Buster Narum

Leslie Ferdinand Narum

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 200 lb.
• High School Clearwater High School
• Debut April 14, 1963
• Final Game September 26, 1967
• Born November 16, 1940 in Philadelphia, PA USA
• Died May 17, 2004 in Clearwater, FL USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Buster Narum got noticed when he went 12-4 for the Rochester Red Wings in 1962. He made his major league debut with the Baltimore Orioles in April 1963 and became a starter for the Washington Senators in 1964 and 1965. In 1966 and 1967 he played fro the Hawaii Islanders while making a few appearances for Washington.

He played five seasons in the majors and ten in the minors. His 9 victories for the 1964 Senators were second-best among the starters on the team behind Claude Osteen. His 9 victories in 1967 for Hawaii were second-best on the team behind Dick Bosman. His 12 victories in 1962 led Rochester and his 14 victories for the Aberdeen Pheasants in 1959 were second-best on the team.

Narum is remembered for a couple of trivia items. First, he was traded for Lou Piniella in 1964, many years before Piniella won the 1969 American League Rookie of the Year Award. Second, he is one of the few pitchers to have more home runs in a season than wins - he hit one home run in 1963 but had no wins. He also hit a home run in his first major league at bat (only 111 major leaguers have done so as of September 2011).

He was a teammate of Dick Allen's brother Hank Allen both in 1966 at Hawaii and in 1968 with the Buffalo Bisons.