A book signing is set for March 10th in West Plains

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WEST PLAINS, MO. Author David Jerome will be signing copies of his book, “Bill Virdon, A Life in Baseball,” at the Ozark Heritage Welcome Center, West Plains, Missouri, on Friday, March 10, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The event is free to attend. Copies of the books will be available for purchase. The author will be signing books and if time permits, reading from his work.

Bill Virdon and Jerome visited the welcome center on May 21, 2021, where Virdon autographed memorabilia for area residents. Also, during this visit, Jerome spoke about the book project he was working on with Virdon and his wife, Shirley. Virdon celebrated his 90th birthday on June 9, 2021, and passed away on November 23rd of that year.

Jerome describes Virdon as one of the most underrated players in baseball history. Virdon went on to successfully manage four Major League teams. He was Rookie of the Year with the 1955 St. Louis Cardinals, he played centerfield for 10 seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was instrumental in coaching the “Bucs” during the 1971 Series and later that year became their manager. He was American League Manager of the Year with the Yankees in 1974, and National League Manager of the Year with the Houston Astros in 1980. In 1984, he ended his MLB managerial career while with the Montreal Expos. This first-ever biography covers his remarkable career.

Virdon moved to West Plains with his family when he was 12 years old, and he graduated from West Plains High School in 1949. At the age of eighteen, he was signed by the New York Yankees. He later joined the St. Louis Cardinals and became the National League’s Rookie of the Year. At the age of 31, Virdon won the Golden Glove Award. Virdon was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1956 and was a key player in the Pirates’ 1960 World Series Championship.

Virdon retired in 1965 with 1,596 MLB hits, a career batting average of .267 with 91 home runs during his 1,583-game NL career.

Virdon spent the next two seasons as a manager in the New York Mets minor league system. Bill returned to the Pirates in ’68 and, while serving primarily as a coach, was activated as a player for two weeks in July, then continued as a full-time coach for Pittsburgh through their 1971 World Series Championship. After the 1971 season, Virdon was named manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Virdon managed the New York Yankees in 1974, being awarded the American League Manager of the Year at the end of that year, and 1975. He managed the Houston Astros from 1975 through 1982. In 1980, Bill was awarded the National League Manager of the Year after taking the Astros to their first National League Championship Series in franchise history. Virdon still has the most wins of any manager in Astros’ history. Bill Virdon closed out his Major League Baseball managing career in Montreal where he was the Expos’ skipper in the 1983 and 1984 seasons. Virdon would go on to coach under Pirates’ Manager Jim Leyland, Astros’ Manager Larry Dierker, and back again to Pittsburgh under Manager Lloyd McClenden. Virdon retired from full-time involvement in Major League Baseball at the end of the 2002 season.

David Jerome is a retired U.S. Army officer and former college professor. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Arkansas. In addition to Bill Virdon, his research interests include Preacher Roe, Helen Benziger (the Unsinkable Molly Brown’s great-granddaughter), Army Transformation, and the political history of Western Missouri. David and his wife, Kathy, reside in Ozark, Missouri.

For more information about the event, contact the Ozark Heritage Welcome Center at 417-256-8835 or email tourism@westplains.gov.

 

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