Wally Moses

Moses started his professional career with Galveston of the Texas League, where he batted .316 in 1934.[1] He debuted with the Philadelphia Athletics in the 1935 season. He batted over .300 each of his seven years with them, with a career-best .345 in his sophomore year.

Moses had by far his most productive season in 1937, when he hit career-highs in home runs (25), RBI (86), runs (113), hits (208) and doubles (48), batting .320 with 13 triples. In 1939, he missed a World Series opportunity when his trade to the Detroit Tigers for Benny McCoy was nullified by Baseball Commissioner K.M. Landis. The verdict made several Tigers free agents.

Through years of last place finishes with Philadelphia, Moses had little chance to display his speed on the basepaths. But in 1943, with the Chicago White Sox, he posted a career-high 56 stolen bases and co-led the American League in triples (12). A strong-armed right fielder, he led the AL in putouts (329) in 1945.

In the 1946 World Series with the Boston Red Sox, Moses hit .417 (5-for-12) and tied a WS record with four hits in a game. He finished his career with the Athletics in 1951.

His first 7 years with the A's (1935-1941) were the most productive in his career. Moses surpassed .300 in every season. He posted 61 home runs, 354 rbi, and hit .317 (1135-for-3580). After being traded away after the 1941 season, he never hit .300 again and his productivity declined, posting 28 home runs, 325 rbi, and batting .266 (1003-for-3776) over the next 10 seasons with the White Sox and Red Sox and the A's again. The closest he came to the .300 plateau is when he hit .295 with the White Sox in 1945. His second tenure with the A's (1949-1951) was not even close to the numbers he put up with them at the beginning of his career.

In a 17-season career, Moses hit .291 with 89 home runs and 679 RBI in 2012 games played. He added 1,124 runs, 2,138 hits, 435 doubles, 110 triples and 174 stolen bases. His career fielding percentage was .973. A patient hitter with a good eye, Moses collected a 1.80 walk-to-strikeout ratio (821-to-457). He also made the American League All-Star team in 1937 and 1945.

Following his playing career, Moses was a coach for the Athletics (1952–54, the A's final three seasons in Philadelphia), Philadelphia Phillies (1955–58), Cincinnati Reds (1959–60), New York Yankees (1961–62; 1966) and Detroit Tigers (1967–70), serving as both a first base coach and hitting instructor. He also was a minor league batting coach and scout for the Yankees. As a hitting coach, he would teach his batters to go after pitches and lean over the plate.[2]

Moses died in Vidalia, Georgia two days after his 80th birthday.

Moses was the last 20th century Athletics player with a 200-hit season. He had 208 in 1937. Sixty-five years later, Miguel Tejada collected 204 (October 5, 2002).

• List of Major League Baseball career hits leaders
• List of MLB all-time leaders in doubles
• List of Major League Baseball career doubles leaders
• List of athletes on Wheaties boxes
• List of Major League Baseball career triples leaders
• List of Major League Baseball career runs scored leaders
• List of Major League Baseball annual doubles leaders
• List of Major League Baseball annual triples leaders
• List of Major League Baseball career stolen bases leaders

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball-Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet
• Wally Moses at SABR (Baseball BioProject)
• Wally Moses at Find a Grave