Books and articles about Tom Paciorek

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At the University of Houston, Paciorek was a defensive back, drafted in the ninth round by the Miami Dolphins, and a NCAA All-American outfielder who set school hitting records. In 1971 at Albuquerque, he was named Minor League Player of the Year, but in the majors he was tagged as a part-time platoon player and was never given a chance to play regularly until he signed as a free agent with Seattle in 1978. Finally blossoming with the Mariners, he hit .326 in 1981 and was named an All-Star. Traded to the White Sox the next season, he twice more topped .300. Paciorek was once picked by a Chicago newspaper as the second-best-looking ML ballplayer, runner-up to Jim Palmer. His brother John owns a 1.000 career BA and is the only one to do it with three hits. His brother Jim also played in the ML. (NLM)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » September 29, 1963: Houston's run of successful debuts by young rookies is capped by OF John Paciorek, 18, who goes 3-for-3 in his only ML appearance, driving in three runs and scoring 4. Brother Tom Paciorek will do much better (1970-87) with 1162 hits and his brother Jim will collect 23. The Colt 45's beat the Mets, 13–4. » June 6, 1968: Tim Foli is the top choice in the regular phase of the free-agent draft. The A's take Pete Broberg with the 2nd pick, but he opts to attend Dartmouth instead. Cecil Cooper lasts until the 27th round. The big winners are the Dodgers, who, in the January draft and the regular and secondary June drafts pick 71 players, 14 players of whom end up in the ML. Among them: Davey Lopes, Geoff Zahn, Bill Buckner, Joe Ferguson, Tom Paciorek, Bobby Valentine, Steve Garvey, and Ron Cey. » November 17, 1975: The Dodgers trade outfielders Jim Wynn and Tom Paciorek, and infielders Lee Lacy and Jerry Royster to the Braves for OF Dusty Baker and 1B Ed Goodson. » April 25, 1981: Mariners manager Maury Wills is suspended for two games after ordering Seattle's grounds crew to enlarge the batter's boxes by one foot prior to its game with Oakland. The A's had been complaining that Seattle's Tom Paciorek frequently stepped out of the box while hitting. » May 9, 1981: Tom Paciorek hits his 2nd game-winning, bottom-of-the-9th home run in as many games, a 3-run blow giving the Mariners a 6–5 win over the Yankees. The previous night, Paciorek led off the 9th with a solo homer to give Seattle a 3–2 win over the Yankees. » December 11, 1981: Seattle trades OF Tom Paciorek to the White Sox for C Jim Essian, IF Todd Cruz, and Rod Allen. » September 9, 1983: White Sox Britt Burns pitches a one-hit 11–0 win over the Angels. California's sole hit is Mike Brown's single with two out in the 7th. Sox teammates Carlton Fisk, Tom Paciorek, and Greg Luzinski make it easy for Britt by clouting consecutive homers in the first inning. » May 9, 1984: The longest—and slowest—game in American League history ends in the 25th inning when Harold Baines homers off Chuck Porter to give the White Sox a 7–6 victory over the Brewers. It is the latest homer in history. The game falls one inning shy of the ML record, but takes by far the most time to play: eight hours and six minutes. The contest was suspended yesterday after 17 innings with the score tied 3–3, and each team scores three more runs in the 21st. The Sox lose a chance to win in the 21st as runner Dave Stegman is touched by 3B coach Jim Leyland, which leads to a Sox protest. Tom Seaver pitches the final inning to earn the win, then wins the regularly scheduled game as well 5–4. Tom Paciorek of the Sox, who sets a major-league record as he enters the game in the fourth inning and registers nine at bats. » May 12, 1986: Texas routs Cleveland 19–2, handing the Indians their 4th straight loss after they had won 10 in a row to move into a first–place tie in the American League East. Tom Paciorek goes 5-for-6 to lead the Rangers' 22-hit attack.