Major League Baseball outfielders

Jim_Bolger_(baseball)

James Cyril Bolger (February 23, 1932 – April 9, 2020) was an American professional baseball outfielder. He appeared in 312 games over all or parts of seven Major League Baseball (MLB) seasons, but spent over two-thirds of his big-league playing time — 260 games — as a member of the Chicago Cubs. Bolger had short stints with the Cincinnati Reds (nine games), Cleveland Indians (eight), and Philadelphia Phillies (35 games). His MLB totals included 140 hits, 14 doubles, six triples, and six home runs, with a career batting average of .229. Bolger threw and batted right-handed. During his playing days, he stood 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m) tall and weighed 180 pounds (82 kg).
Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Bolger attended Purcell Marian High School. He began his pro career with the 1950 Reds, also playing Minor League Baseball (MiLB) in their farm system.
On October 14, 1951, Bolger was traded by the Cincinnati Redlegs to Buffalo for pitchers Moe Savransky and Tom Acker.Bolger's best MLB season came in 1957. He spent the full season with the Cubs as their fourth outfielder, appeared in 112 games (starting 57, including two starts as a third baseman), and batted a career-high .275, in 273 at-bats. The previous year, Bolger had been named a Pacific Coast League (PCL) all-star, after he batted .326, with 147 runs batted in, 193 hits, and 28 home runs, as a member of the Los Angeles Angels.
Bolger's 13-year professional career ended in 1962, after he batted .319 for the Triple-A Louisville Colonels.
Bolger died on April 9, 2020, at the age of 88.

Ethan_Blackaby

Ethan Allen Blackaby (July 24, 1940 – January 16, 2022) was an American professional baseball player who was an outfielder in Major League Baseball, appearing in 15 games for the Milwaukee Braves during the 1962 and 1964 seasons. He threw and batted left-handed, stood 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m) tall and weighed 190 pounds (86 kg).
Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Blackaby attended Canton, Illinois, High School, where he was a multi-sport standout athlete. He played baseball and football at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign before signing with the Braves in 1961. His nine-year professional career included 1,073 games in minor league baseball, punctuated by his two trials with the Braves in the closing weeks of the 1962 and 1964 campaigns, when MLB rosters expanded to 40 players. In his debut on September 6, 1962, he doubled in his first MLB at bat against Ernie Broglio of the St. Louis Cardinals. He had entered the game as a pinch hitter for Braves' catcher Bob Uecker, who later became both a film and television actor and Baseball Hall of Fame play-by-play broadcaster. Blackaby collected only two other hits in the majors, both singles, in 25 at bats over his two brief trials.
After his playing days were over, Blackaby was part-owner and general manager of the Phoenix Giants of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League in the 1970s and early 1980s.
Blackaby died on January 16, 2022, at the age of 81.

Bob_Addis

Robert Gordon Addis (November 6, 1925 – November 15, 2016) was an American professional baseball player. The outfielder appeared in 208 Major League Baseball games over four seasons (1950–53) for three National League teams. He threw right-handed, batted left-handed, and was listed as 6 feet (1.8 m) tall and 170 pounds (77 kg).

George_Schmees

George Edward Schmees (September 6, 1924 – October 30, 1998) was an American professional baseball player. An outfielder, he appeared in Major League Baseball for the St. Louis Browns and Boston Red Sox during the 1952 season. Listed at 6 feet (1.8 m) tall and 190 pounds (86 kg), Schmees batted and threw left-handed. He was born in Cincinnati.
In a 76-game Major League career, Schmees was a .168 hitter (21-for-125) with 17 runs, six RBI, four doubles, and one triple without home runs. He made 52 fielding appearances at center field (20), right (19), left (9) and first base (4). He also pitched two games (one start) and posted a 3.00 ERA in 6.0 innings of work and did not have a decision.
Schmees died in San Jose, California, at the age of 74.

Rich_Reese

Richard Benjamin Reese (born September 29, 1941) is an American former professional baseball player who played first base and outfield in the major leagues from 1964 through 1973 for the Minnesota Twins and Detroit Tigers. Born in Leipsic, Ohio, Reese threw and batted left-handed, stood 6 feet 3 inches (1.91 m) tall and weighed 185 pounds (84 kg). He attended Deshler, Ohio, high school.
Reese's pro career began in the Detroit organization and he appeared in 59 games for the Tigers in his final MLB season in 1973, but he spent the bulk of his big-league tenure—807 games played—as a member of the Twins, who drafted him away from the Tigers in November 1962. In his finest season, 1969, Reese batted a career-best .322 in 132 games, with 16 home runs and 69 runs batted in, also personal bests. He tied for the American League lead in pinch hits with 13 in 1967. He is also the co-holder of the major league record for pinch-hit grand slam home runs in a career with three. One of those pinch-hit slams, on August 3, 1969, snapped the Baltimore Orioles' Dave McNally's consecutive win streak at 17, one short of the American League record.
Reese is also in the record books for two strikeouts: as the final out in Catfish Hunter's perfect game on May 8, 1968, and as Nolan Ryan's 383rd strikeout victim of the 1973 season (September 27), the still-standing single-season record, breaking Sandy Koufax's record of 382 in 1965.
In 866 games over ten seasons, Reese compiled a .253 batting average (512-for-2,020) with 248 runs, 73 doubles, 17 triples, 52 home runs, 245 RBI, 158 base on balls, 270 strikeouts, .312 on-base percentage and .384 slugging percentage. Defensively, he recorded a .992 fielding percentage at first base and left field. In the postseason, in the 1969 and 1970 American League Championship Series, he appeared in five games and hit .158 (3-for-19) with two runs batted in.
Reese went on to a career in the distilled spirits industry, retiring in 2003 as CEO of Jim Beam Brands headquartered in the Chicago suburb of Deerfield, Illinois.

Art_Rebel

Arthur Anthony Rebel (March 4, 1914 – July 10, 2004) was a professional baseball player. He was an outfielder over parts of two seasons (1938, 1945) with the Philadelphia Phillies and St. Louis Cardinals. For his career, he compiled a .333 batting average in 81 at-bats and drove in six runs. Rebel also played 17 seasons for 18 teams in the minor leagues, hitting .301 with 106 home runs.
He was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and later died in Tampa, Florida at the age of 90.

Gary_Rajsich

Gary Louis Rajsich ( RAY-sitch; born October 28, 1954) is an American Major League Baseball (MLB) scout and a former professional baseball outfielder. He played all or parts of four seasons in the Majors from 1982 until 1985, then played three additional seasons for the Chunichi Dragons from 1986 until 1988. He was the Baltimore Orioles' director of amateur scouting from November 28, 2011, until the conclusion of the 2018 season.Gary is the brother of former Major League pitcher Dave Rajsich, with whom he played for the St. Petersburg Pelicans of the Senior Professional Baseball Association in 1989. He also has scouted for the Boston Red Sox (1994–2006), Texas Rangers (2007–2009), Toronto Blue Jays (2010–2011) & Atlanta Braves (2019–Present).

John_Poff

John William Poff (born October 23, 1952) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played parts of two seasons in the Major League Baseball (MLB), 1979 for the Philadelphia Phillies and 1980 for the Milwaukee Brewers of the Major League Baseball (MLB).
A native of Chillicothe, Ohio, Poff attended Findlay High School, and went on to play college baseball at Duke University, graduating in 1974. In 1972 and 1973, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Wareham Gatemen of the Cape Cod Baseball League. He was signed by the Philadelphia Phillies as an amateur free agent in 1974.

Joe_Nossek

Joseph Rudolph Nossek (born November 8, 1940) is an American former Major League Baseball outfielder, coach and scout. He threw and batted right-handed, and stood 6' (183 cm) tall and weighed 178 pounds (81 kg) as an active player.