St. Louis Cardinals Championship Outfielder Bob Skinner Dies After Historic Career

Skinner played outfield for the Cardinals from 1964 to 1966, helping the team earn the World Series championship in 1964 against the New York Yankees. In just three at-bats across four games of that series, he slashed an impressive .667/.750/1.000.

But Skinner is better remembered for his contributions to the Pittsburgh Pirates, where he spent nine of his big-league seasons, earning his first World Series championship in 1960. Skinner was a two-time All-Star and received MVP Award votes in two different seasons in his time with the Pirates, and he slashed .280/.355/.426 in 1,100 career games for the organization.

In 1963, the Pirates traded Skinner to the Cincinnati Reds, but he played behind future Hall of Famer Frank Robinson there and was traded to the Cardinals the next year.

But before long, he was relegated to a bench role in St. Louis as well.

“At first the move (to the Cardinals) proved to be a bit of a rebirth for Skinner,” Joseph Wancho wrote for the Society for American Baseball Research. “He was inserted into the starting lineup by Cardinals manager Johnny Keane… But on June 15 (1964) St. Louis pulled off a blockbuster trade, acquiring Lou Brock from the Cubs in a six-player deal, and by mid-July Brock was getting most of the starts in left field. Skinner was once again relegated to the bench, starting only on occasion for the rest of the season.”

Late St. Louis Cardinals Outfielder Bob Skinner Made History With Son

Skinner retired from playing after his final season with the Cardinals, then became an award-winning minor-league manager for the Philadelphia Phillies organization and eventually a coach for the San Diego Padres, Atlanta Braves, California Angels and other organizations.

In 1979, he earned his third World Series championship in his second stint as a batting coach for the Pirates.

“As of 2011 Skinner and his wife, Joan, resided in the San Diego area,” Wancho added. “They had four sons, Robert, Craig, Andrew and Joel. In 2002 Bob and Joel became only the second father-and-son combination (George Sisler and Dick Sisler were the first) to be major-league managers, when Joel Skinner became the Cleveland Indians manager.”