Bob Sagers

Robert Matthew Sagers

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 181 lb.

• Born November 1, 1933

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Infielder Bob Sagers played in the minor leagues from 1954 to 1961, missing the 1957 season while in military service. He was originally singed by the Chicago White Sox and played in their system until 1959, and again in 1961.

He started off with a bang, hitting .321 in 76 games for the Madisonville Miners of the Kitty League in 1954, then hit .291 and .294 over the next two seasons while playing for the Waterloo White Hawks of the Three-I League and the Colorado Springs Sky Sox of the Western League. Sagers started 1956 with Colorado Springs, but only played 17 games there before being sent to Waterloo. He was hitting .330 after 27 games for Waterloo in 1956 when he went into the Army in June. Sagers played for the Fort Lee baseball team throughout 1957.

He returned in 1958 to hit .346 back in the Thee-I League, this time with the Davenport DavSox. he clearly had nothing left to prove at that level, as he added 41 doubles and 17 homers in 129 games and also scored 102 runs. In 1959, he moved up all the way to AAA and the Indianapolis Indians of the American Association. He had another good year, batting .287 with 11 homers and 60 RBIs in 146 games. At the end of that season, on August 25th, he was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates alongside veteran OF Harry Simpson in return for slugging 1B Ted Kluszewski, who was described as "pennant insurance" by the first-place White Sox. Klu would go on to be their best hitter in a World Series loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Sagers spent one season in the Pirates system in 1960, a year in which the Bucs won the National League pennant, but he fell to .240 in 125 games for the Columbus Jets, their AAA affiliate. His relatively poor performance likely prevented him from getting a call-up to the big league team, which was as mentioned a very strong team (they would defeat the New York Yankees in the World Series). He was released by the Pirates after the season and returned to play one final season with the Sox, again in AAA but this time in the Pacific Coast League with the San Diego Padres. he hit .235 in 66 games and was let go. Overall, in seven minor league seasons, he batted .293 in 711 games, with 66 homers and 345 RBIs. On defense, he played mainly third base, but also saw some playing time at second base.