Obituary: Pete Daley (1930-2024) (2024)

RIP to Pete Daley, a catcher whose 7-year playing career, mostly with Boston, took place in the 1950s and early ’60s. He died on August 22 at the age of 94. Daley played for the Boston Red Sox (1955-59), Kansas City Athletics (1960) and Washington Senators (1961).

Peter Harvey Daley was born in Grass Valley, CA, on January 14, 1930. He had a younger brother, Elmer Daley, who spent several years in the minor leagues as an outfielder and first baseman. Their love of baseball was undoubtedly aided by Pete Daley Sr., who was an amateur ballplayer in the area. Pete Jr. was a frequent high scorer on the Grass Valley High basketball team, but he earned rave reviews for his defensive abilities as a catcher even in high school. He was considered one of the finest ballplayers in northern California, and when he graduated from high school in 1948, he was signed by Red Sox scout Charlie Wallgren and assigned to San Jose of the Class-C California League. He jumped right into the fire, as he caught both ends of a doubleheader in his pro debut in late June. According to The Sacramento Bee, he threw out a couple of baserunners in those games. Daley batted .225 for San Jose in 1948, but he adjusted to pro ball relatively quickly. In 1949, he blasted 17 home runs and 26 doubles for Class-B Roanoke and batted .295, earning a Piedmont League All-Star Team selection. By 1950, he had reached Triple-A Louisville, and the Colfax Record reported that the Red Sox had demoted veteran catcher Buddy Rosar so that he could coach Daley. Rosar was abruptly recalled back to the Sox after just a few hours, but “had [he] stuck around, Mr. Daley probably would be coaching him,” the paper stated.

Daley was summoned to report to the Army just as he was preparing for spring training in 1951, and he missed two years of baseball due to his military commitments. Scout Wallgren still raved about the prospect. “I will stake my reputation that Pete will be catching in the majors in 1954, if not before. He is a terrific prospect,” he said, and he was only off by a year. Daley returned from Korea in 1953 and rejoined the Louisville Colonels of the American Association. He suffered a few injuries in 1953 and was limited to 84 games. He was healthier in 1954 and hit .275 for the Colonels with 9 home runs in 115 games. That performance and a solid spring training in 1955 was all the evidence that Boston needed. Daley was added to the Red Sox roster… but as a backup to Sammy White. It was a problem for Daley because White just would not leave the lineup. Of the 1,384-1/3 innings caught by Boston catchers, White caught 1,255-2/3 (or 91% of them). Daley spent the entire season with Boston and appeared in a total of 17 games. He had a rare start on May 25, in the second game of a doubleheader against Baltimore, and went 1-for-4, with his first major-league hit being a single off Don Johnson. Daley primarily started whenever Boston played a doubleheader, and even with the prevalence of doubleheaders in the 1950s his infrequent playing time led to a .220 batting average. Cleveland Manager Al Lopez called Daley the best bench-warming catcher in the American League and that he was batter than at least four starting catchers in the league.

White couldn’t maintain that iron-man schedule for long, and Daley saw more playing time in the following seasons. He got into 59 games in 1956 and slashed .267/.338/.439. He doubled 11 times, and added 5 home runs. His first career homer came in his first at-bat of the 1956 season, on April 21 against Jim Konstanty of the Yankees. In his first start of the season, he drove in 5 runs in a 12-5 win over Chicago with a double and grand slam.. Daley’s batting average slipped to .225 in 78 games in 1957, but his struggles did not affect his defense. He didn’t commit a single error in 487-1/3 innings behind the plate, and he threw out 50% of the 20 runners who tried to steal on him.

The Red Sox added catcher Lou Berberet in 1958, and Daley fell to third on the catching depth chart. He appeared in just 27 games but went 18-for-56 for a .321 batting average. He was given a rare start on August 29 and homered and tripled, driving in 4 runs in a 5-2 win over Baltimore. He regained his usual role of White’s primary backup in 1959 and hit .225 in 65 games. That December, Boston traded Daley to the Kansas City A’s for pitcher Tom Sturdivant. The A’s used four catchers in 1960 — Daley, Harry Chiti, Danny Kravitz and Hank Foiles — but Daley saw the bulk of the action. He appeared in 73 games and had a career-high 245 plate appearances. Daley slashed .263/.311/.390, with 10 doubles and 5 home runs. He had a .990 fielding percentage behind the plate, but he threw out a disappointing 27% of baserunners. When the Washington Senators and Los Angeles Angels had their expansion draft in December 1960, Daley was left exposed and was claimed by Washington. Ed Doherty, Senators general manager, selected the catcher for his “Daley Doubles” and his ability to work with a pitching staff. “I like to call Pete the supreme court catcher, because when he makes a decision behind the plate, the pitcher had better go along with him,” Doherty said. “He knows how to handle hurlers and isn’t a slouch when he goes up to bat, either… He could be to us what Earl Battey was to the Washington team last year.”

Daley made his first Opening Day start in 1961 and scored a run in the Senators’ first game, a 4-3 loss to the White Sox on April 10. Daley went hitless in his first three starts before hitting a pair of RBI singles in a 5-3 win over Minnesota on April 21. It was the first time the new Washington Senators played the old Washington Senators. As the season progressed, Daley’s batting average slipped under .200, and he ended up as the backup to Gene Green, who hit .280 and led the team with 18 home runs. Daley batted .192 with a pair of homers in his final major-league season. Washington sent him to Triple-A Toronto in 1962 but then shipped him all the way to Class-B Raleigh in May. Daley almost quit on the spot but accepted the assignment as a favor to Doherty. His role on the club was to work with the young pitchers in Washington’s low minors. He essentially served as an unofficial pitching coach. “I try to talk to them as much as I can. What the young pitchers need more than anything is to work on fundamentals. You have to go over the same things, over and over, until it becomes second nature with them,” Daley said. After the season, he retired from baseball.

In 7 seasons in the major leagues, Daley had a slash line of .239/.297/.349. He had 259 hits, including 49 doubles, 8 triples and 18 home runs. Daley drove in 120 runs, scored 93 times and had an OPS+ of 72. He had a career fielding percentage at catcher of .993 and threw out 35% of baserunners.

Gene Green, meanwhile, was shipped out of Washington after wearing out his welcome there. Specifically, he feuded with team president Pete Quesada, who was an Air Force general during World War II and didn’t think Green hustled enough. “That General,” Green grumbled. “What does he expect me to do, become a Pete Daley in one year?”

Published by Sam Gazdziak

I am a professional journalist, baseball historian and cemetery searcher. My family tolerates this about me. I belong to the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR).View all posts by Sam Gazdziak