Bart Zeller, C
Date of game: May 21, 1970 vs. Philadelphia in Philadelphia
Age: 28
Line score: 0.2 Inn, 1 Chance, 1 PO, no plate appearances
Bart Zeller was born July 22, 1941 in Chicago Heights, IL. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported his signing on June 7, 1963, noting that he hit .320 at Eastern Illinois University that year. He was sent to Brunswick, GA, in the Class A club Georgia-Florida league. He made it up to AAA in Jacksonville for 20 games in 1965, where he hit .229/.269/.271. He spent all of 1966 at Arkansas (AA), and then missed all of 1967 and only played 50 games with Lewiston (A) in 1968. In 1969 he was back at Arkansas for a full season (110 games), hitting .277/.367/.366. Still, he was (well) behind Ted Simmons on the depth chart for St. Louis going into the 1970 season. Simmons, however, was going to miss the first month of the season due to military service, so Zeller was tabbed as the backup catcher to Joe Torre to start the season.
Opening Day for St. Louis was April 8 in Montreal. Zeller warmed up Bob Gibson before the game and then went to the bullpen. That was the pattern for the next month or so, as for 35 games, Torre caught every pitch of every inning, until March 21, 1970. In that game, the Cardinals were trailing 3-0 in Philadelphia going into the ninth, when Dick Allen hit a two-run homer. Torre was next, and drew a walk. Schoendienst called on Vic Davalillo to pinch run for Torre (who had been hit in the big left toe in the third inning of the game by a foul tip). With two outs, Joe Hague pinch hit for Julian Javier and drove in Davalillo from second with a single to tie up the game.
And so in the bottom of the ninth, Bart Zeller's major league career began... and ended five batters later, as the Phillies scored the game winner with two outs. Zeller caught three pitchers in a span of five betters before Tony Taylor singled to drive in the winning run for Philadelphia. Two-thirds of an inning caught, and that was it. A week later, Simmons arrived. The Cardinals optioned Zeller to Tulsa on May 31, and he opted to become the bullpen coach instead of being demoted to AAA. He was officially placed on waivers on June 2, and that ended his playung career with St. Louis.
In 1971, he signed with Milwaukee and was sent to Evensville (AAA). In June, he was traded to the Yankees, who sent him to Syracuse. It was right after this trade that he got a chance to play for the Yankees... in an exhibition game. The International League All-Stars played an exhibition game against the Yankees in Rochester on June 24, and Zeller was called on to fill out the Yankees squad. Zeller got one plate appearance as a pinch hitter late in the game, unsuccessfully. He reitred for good after the 1971 season. He returned to professional baseball almost 40 years after his lone appearance, managing in the Independent Frontier league for four seasons from 2011 to 2014.
Writen with assistance from Bret Hern. Thanks Bret!
Posted April 17, 2020