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 “Sammy Byrd, Plus Baseball and Golf” Photo Gallery
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Sammy Byrd, The Greatest Baseball Golfer Ever!

When outfielder Sammy Byrd drew a walk, instead of hearing, “Ball Four,” in his mind he probably heard, “Ball …FORE!!” 

Here we are in the heart of winter caught in that “no man’s land” between the end of the World Series and the start of spring training. With the holidays behind us, we can now officially start the countdown going until that wonderful day when we hear: “Pitchers and catchers report!”

As I glance out my window and see a foot of snow, I thought it would be a good time to take our minds off of winter and start thinking about spring.  And so, since “spring” and “golf” go hand-in-hand,  I

think it’ll help to repost an essay I wrote a while back about baseball’s best golfer, Sammy Byrd.

It was rumored Sammy Byrd could hit his 5-iron farther than his Yankee teammate, Babe Ruth, could hit his driver. And not surprisingly, this did not sit well with the competitive Bambino…

Ultimate Grand Slams (UGS)

I was also recently reviewing a post I once wrote about Ultimate Grand Slams (UGS). For those of you who aren’t familiar with the term, to be considered a UGS, there have to be very specific circumstances: the batter has to hit a walk-off Grand Slam after coming to the plate in the bottom of the ninth with the bags loaded and his team trailing by three runs. But there’s something even more specific, what I’m calling the “Ultimate-Ultimate Grand Slam” (U-UGS): That’s the same circumstances as above, but with the added condition that the team is trailing 3-0. Get the picture?

Surprisingly, Only 30 Ultimate Grand Slams in Major League History!

With only 30 occurrences in history, the Ultimate Grand Slam is almost as rare as a Perfect Games (23). In looking over the list of players who have hit a UGS, one name in particular caught my attention: an old 1930s-era ballplayer named Sammy Byrd. I remembered him from my days doing player identifications for the Leslie Jones Boston Public Libray collection. 

Playing for the Reds against the Pirates on May 23, 1936, Byrd entered the game as a pinch-hitter for reliever Don Brennan, with the Reds trailing 3-0 and no outs.  The bags were loaded following two singles and a walk. So this was a real “U-UGS” situation. After the third batter reached, the Pirates lifted starter Bill Swift and brought in Cy Blanton to face Byrd. Sammy proceeded to “go yard” off Blanton, hitting a “grand salami” which lifted the Reds to a dramatic come-from-behind 4-3 walk-off victory. Until the most recent “U-UGS”, by David Bote of the Cubs on August 12, 2018, this had been the last instance of a walk-off grand slam with a team trailing by a 3-0 score.

(On a side note, in checking the boxscore, I found there were five future Hall-of-Famers in this game: Pirates Lloyd and Paul Waner, and Arky Vaughn; Reds Kiki Cuyler and Ernie Lombardi).  

Sammy Trades in His Bat for a Driver!

Sammy Byrd’s name also rang a bell with me for another reason. I later recalled he had turned to professional golf after his baseball career. He is still the only major leaguer to play in the World Series and also play in a Masters Golf tournament.

Known as “Babe Ruth’s legs” because he often pinch-ran for the Bambino in his later years, Byrd played eight seasons in the majors (1929-1936) for the Yankees (1929-’34), and the Reds (1935-’36). Over his career, Sammy hit a respectable .274 with 38 home runs and 220 RBIs. He made one appearance in the 1932 World Series as a defensive replacement for the Babe in the bottom of the ninth in Game Four.

Baseball’s Best Golfer!

During his playing days, Byrd was known for possessing a smooth, easy batting swing. It’s well known the baseball swing adapts well to golf. That’s probably why so many ballplayers are excellent golfers. Sammy had gained the reputation as the best golfer in baseball during his era. He consistently beat his teammates and all other comers who challenged him. And that included Babe Ruth who was known as a pretty good golfer himself. But the Babe was no match for Sammy Byrd…

After he retired from baseball in 1936 Sammy made a successful transition to professional golf, winning 23 tournaments at a time when the game was dominated by Byron Nelson, Sam Snead, and Ben Hogan. He won six events on the PGA tour between 1942 and 1948, losing the final of the 1945 PGA Championship to Nelson in match play, 4 & 3. He also had two top-10 finishes at the Masters: third in 1941 and fourth in 1942. Byrd had one bad moment during Masters play: During his last appearance in 1948, he tallied the highest score ever on the second hole, recording a 10, and finished the round with a 12-over-par 84.

Byrd’s best year in professional golf was 1942, winning four tournaments. His major golf achievement was winning the Victory Open at Chicago in 1943, a wartime year in which the tournament was rated on a par with the U.S. Open. Byrd was second only to Jug McSpaden on the tour that year. Another career highlight was winning the 1944 Greater New Orleans Invitational Open. Byrd retired from the circuit in 1949.

As a pro, he had represented the Plum Hollow Club of Detroit. Later he became the resident pro at the Anniston (Ala.) Country Club, a position he held 10 years. Sammy Byrd was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 1974. He passed away in Mesa, Arizona in 1981, aged 74.

So let’s “think Spring” as we shine our baseball spotlight for a brief moment on baseball’s greatest golfer, Sammy Byrd!

Gary Livacari 

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Information: Excerpts edited from the Sammy Byrd Wikipedia page

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