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Revision as of 18:29, 8 January 2007 by 80.47.241.160 (talk) (→Trivia)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Arthur Louis Shamsky (born October 14, 1941, in St. Louis, Missouri) was a Major League Baseball player from 1965 to 1972 for the Cincinnati Reds, New York Mets, Chicago Cubs, and Oakland Athletics. He played right field, left field, and first base.
Shamsky, who is Jewish, was signed by Cincinnati as a free agent in 1959.
Minor league career
Shamsky began his professional baseball career as an 18-year-old with the 1960 Geneva Redlegs, and homered in his first at-bat. A roommate of Pete Rose that year, he hit .271 and slugged .480. His 18 homers were second in the league, well ahead of Tony Perez and Dick Allen. Shamsky led the league's outfielders in assists, and made the All-Star team.
He moved up to the Topeka Reds the next year and hit .288, slugging .469 with 15 home runs.
In '62, he was with the Macon Peaches. Art played with Pete Rose, Lee May, Darron Johnson, and Mel Queen on the Peaches.
By 1963, he was in AAA with the ], and hit .267 with 18 HR. Repeating with San Diego the next year, he batted .272 and hit 25 home runs to finish 8th in the Pacific Coast League in that category and second on the Padres behind Perez's 34.
Major league career
In 1965, Shamsky made the Cincinnati Reds out of spring training as a sub and hit .260.
Shamsky tied a major league record by homering in 4 consecutive at-bats for the Reds on August 12 and 14 of 1966. He finished the year with 21 HR (2nd on the team) and 47 RBIs, and a .521 slugging percentage, in only 234 at-bats. On August 12, Shamsky became the first player in Reds history to hit two extra-inning home runs in one game.
Shamsky was traded to the New York Mets before the 1968 season.
Shamsky hit .300, with a .375 on base percentage, as a fourth outfielder and lefthanded pinch-hitter for the 1969 World Champion Mets. He batted .400 in games that were late and close. His .538 batting average and seven hits led all batters in the 1969 LCS.
The following year he hit .293 with a .371 on base percentage. Despite only 402 at bats, he was 7th in the league with 13 intentional walks.
He remained with the Mets until 1972, when he played 22 games for the Chicago Cubs and Oakland A's.
Nagging back problems hastened Shamsky's departure from the game in 1972.
Shamsky retired after 13 years in pro baseball, with 170 homers and a World Series ring.
After baseball
After his baseball career, Shamsky became a real estate consultant and a sports radio and television broadcaster in New York City, where he also owns a restaurant.
Trivia
He is a member of the New York Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.
He was inducted into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1994.
In the American sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, Ray and Robert's childhood dog was named Shamsky Number 1, after the player. Shamsky made an appearance in this series as himself ('Big Shots' - Series 3, Episode 19).
He has written a book, “ The Magnificent Seasons,” with Barry Zeman (Thomas Dunne Books).
As of 2006, he was embroiled in a divorce from his second wife, Kim Shamsky.