Terry Puhl

Infobox MLB retired
name=Terry Puhl
position=Outfielder


bgcolor1=black
bgcolor2=#95322c
textcolor1=white
textcolor2=white
birthdate=Birth date and age|1956|7|8|mf=y
deathdate=
bats=Left
throws=Right
debutdate=July 12
debutyear=1977
debutteam=Houston Astros
finaldate=May 29
finalyear=1991
finalteam=Kansas City Royals
stat1label=Batting Average
stat2label=Hits
stat3label=Stolen Bases
stat1value=.280
stat2value=1361
stat3value=217
teams=
*Houston Astros (1977-1990)
*Kansas City Royals (1991)
highlights=
*NL All-Star: 1978
hofdate=
hofvote=
hofmethod=

Terry Stephen Puhl (born July 8, 1956 in Melville, Saskatchewan, Canada) is a former professional baseball player. He is currently the head coach of University of Houston-Victoria's baseball team and manager of the Canada national baseball team.

Pre-MLB Career

As a boy, Puhl quickly showed exceptional baseball skills as a consistent all-round player with a strong work ethic. He batted well, was an outstanding fielder, and ran the bases well. He led local teams at the Sandlot, Bantam and Midget levels to four Saskatchewan championships. The 1971 Melville Lions bantam baseball team won the Western Canadian Bantam Championship and Puhl was named Most Valuable Player. In 1973, he led the Melville Elks midget team to the Canadian National Midget Championship and was again named MVP.

MLB career

Puhl began his Major League Baseball career in 1977 with the National League's Houston Astros. The following year he was the sole Astro selected as a National League All-Star. In 1981 he was named Canadian Baseball player of the year.

In his first Major League game, Puhl got his first hit and followed it with 1,360 more in his career. Over 15 years, he was a .280 hitter with 62 home runs, 435 RBI, and 217 stolen bases in 1531 games. He was particularly effective in postseason play, batting .372 in 13 games. In the 1980 championship series against the Philadelphia Phillies, Puhl set a then NL-championship series record with a .526 batting average in a losing cause, the best performance ever by a hitter in a play-off series (It has since been superseded). He holds the Major League Baseball record for lifetime fielding percentage by an outfielder (.993).

A pulled hamstring in 1985 and an ankle injury in 1986 reduced his playing time, but he returned in 1987 as an effective pinch hitter. In 1988 he hit a career high .303.

Puhl was granted free agent status in 1990, and signed with the New York Mets on December 13, 1990. He was released by the Mets on April 1, 1991, and subsequently signed by the Kansas City Royals on April 25, 1991. His final MLB game was on May 29, 1991, and he was released from the Royals on June 9, 1991, ending his MLB career.

Post-MLB career

After Puhl's retirement in 1991, he was inducted into the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame in 1994 and to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 1995. In 2006, Puhl was inducted in the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame.

His son, Stephen Puhl, was selected in the 17th round (514th overall) of the Major League Baseball Draft by the New York Mets in 2006.

In August 2006, Puhl coached the Canadian National Senior team at the Olympic Qualifier in Cuba that saw Canada successfully advance to the next round of qualifiers in 2007. Puhl made a hands-on impact in his coaching debut for Canada. In a 15-12 defeat of Panama, Puhl replaced catcher David Corrente with pinch hitter Reed Eastley in the 8th inning, despite the fact that Corrente had four hits in four at bats. Eastley hit a 3-run home run to tie the game. In the bottom of the ninth Reed Eastley came to bat for a second time, this time with the bases loaded and the game on the line. Manager Puhl instead called on pinch hitter Jeremy Ware whose grand slam won the game for Canada. [ [http://baseball.ca/eng_news_story.cfm?NewsID=979 Baseball Canada: Walk-off Grand Slam Lifts Canada Over Panama ] ]

In November 2006, he was inducted into the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame.

ee also

*List of Major League Baseball players from Canada
*UHV Jaguars

References

External links

*Terry Puhl at:
** [http://www.baseball-reference.com/p/puhlte01.shtml Baseball Reference]
** [http://dee-nee.com/rbi/heroes/puhl.shtml RBI Baseball]