HATTIESBURG, Miss. — Bubba Phillips, third baseman for the pennant-winning 1959 White Sox and two other major-league teams in the 1950s and '60s, died Tuesday of a heart attack. He was 63.

The sports information department at the University of Southern Mississippi, where Phillips was a star athlete, said Phillips collapsed while loading his pickup truck at home. He had open-heartsurgery last fall.

After breaking in with the Detroit Tigers in 1955, Phillips was acquired by the White Sox for pitcher Virgil Trucks and played for them from 1956 through 1959. He hit .264 with five home runs and 40 RBIs for the '59 Sox and was 3 for 10 in the World Series against the Dodgers. Phillips, a .255 lifetime hitter, went to Cleveland in the deal that returned Minnie Minoso to the Sox and played for the Indians from 1960 through '62. He finished his 10-year career with the Tigers.

His best season was with Cleveland in 1961, when he hit 18 home runs with 72 RBIs.

John Melvin Phillips was born Feb. 24, 1930, in West Point, Miss. Before joining the Tigers, he attended Mississippi Southern College, now Southern Mississippi, playing football there in 1947-50 and baseball in 1947-48. He remains the school's all-time interception leader (25) and rushed for 2,527 yards and 22 touchdowns in 32 games.

After leaving baseball, Phillips retired to Hattiesburg, where he entered private business.

John M Phillips