Jeoff Long, a former Chicago White Sox first baseman and outfielder who spent part of the 1964 season on the team’s American League roster, died Friday in Elsmere, Kentucky. He was 84.
Long appeared in 23 games for the White Sox after St. Louis sold his contract on July 7, 1964. He collected five singles in 35 at-bats, drove in five runs and finished that Chicago stretch with a .143 average.
His last major league game came Sept. 23, 1964, as a starter against the Los Angeles Angels. That closed a 56-game big-league career that also included two seasons with the Cardinals.
The White Sox were chasing a pennant when Long arrived. Chicago finished second in the American League that year and later voted him a half-share of second-place money totaling $733.01.
A knee injury cut into his time on the South Side. Playing left field on a wet night at Fenway Park on July 15, Long slipped and reinjured a knee first damaged in high school football. He started only two more games for Chicago after that.
The Cardinals had moved Long to make room for Mike Shannon during their own pennant run. St. Louis went on to win the World Series and voted Long a half-share of $4,311.64.
Born Oct. 9, 1941, in Covington, Kentucky, Long grew up in nearby Erlanger and signed with St. Louis out of Lloyd Memorial High School in 1959 as a pitcher. Reports listed his bonus at $70,000.
He had offers from both the Reds and Cardinals. He chose St. Louis even though he grew up a Cincinnati fan. After early struggles on the mound, he offered to return his bonus. Instead, the Cardinals chose to change his position.
The switch paid off in the minors. Long hit 30 home runs for Double-A Tulsa in 1962. Across 500 minor league games he batted .265 with 58 homers and 235 RBI.
St. Louis called him up in July 1963. He pinch-hit for Hall of Famer Bob Gibson in his debut and later singled off Sandy Koufax in his only at-bat against the Dodgers left-hander. That was one of 16 hits in his major league career. He played 17 games in the field and 39 as a pinch-hitter.
Overall he hit .193 with one home run and nine RBI in 83 at-bats. He also received a half-share from the Cardinals’ championship pot even after the midseason move.
The knee limited him to 46 minor league games in 1965. He missed 1966 through 1968 while trying to recover and made a brief return in 1969 before retiring as a player.
Long later became an amateur golfer. He qualified for the 1975 National Open Long Driving contest at Butler National Golf Club in Oak Brook, Illinois, and won it with a drive of about 322 yards, beating several PGA Tour players. He finished second the next year and kept competing in the event through 1984.
He worked in management at Cincinnati Drum Company, the family business started by his parents, until he retired. He is survived by his wife, Kathy, and their daughter, Lindsay, a world-renowned diver and former national champion at Southern Methodist University.
No cause of death was released.
