Ted Savage
Theodore Savage, Jr. (born as Ephesian Savage on February 21, 1936 in Venice, Illinois), was an outfielder in Major League Baseball who played from 1962 to 1971. He played for eight teams in a nine-year major league career.
He was a three-sport star and graduated from Lincoln High School in East St. Louis, Illinois. He attended Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri before serving for three years in the U.S. Army.
He was signed as an amateur free agent in 1960 by the Philadelphia Phillies.
He made his major league debut at age 25 on April 9, 1962 for the Phillies in a 12-4 road win over the Cincinnati Reds at Crosley Field. Pinch-hitting for Wes Covington against Bob Miller, he grounded out but stayed in the game, playing left field. After grounding out again, in the seventh inning he notched his first major league hit and RBI with a single off pitcher Dave Hillman that drove in Tony Gonzalez. He later had another RBI single that scored Gonzalez again, off pitcher Jim Brosnan.
His best season was for the 1970 Milwaukee Brewers when he hit for a .279 batting average with 12 home runs, 50 runs batted in and a .402 slugging percentage in 343 plate appearances.
His final game was at age 34 on July 3, 1971 for the Kansas City Royals in a 1-0 home loss to the Chicago White Sox in which he got his final career hit, a single off Tommy John. He ended his playing career with 642 games played with a .233 average with 34 home runs and 163 runs batted in.
After his baseball career ended, he earned a Ph.D. in urban studies from St. Louis University and spent nine years as athletic director at Harris-Stowe State University in St. Louis. In 1987 Savage was hired by the St. Louis Cardinals as assistant director of community relations and a minor-league instructor.
In 2006 Dr. Ted Savage was inducted into the Lincoln University Alumni Hall of Fame.
After a 25-year career with the Cardinals, Savage retired in 2012 as director of target marketing in the Cardinals Care and community relations department. In 2013 the Cardinals Care 24th annual golf tournament hosted by Savage was renamed the Ted Savage RBI Golf Classic to raise funds for the Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) program.
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