Make your selection! Over the weeks ahead, your ballot will help determine the eight (8) position players, one (1) utility player, and three (3) pitchers for the period 1950-1961 & 1963 (the team did not exist in 1962). Position players who played in a minimum of 100 Nashville Vols games during these seasons are eligible. Today, make your selection in the category of second baseman. Only three qualify; see the ballot options below (vote for one only):
Note: the bios for each player have been moved to the bottom of this page.
Charles “Charlie” Williams (June 12, 1928 – February 4, 1990) was born in Dyersburg, Tennessee and spent 14 seasons in the minor leagues beginning with Class-D ball in DeLand, Florida in 1946. After three seasons with Atlanta 1951-1953, he joined Nashville in 1954 where he remained for another three seasons. In 1955, he was the Vols second baseman when he won the Southern Association batting title, his best season in his career, and led the league in hits and doubles (44).
1955: 211 hits, 10 HR, 70 RBI, .368 batting average / Fielding: 471 chances, 16 errors, .966 fielding %
Larry J. Taylor (August 7, 1930 – April 21, 2022) was born in Rockwell, North Carolina, and graduated from Catawba College in Salisbury, North Carolina. After military service Taylor had an eight-year career in the minor leagues beginning in Columbia, South Carolina in 1951. Taylor played for three seasons with Nashville beginning in 1955 with a partial season in 1958 when he became player-manager of Visalia in the California League. He retired after his final season at Salisbury in the Western Carolina League in 1960, and was a faculty member and head baseball and basketball coach at Berry College in Rome, Georgia.
1956: 153 hits, 0 HR, 42 RBI, .281 batting average / Fielding: 696 chances, 24 errors, .966 fielding %
1957: 139 hits, 0 HR, 63 RBI, .253 batting average / Fielding: 794 chances, 26 errors, .967 fielding %
Roderick Edwin “Rod” Kanehl (April 1, 1934 – December 14, 2004) played his entire MLB career with the New York Mets (1962–1964). He hit the first grand slam in Mets history on July 6, 1962, at the Polo Grounds, and in his three seasons with the Mets he played every position except pitcher and catcher. He had eight seasons in the minors, and appeared in 97 games with Nashville in 1960. Returning to the Vols in 1961, Kanehl led the league by playing in every Nashville game during the season (152).
1961: 174 hits, 1 HR, 72 RBI, .304 batting average / Fielding: 603 chances, 24 errors, .960 fielding %
Note: Buster Boguskie (1950, 1951, 1952, 1953), Lee Tate (1954), Carlos Castillo (1959), Phil Shartzer (1960), and Jim Orton (1963) do not qualify as each appeared in less than 100 games at this position.
You can still vote for the catcher position here: Catcher
You can still vote for the first base position here: First Base
© 2024 by Skip Nipper. All Rights Reserved.
Charlie Williams is the choice and it isn’t close. A second baseman is primarily in the game for defense and strength up the middle, but when you have a player who can hit for average, lead the league in hits with 44 doubles and 70 RBIs, that is Joe Morgan territory. Charlie Williams is head and shoulders above the other candidates.
Charlie Williams had a phenomenal season in 1955. I was surprised that Buster Boguskie played fewer that 100 games at second base.
Boguskie had only one season with 100 or more games at a position, 103 in 1949. I was struck by the fact that in Fred Russell’s March 21, 1950 article about potential Nashville Hall of Fame players, he does not mention Boguskie. He will come up later in the utility player position where he plays more than 100 games total at several positions. SN