Al Weis

Who is Al Weis?

Albert John Weis is a former Major League Baseball infielder.

Weis grew up in Bethpage, New York, and graduated from Farmingdale, New York, High School in 1955. He was a high school teammate of Jack Lamabe, who pitched for several major league teams including the Red Sox, Mets, Pirates and Cardinals.

Weis played for the Chicago White Sox from 1962 to 1967 and the New York Mets from 1968 to 1971. He was a switch-hitter until the end of the 1968 season, after which he batted exclusively right-handed.

Signed by the White Sox as an amateur free agent, Weis played 99 games as a utility infielder in his rookie season of 1963, with 48 of those games at second base and 27 at shortstop. In 1964, he and Don Buford shared second base after the trade of popular veteran contact-hitting superstar Nellie Fox. Weis batted .247 and established career highs with 81 hits and 22 stolen bases; that year the White Sox finished second in a tight American League pennant race, one game behind the New York Yankees and one game ahead of the Baltimore Orioles.

Weis continued as a utility infielder with the White Sox for the next three years; the most at-bats he compiled during this period was only 187 in 1966. He broke a leg as the result of a violent collision at second base with Frank Robinson of the Orioles in mid-season of 1967. After that season, he and fleet-footed outfielder Tommie Agee were traded to the New York Mets for four players.