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Peter Thomas Ward (July 26, 1937 – March 16, 2022) was a Canadian-born professional baseball player who appeared in 973 games played over nine seasons in Major League Baseball as a third baseman, outfielder and first baseman for the Baltimore Orioles (), Chicago White Sox (–) and New York Yankees ().
Ward was the runner-up for the American League (AL) Rookie of the Year Award (to pitcher and teammate Gary Peters) in 1963, but was named that season's AL Rookie of the Year by The Sporting News. He finished in the Top 10 in the AL's Most Valuable Player poll in both 1963 (ninth) and (sixth). Information at Baseball Reference
Ward attended Portland's Jefferson High School, graduating in 1955. He was an All-State shortstop at Jefferson. In 1986, he was inducted into the Portland Interscholastic League Hall of Fame. He starred in college baseball at Lewis & Clark College of the Northwest Conference located in Portland, also playing shortstop. Ward was a member of the Northwest Conference All-Star teams in 1957 and 1958. He was the first Lewis & Clark player to play in major league baseball.
Ward batted over .300 at three levels of minor league baseball and won the batting title in the Three-I League in 1960 with a .345 mark. In 1962 at Rochester, he hit .328, with 22 , 114 runs scored and 90 runs batted in (RBI). After he was selected to the International League All-Star Team in 1962 as an outfielder, Ward received a September trial with Baltimore, where he hit .143 with two doubles in 21 at bats.
Although he would be known in the major leagues as a third baseman, the big-league Orioles possessed future Baseball Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson, only two months older than Ward (May 18, 1937), at the position. By the time Ward was called up in 1962, Robinson had been the Orioles starting third baseman for years, was an All-Star (1960–1962) and was about to win his third Gold Glove Award at third base. Ward knew he would not be playing third base for the Orioles, and the plan was to move Boog Powell from the outfield to first base, and then play Ward in the outfield.
Ward suffered a neck injury in a 1965 automobile accident, that also injured teammate Tommy John's neck, affecting the remainder of Ward's career. Ward also suffered from back problems in 1966. His production fell off in , when he hit only .247 in 138 games. Troubled by his injuries, he would fail to reach the .250 mark for the rest of his Chicago tenure.
He appeared in only 84 games in , and although he was able to play regularly as the White Sox' left fielder in and third baseman in , only his power numbers (18 and 15 home runs) remained robust. He was traded to the Yankees in December 1969 for pitcher Mickey Scott and cash, and played a single season for the Yankees as a pinch hitter and back-up first baseman to Danny Cater, a former White Sox teammate in 1965–66; with only 77 at bats and 13 games in the field at first base. He was released by the Yankees in March 1971. For his nine-year MLB career, Ward amassed 776 hits, including 136 doubles, 17 triples and 98 home runs; he batted .254 with 427 career runs batted in.
He related that during his tenure with the Sox, his team engaged in sign stealing that involved a scout on a chair next to the flagpole at center field with binoculars. The scout would signal a pitch based on if he sat on the chair, stood up, or leaned on a pole, although Ward stated that it would sometimes confuse a hitter's swing.
Ward was supposed to be featured on the June 7, 1965 cover of Sports Illustrated, but was replaced with a photo from Muhammad Ali's fight against Sonny Liston, that had taken place on May 25, 1965, in Bangor, Maine.
In 1964, he was named Oregon's Athlete of the Year at Portland's Haywood Banquet of Champions.
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