Ping Bodie
| Ping Bodie | |||
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Bodie in 1918
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| Outfielder | |||
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Born: October 8, 1887 San Francisco, California |
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Died: December 17, 1961 (aged 74) San Francisco, California |
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| MLB debut | |||
| April 22, 1911, for the Chicago White Sox | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| July 24, 1921, for the New York Yankees | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Batting average | .275 | ||
| Home runs | 43 | ||
| Hits | 1,011 | ||
| Runs batted in | 514 | ||
| Teams | |||
Frank Stephen (Ping) Bodie (October 8, 1887 – December 17, 1961), born Francesco Stephano Pizzolo, was a center fielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Chicago White Sox (1911–1914), Philadelphia Athletics (1917) and New York Yankees (1919–1921). Bodie batted and threw right-handed. He was born in San Francisco.
One of the most feared sluggers in the 1910s, Bodie was nicknamed "Ping" for the sound made when his fifty-two-ounce bat crashed into the "dead" ball of his era. Another nickname given to him was "The Wonderful Bop." He took the surname Bodie from the California town he once lived in.
It said that Bodie provided much of the inspiration for Ring Lardner's creation of the famous baseball fictional series You Know Me, Al. Appearing originally in the Saturday Evening Post, the piece was written in the form of letters written by a bush league baseball player to a friend back home.
In 1910, playing for the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League, Bodie hit the then-fantastic total of 30 home runs, and quickly broke into the big leagues with the Chicago White Sox in 1911. Ping became a regular for four years with Chicago hitting .289 with 97 RBIs, .294, .265 and .229. After some clashes with manager Jimmy Callahan in 1914, he was sold back to the San Francisco Seals.
In 1917, Bodie returned to the major leagues with the Philadelphia Athletics. In that season he ranked among the American League top 10 in eight offensive categories: seven home runs (3rd) with 74 RBIs (6th), 233 total bases (5th), 46 extra-base hits (5th), 11 triples (8th), 28 doubles (9th), a .418 slugging percentage (6th), and a .774 OPS (10th). He also led AL outfielders with 32 assists.
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