 John Wesley Callison was born in Qualls, Oklahoma in March of 1939. Callison played baseball growing up and was signed by the Chicago White Sox in 1957 when he got out of high school. Callison began his professional career playing in the outfield for the Class-C Bakersfield Bears in the California League. He hit .340 with 17 home runs and stole 31 bases his first season in the minor leagues. He was playing Triple A ball the next season for the Indianapolis Indians where he led the American Association in Home Runs. In September of 1958, Callison was called up to the big leagues and he appeared in 18 games that fall for the White Sox, hitting .297 with 1 home run and 12 RBIs. The Next season, Callison split time between the White Sox and triple A Indianapolis Indians. When the White Sox won the American League Pennant that fall, Callison was left off the World Series roster in favor of more seasoned pros. After the 1959 season, Johnny Callison was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies for Gene Freese. It was in Philadelphia with the Phillies where Johnny Callison became an All Star baseball player. Johnny spent a decade in Philly and was consistently among the league leaders in RBIs and Home Runs. He was selected to 4 All Star teams in the early 1960s and won the 1964 All Star MVP award with a walk off game winning 3 run home run with 2 out in the ninth. After 10 glorious seasons in Philadelphia, Johnny Callison was traded to the Chicago Cubs in November of 1969 for Dick Selman and Oscar Gamble. Callison played 2 years in Chicago and had a productive first season in 1970 with 19 HR’s and a .268 batting average. His numbers fell drastically in 1971 with only 8 HR’s and a .210 batting average. The Cubs traded Callison to the New York Yankees for Jack Aker in January of 1972. Callison played sparingly for two seasons in New York Johnny Callison retired after the 1973 season having played 16 seasons in the big leagues. He had a .264 career batting average with 226 HR’s and 840 RBIs. After retiring from baseball, Callison drifted in and out of car-sales and bartending. In the mid to late 1980s, Callison suffered through several illness’ including cancer. In 1997 Johnny Callison was named to the Philadelphia Phillies Wall of Fame. Johnny Callison died in 2006 following an undisclosed illness in Abington, PA. Hospital. |
