Aug. 3, 1964 - As the delayed final payment for pitcher Buster Narum, sold last spring to Washington for an estimated $30,000, the Baltimore Orioles have acquired rookie outfielder Lou Piniella from the Senators.
Piniella, discharged two weeks ago from military service, has been assigned to the Birds’ first-place Aberdeen (S.D.) affiliate of the Class-A Northern League. So, the Tampa native will not be a factor in Baltimore’s 1964 American League pennant bid.
Oriole officials regard Piniella as considerably more than a token “throw-in” for the 23-year-old Narum, who has won seven games and lost eight for 10th-place Washington. In fact, they rate him a “solid” future big-league prospect with potential as a power hitter.
Still 3½ weeks shy of voting age, Piniella last season won Carolina League rookie-of-the-year honors on a .311 average for the Peninsula (Va.) team situated in the Norfolk-Portsmouth area.
A 6-2 190-pounder who bats and throws right-handed, Piniella drove in 77 runs. His 170 hits in 143 games included 29 doubles, 4 triples, and 16 homers.
Of Spanish descent, Piniella was drafted by Washington from the Cleveland organization in 1962 after slugging eight homers and batting in 44 runs on a .270 average for 70 games in his first professional campaign at Selma, Ala.
“He’s the fellow we were after all along when we let Narum go during spring training,” said Oriole general manager Lee MacPhail. “While we considered Piniella a little further away than Narum as a major-league prospect, we rated him at least as good as Narum in the long-range picture, with a chance to develop into an outstanding outfielder.”
Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s
Comments