1960 Profile: Joe DeMaestri

 LOOKED LIKE BAD NOOSE TO HIM

"Enos Slaughter, the Kansas City A's veteran outfielder, told of this amusing experience the other day. The Macks had wound up an unhappy road trip by losing to the Red Sox, 14-1. When they arrived home at the Kansas City airport, there were 5,000 fans on hand.

Shortstop Joe DeMaestri took one look, then hollered at the pilot, 'Get this thing right up and outta here. They're gonna lynch us all!' "

-Halsey Hall, Minneapolis Tribune (Baseball Digest, March 1956)

SHORTSTOP WITH TEN DOUBLE PLAY MATES

Kansas City's DeMaestri Rated Third In A.L. Despite Handicap Of Ever-Changing Partners

"When the Athletics were transferred to Kansas City in the winter of 1954, a young man named Joe DeMaestri came along with the franchise. He was considered a questionable asset and in fact, the new officials of the club were advised by some experienced baseball men to start looking for a shortstop to replace him.

When the Athletics opened spring training this year, their roster included only four holdovers from the 1954 Philadelphia club, pitchers Alex Kellner and Arnold Portocarrero, First Baseman Vic Power and, of course, DeMaestri.

Not only was DeMaestri still on hand, but his manager, Harry Craft, maintains that he is the third best shortstop in the American League. He rates only Gil McDougald of the Yankees and Luis Aparicio of the White Sox ahead of him.

Several clubs, including Detroit and Cleveland, have made bids for DeMaestri's services but Craft has steadfastly refused all such offers. DeMaestri and Woodie Held, the center fielder, are probably the only two players about whom Craft feels so strongly.

DeMaestri's rapid development is all the more amazing in view of the fact that he does not have outstanding physical equipment. He is not a fast runner or a quick starter. He has a good arm and throws accurately but his throwing isn't so powerful as to bring gasps from the stands. He hits an occasional home run but can't be considered a power hitter. Nevertheless, he is considered an outstanding ball player.

DeMaestri believes that he got the biggest break of his career when he was traded to the Athletics. Not many players care to be traded to a tailender but it was a stroke of good fortune for DeMaestri because he was given an opportunity to play regularly and because he later crossed paths with Lou Boudreau, one of the all-time great shortstops.

DeMaestri says without hesitation that Boudreau did more to help him than anyone else with whom he has come in contact during his baseball career.

'Boudreau worked hard with me and taught me a lot of things,' DeMaestri said. 'He showed how to move as the count changed and how to be in motion when the pitch was thrown.

'I'm not a quick starter but by learning these things I've been able to cover a lot more ground. Before Lou came along no one had bothered to do anything extra for me. They showed me a few things, naturally, and answered any questions I had but I really didn't learn too much. Lou put in a lot of time with me and gave me some good ideas.

'I owe a lot to him and I'll never forget what he did for me.'

Boudreau, who took over as manager of the Athletics following the transfer of the franchise, started working with DeMaestri in the spring of 1955, and by the time the Athletics broke camp he told DeMaestri that he had the shortstop job. From that point on DeMaestri improved steadily and by the end of the season, he had arrived as a top-flight defensive shortstop.

Boudreau was among those who were skeptical of DeMaestri's ability in the spring of 1955 and was as surprised as anyone at the speed with which his pupil developed.

Craft, who replaced Boudreau as manager last season, is especially high on DeMaestri because of his steadiness. He has quick hands and usually comes up with any ball he can reach. Craft believes he has the most accurate arm of any shortstop in the league.

He has good evidence in support of his claims since DeMaestri had the best fielding percentage among American League shortstops last year. He nosed out McDougald for the honor by the margin of a few percentage points, .980 to .976.

DeMaestri is a quiet, unassuming individual and one of the most popular players on the Kansas City club. He is starting his second season as player representative, a job he took with some misgivings.

In 1955 Joe Astroth was named player representative and the following season he was shipped back to the minors. He was succeeded by Jim Finigan, who was traded to Detroit in the winter of 1956.

DeMaestri was elected player representative in the spring of 1957 and kept his fingers crossed before becoming convinced that the job wasn't a complete jinx.

Although DeMaestri is a quiet individual, he is a good competitor. If he wasn't a battler he wouldn't be where he is today because success in baseball has not come easily to him.

DeMaestri started playing baseball at an early age. He was encouraged by his father who had had aspirations of becoming a ball player. The elder DeMaestri once had a tryout with Seattle, but about the same time Joe was born and his father decided that he needed a steadier type of job.

Joe played in high school and in the American Legion program. When he finished high school he signed with the Boston Red for a princely bonus of $600.

Young Joe tucked his money in a bank account and headed for El Paso, Tex., where the Red Sox had a farm club. He played in 76 games that season and batted .264. The next year he was with San Jose and then he moved to Oneonta, N.Y. In 1950 he finally made it to Birmingham, where he batted .283 with the Southern Association club.

The Red Sox were not exactly overwhelmed by his talents and left him in the draft. Frank Lane was in the midst of his rebuilding program with the  Chicago White Sox and he selected DeMaestri off the Louisville roster for $10,000.

DeMaestri saw little service for the White Sox and in 1952 was traded to the St. Louis Browns. For the first time in the majors he was given the opportunity to play steadily but his .203 batting average failed to impress the Browns' management and he was traded back to the White Sox who immediately passed him on to the Athletics. In the latter deal, DeMaestri went to the A's along with Eddie Robinson and Ed McGee for Ferris Fain and Bob Wilson.

Unbeknown to DeMaestri at the time he had found a home with the lowly Athletics.

Eddie Joost, the veteran Philadelphia shortstop, was nearing the end of his career about the time DeMaestri arrived and as a result Joe played in 111 games in 1953 and 146 in 1954.

Despite the fact that he was getting a lot of experience, DeMaestri's batting average was skimpy and he was still far from being a polished shortstop. Then came the move to Kansas City and the arrival of Boudreau on the scene.

Oddly, once DeMaestri began to improve his defensive play, his hitting picked up. In both 1956 and 1957 he held his average around the .300 mark for about the first two and a half months of the season. He slumped the last half of those seasons and wound up batting .233 and .245, respectively, but it was exhaustion rather than a lack of ability that brought on the slumps.

DeMaestri is a slender individual and he always loses weight during the heat of the summer. As the weight falls off he loses some of his strength and his batting average declines.

This year DeMaestri reported for spring training weighing 185 pounds, which is ten pounds more than his normal weight. By getting his poundage up now he hopes that he will be able to remain stronger during the summer.

DeMaestri also believes that he will be able to keep his weight up now that he is getting older (he was 29 last December).

'It used to be that I could put on five pounds,' Joe said, 'and then lose it in one afternoon of digging flowers in the back yard. I could usually get the weight on all right, but I could never keep it there. Last winter, however, I was able to keep my weight up better than I ever had before so I'm hoping that maybe I won't drop it so fast this summer.'

Although his final season average doesn't show it, DeMaestri is convinced that he is a much better hitter now than he was two or three years ago.

'The big difference now is confidence,' he explained. 'I'm relaxed at the plate. I'm not pressing like I was in the days when I didn't know whether I had a job.'

Craft is of the opinion that DeMaestri is a better hitter than his average indicates because he can do many things at the plate. He is perhaps the best bunter on the club, he is a good hit-and-run man and he hits to all fields.

Although DeMaestri is quite happy with the Athletics he has one complaint. It concerns the staggering number of second basemen he has had to play with in the last three years.

Since the transfer of the club to Kansas City the Athletics have had no less than ten second basemen. The first one was Pete Suder. He was followed by Spook Jacobs, Jim Finigan, Hector Lopez, Cletis Boyer, Vic Power, Milt Graff, Mike Baxes, Billy Hunter and Billy Martin.

In short, just about anyone with a trace of aptitude has been tried at second by the Athletics and the search is still going on. This year Baxes, Graff and Hunter are the best candidates.

DeMaestri's complaints about the frequent changes in second basemen stem from the fact that every man plays the position a little differently and that it takes time for the shortstop to become accustomed to his style of play.

'Of those ten players not one of them makes the throw alike on the double play,' DeMaestri said with a wry smile. 'I have to play at least 12 games with a man before I feel that I can work smoothly with him. Maybe some shortstops can do it faster but I haven't been able to. It seems that just about the time I'm really getting used to a player then they move him or get rid of him.'

DeMaestri rates Phil Rizzuto the greatest shortstop he has ever seen.

'When I came up  Boudreau was just about at the end of his career so I really couldn't compare him with Rizzuto but Phil is No. 1 in my book. He could do everything. Even when his arm was gone he got the ball away so quick that he was still tops. You'd think you were going to beat him on a play, but he always got the ball there just ahead of you.'

DeMaestri plays his position more in the manner of Boudreau than Rizzuto and is a credit to his teacher. He is  highly popular with the Kansas City fans and Craft is of the opinion that DeMaestri should be on his way to his finest season yet in the majors."

-Joe McGuff (Baseball Digest, May 1958)

1959

April 15: Beaned by Barry Latman of White Sox.

April 30: Gets three hits in 4-3 win over Orioles.

May 23: Gets double and two singles as A's rout White Sox.

June 1: Beats White Sox on home run, triple and two RBIs.

June 11: Gets three hits as A's down Yankees, 9-5.

June 27: Two RBIs on double and sacrifice fly in 5-4 win over Senators.

July 2: Hits home run and single in 6-4 win over Indians.

Comment: "A solid player, in a quiet way."

-Joe Sheehan, Dell Sports Magazine Baseball, April 1960

"This is Joe DeMaestri's tenth year in the American League. He came up with the White Sox and was traded to the old Browns, then on to the Athletics. He was an 'A' for enough years that he remembers Philadelphia.

Acquired in the big mid-winter deal with Kansas City that also brought Roger Maris and Kent Hadley to the Yankees to the Yankees, Joe will give the club a stronger infield 'bench.' For the last seven years, he was the A's regular shortstop, but his lifetime .237 batting average probably means he'll see utility service here."

-The New York Yankees Official 1960 Yearbook

Joseph Paul DeMaestri (SS)     #20

Born December 9, 1928 in San Francisco, California, resides in San Anselmo, California. Height: 6-0, weight: 180. Bats right, throws right. Married and father of two girls, Christine (8) and Donna (1), and one boy, Joseph Paul Jr. (6).

-The New York Yankees Official 1960 Yearbook

"The Yankees have a Joe D. in their lineup again. No, it's not the old Yankee Clipper, but veteran infielder Joe DeMaestri, who was acquired in the Roger Maris trade during the winter. Like the other Joe D., DeMaestri hails from San Francisco.

He broke into Organized Ball in 1947, playing for both San Jose and El Paso that year. Following one-year stays with San Jose, Oneonta and Birmingham, Joe made the big leagues with the 1951 Chicago White Sox. As a utility infielder he saw action in 56 games and batted only .203.

The old St. Louis Browns used him in 81 contests the following year and dealt him off to the Philadelphia Athletics in 1953. DeMaestri remained with the Athletics (both in Philly and Kansas City) until this season. He won the regular shortstopping job there and batted between .219 and .255 during those years. A fine glove man, Joe has fair power, having averaged over seven homers a year with the A's.

In 1,042 American League contests, DeMaestri's batting average is .237. His .980 fielding average led A.L. shortstops in both 1957 and 1958."

-New York Yankees 1960 Yearbook (Jay Publishing Co.)