Eric the Blue

Because I “interact” with baseball posts, and am a member of such FB groups as Baseball in Black & White Pics, the algorithm sends lots of baseball stuff to my feed, and I was recently asked to write in the comments the name of the everyday shortstop for the first team I ever loved. So that would be Zoilo Versalles, the American League’s Most Valuable Player in 1965, when the Twins won the pennant and Zoilo batted .273 with 19 homers and 77 RBI. Sound a little light for MVP status? Yes, but he also led the league in plate appearances (728), at bats (666), runs scored (126), doubles (45), triples (12), total bases (308), and won a Gold Glove for his play in the field. Pretty good year. He never had another one, however. His career fizzled out, his life after baseball was a hot mess, and he died of heart disease at age 55. From his Wikipedia article:

Versalles returned to the Minneapolis area following his year in Japan, but found it virtually impossible to make a living, partly because he had never earned English and partly because of the lingering effects of a back injury. . . .

Versalles signed with the Minnesota Goofy’s, a professional softball team, and played for the team in their 1977 American Professional Slow Pitch Softball League (APSPL) season. . . .

Afterwards, holding a series of menial jobs, he lost his house to foreclosure and was eventually forced to sell his MVP trophy, his All-Star rings, and his Gold Gloves. In addition to his back problems he suffered two heart attacks, underwent stomach surgery, and was sustained solely by disability and Social Security payments. He was found dead in his home in Bloomington, Minnesota, on June 9, 1995. An autopsy revealed that Versalles died from arteriosclerotic heart disease, or hardening of the arteries. Versalles was survived by his wife Maria, six daughters, and several grandchildren.

Versalles was elected to the Twins Hall of Fame in 2006.

His New York Times obituary mentions that he and Maria were separated at the time of his death. She lived only another two years: dead at 53, according to her obituary, “after a courageous battle with breast cancer.” Survived by all the same daughters and grandchildren. I wonder if some of them still reside in the Twin Cities.;

“No memory of having starred atones for later disregard, or keeps the end from being hard.”