Wally Berger

Outfielder

Born: October 10, 1905
Chicago, Illinois

Died: November 30, 1988 (aged 83)
Redondo Beach, California

Batted: Right

Threw: Right

MLB debut

April 15, 1930, for the Boston Braves

Last MLB appearance

July 2, 1940, for the Philadelphia Phillies

MLB statistics

Batting average

.300

Home runs

242

Runs batted in

898

Teams

Career highlights and awards

Walter Anton Berger (October 10, 1905 – November 30, 1988) was a Major League Baseball outfielder who played for four National League teams, primarily the Boston Braves. Berger was the National League's starting center fielder in baseball's first All-Star Game.

One of the league's top sluggers of the early 1930s, in his initial 1930 season he hit 38 home runs, a record for rookies which stood until 1987. He still holds a share of the NL record. He also led the league in home runs and runs batted in in 1935, and went on to become the seventh NL player to hit 200 career home runs.

Born in Chicago but raised in San Francisco, Berger played third base for Mission High School, sharing the infield with future Hall of Fame shortstop and American League president Joe Cronin, who manned second base.

Through 2015, he was one of three players to hit 20 or more home runs in their rookie year before July, along with Albert Pujols (2001) and Joc Pederson. Berger's 38 home runs as a 1930 rookie established a major league record that would stand for 57 years until eclipsed by Mark McGwire's 49 in 1987; his NL record was tied by Frank Robinson in 1956, but has not been broken. Berger still shares the major league record for home runs by a first-year player (no prior major league games) and for being the fastest player to hit 20 home runs (51 games), shared with Gary Sánchez of the New York Yankees (who accomplished the feat on September 27, 2016). Berger batted .310 that season, and his 119 runs batted in were also an NL rookie record, since topped by Albert Pujols in 2001.

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Wikipedia