Pete Ward (July 26, 1937 – March 16, 2022) began and ended his sports legacy in the state of Oregon.
Born in Canada in 1937, Ward graduated from Portland’s Jefferson High where he earned All-State honors at shortstop. Pete went on to play at Lewis & Clark College where he was a 2-time Northwest Conference All-Star. He would become the first Lewis & Clark player to play in the majors.
Ward signed with the Baltimore Orioles in 1958 at age 20. He spent five years in the minors, the final one in Rochester of the International League, where he hit .328 with 22 homers and 90 RBIs and was called up to the big leagues late in the year.
Baltimore traded him to the Chicago White Sox prior to the 1963 season, and he spent seven years with the club. In 1963, he hit .295 with 22 home runs, 84 RBIs, seven stolen bases and was named Rookie of the Year by The Sporting News, although he finished second in the official balloting.
In ’64, he hit .282 with 94 RBIs and 23 homers, helping him develop a reputation as one of the American League’s premiere power hitters. Sports Illustrated had him set to appear on the cover of its June 7 issue in 1965 but bumped him in favor of coverage of Muhammad Ali’s fight with Sonny Liston.
Ward didn’t finish with a batting average higher than .247 for the remainder of his nine-year career, due in part to an off-field injury in 1965. In nine seasons as an outfielder, third or first baseman, he had 776 hits, 427 RBIs, 98 home runs and a collective .254 batting average.
After retiring from from the Yankees in 1970, he continued to coach in the New York and Atlanta farm systems, while running a travel agency in Lake Oswego.
In 1971, Ward began the Pete Ward Baseball Clinic, which brought active and former Major League players, including Mickey Mantle, to Oregon as guest speakers.
Ward was also inducted into the PIL Hall of Fame, the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame and the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame and was named Oregon Athlete of the Year at the 1964 Hayward Banquet of Champions.