for the Cincinnati Redlegs (1959), St. ...

After a full-season with the Astros, Blefary was used as a part-time player by the Yankees, Athletics and Padres. After retiring in 1972, he tried unsuccessfully to continue his career in baseball as a coach. He worked as a sheriff, bartender, truck driver, and later owned a night club. Even as his health failed in his later years, he hoped to secure a professional coaching job, but his only connection with baseball was as a volunteer coach for Northeast High School in Fort Lauderdale. In the baseball game, the coach is a member of the team at bat stationed near first or third base to signal and direct the runners and batters. ... Fort Lauderdale, known as the Venice of America, is a city located in Broward County, Florida. ...

Blefary died in Pompano Beach, Florida, at age 57. His last wish was to be buried in Baltimore's Memorial Stadium. Although the park was nearly demolished when he passed away, his wife Lana was able to honor his request to scatter his ashes in Memorial Stadium. The Babe Ruth Museum supplied the home plate used in the penultimate game at the stadium and located it in the precise spot where it had been used. The ceremony was held on May 24, 2001. "He loved Baltimore, and he loved his fans," said his wife. "He was a lifelong student of the game." Pompano Beach is a city located in Broward County, Florida, along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean to the north of Fort Lauderdale. ... There are many stadiums known as Memorial Stadium. ... Ruth batting for the Yankees George Herman Ruth, (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948), better known as Babe Ruth and also commonly known by the nicknames The Bambino and The Sultan of Swat, was an American baseball player and United States national icon. ...

External links

• The Baseball Biography Project (http://bioproj.sabr.org/bioproj.cfm?a=v&v=l&pid=1179&bid=88)
• Baseball Library (profile and highlights) (http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/ballplayers/B/Blefary_Curt.stm)
• Baseball Reference (statistics and analysis) (http://www.baseball-reference.com/b/blefacu01.shtml)