Buddy Dear

Paul Stanford Dear

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 8", Weight 143 lb.
• School Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University
• Debut September 9, 1927
• Final Game September 11, 1927
• Born December 1, 1905 in Norfolk, VA USA
• Died August 29, 1989 in Radford, VA USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Buddy Dear's story is a story of Bucky, Buddy, and Buddy. When Buddy Dear came up to the 1927 Washington Senators, the incumbent second baseman was Bucky Harris, who was nearing the end of his long tenure as the Senators second baseman (and already serving as player/manager). Buddy Myer, who was going to become the Senators' long-time second baseman from 1929-41, had played shortstop for the Senators in 1926, and was traded early in the 1927 season to the Boston Red Sox (he came back to the Senators in 1929), so that left a possible opening at second base. Stuffy Stewart, who was Harris' backup at second, was already 33 years old.

Buddy Dear came up for two games in September 1927, didn't get a hit in one at-bat, but scored a run. In the field, he had no chances. He and Lefty Atkinson, who also had just one at-bat in the majors, were both just 21 years old and the youngest players on the team except for 20-year-old Jackie Hayes, who hit .241 in 10 games and became the backup second baseman in 1928. Hayes went on to play for 14 seasons.

Dear had attended Virginia Tech from 1925-27, so his shot with the Senators was the same year he had come out of college.