Thomas Michael Tresh (September 20, 1938 - October 15, 2008) was a Major League Baseball infielder and outfielder who played for the New York Yankees (1961-69) and Detroit Tigers (1969). Tresh was a switch-hitter and threw right-handed. He was the son of catcher Mike Tresh.

Biography

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Tresh graduated from Allen Park High School. He then attended Central Michigan University. He began his career with the Yankees as a shortstop when Tony Kubek was performing military service. On Opening Day of the 1962 season, Tresh was in the Yankees' lineup at shortstop. Not until Derek Jeter in 1996 would another Yankee rookie shortstop start on opening day.

He won both the MLB Rookie of the Year and The Sporting News Rookie of the Year awards in 1962, hitting .286, his career-best, with 20 home runs and 93 runs batted in in 157 games. When Kubek returned during the 1962 season, Tresh was moved to left field. Tresh played shortstop, outfield, and third base during his time with the Yankees. In Game 5 of the 1962 World Series, he broke a 2-2 tie with a three-run home run in the bottom of the 8th inning off Jack Sanford, who won 24 games during the regular season, leading to a 5-3 Yankee win and a 3-2 lead in games.

After nine years in New York, he was traded to his hometown of Detroit in midseason 1969. Tresh was released by Detroit after the 1969 season, playing his last major league game at the age of 31.

Tresh hit 114 home runs from 1962 to 1966, with a career-high 27 in 1966, and he made the American League All-Star team in 1962-63. A Gold Glove winner in 1965, he also homered from each side of the plate in three games, including a doubleheader in that season in which he hit four home runs, three of them in the second game. In a nine-season career, Tresh was a .245 hitter with 153 home runs and 530 RBI in 1192 games.

Following his playing career, Tresh returned to his alma mater, Central Michigan University. where he worked as an assistant placement director for many years. He helped to invent the Slide-Rite, a training tool to teach sliding and diving skills for baseball, softball, football and soccer.

Tresh died of a heart attack at his Venice, Florida home on October 15, 2008.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]