Robert Ford Garrison (August 29, 1915 – June 6, 2001), nicknamed "Rocky" and "Snapper", was an American professional baseball player and coach. An outfielder, the native of Greenville, South Carolina, threw and batted right-handed, stood 5 feet 10 inches (1.78 m) tall and weighed 180 pounds (82 kg). He appeared in 185 games in Major League Baseball for the Boston Red Sox (1943–44) and Philadelphia Athletics (1944–46).
Richard Louis Rozek (March 27, 1927 – September 27, 2001) was an American professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1950 to 1954 for the Cleveland Indians and Philadelphia Athletics.
A native of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, who attended Immaculate Conception High School in that city, he signed with the Indians prior to the 1947 season. In the minor leagues, Rozek struggled with his command, leading the Class A Eastern League in bases on balls (with 180 in 198 innings pitched) in 1948, and walking 146 men in 163 innings the following year in the Double-A Texas League (he led the league in strikeouts, with 145). Rozek then spent three full seasons in the Major Leagues, although he worked in only 29 games (four as a starting pitcher) over that span.
On September 28, 1952, he recorded his only Major League decision, a victory over the Detroit Tigers. In his only starting assignment of the year, Rozek went six innings, allowing one run, five hits, all singles, and two bases on balls. He left for a pinch hitter with his Indians ahead, 3–1, in a game they ultimately won, 8–2. It was also Rozek's last game in a Cleveland uniform. Not quite three months later, on December 19, 1952, he was traded to the Athletics with a minor leaguer for pitcher Bob Hooper. Apart from in four appearances as a relief pitcher for the A's over the next two seasons, he spent the rest of his career in the minors, leaving the game after the 1955 season.
In 33 total big-league games, and 65+1⁄3 innings pitched, Rozek allowed 65 hits and 55 bases on balls, with 26 strikeouts.
Forrest Vandergrift Jacobs (November 4, 1925 – February 18, 2011) was a second baseman in Major League Baseball who played from 1954 through 1956 for the Philadelphia / Kansas City Athletics (1954–56), and Pittsburgh Pirates (1956). Listed at 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m), 155 lb, he batted and threw right-handed. His teammates affectionately called him Spook, a moniker that he used throughout his life.
Thomas Oscar "Tod" Davis (July 24, 1924 – December 31, 1978) was an American professional baseball player of the 1940s and 1950s. The native of Los Angeles appeared in 42 games as an infielder and pinch hitter in Major League Baseball during the 1949 and 1951 seasons for the Philadelphia Athletics. Davis was 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m) tall, weighed 190 pounds (86 kg) and threw and batted right-handed.
During his trials with the Athletics, Davis collected 21 hits. His only big-league home run, hit September 5, 1949, came off Vic Raschi of the New York Yankees at Shibe Park during a 13–4 New York victory. The remainder of Davis' nine-year career (1943–1944; 1947–1953) was spent in the top-level Pacific Coast League. He appeared in 782 games in the PCL for both Los Angeles–based teams, the Angels and the Hollywood Stars, as well as for the Seattle Rainiers.
Davis served in the United States Army during World War II and its aftermath, and missed the 1945–46 seasons.
Larry Francis Drake (May 5, 1921 – July 14, 1985) was an American professional baseball player whose played for eight seasons (1941–1942; 1944–1949), mostly at the minor league level. He appeared in five Major League games as an outfielder and pinch hitter for the Philadelphia Athletics (1945) and Washington Senators (1948). The native of McKinney, Texas, batted left-handed, threw right-handed, stood 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m) tall and weighed 195 pounds (88 kg). He attended Baylor University.
Drake played in one game for Philadelphia during the 1945 season, the last year of the World War II manpower shortage. He started the July 20 game against the Cleveland Indians in left field and struck out in his only two at bats before being replaced by a right-handed pinch hitter. He then returned to the minor leagues. Then, in 1948, he was recalled by Washington in September from the Double-A Southern Association and appeared in four games against his old team, the Athletics. On September 10, he started in right field and collected his only two Major League hits (both singles off Dick Fowler) and lone big-league run batted in, as the Athletics prevailed, 9–6.In his five MLB games, Drake had 11 plate appearances and nine official at bats. He scored no runs, drew one base on balls and was credited with one sacrifice hit. He handled five total chances in the field without an error.
Adam Rankin Johnson Jr. (March 1,1917 – February 11, 2006) was an American professional baseball player and executive. A pitcher during his active career, he appeared in seven games in Major League Baseball as a member of the Philadelphia Athletics during the early weeks of the 1941 season. He threw and batted right-handed, and was listed as 6 feet 3 inches (1.91 m) tall and 177 pounds (80 kg).
Johnson was born in Hayden, Arizona; his father, Rankin Sr., was also a Major League pitcher, largely with the "outlaw" Federal League, in 1914–1915 and 1918. Rankin Jr. attended what is now the University of Texas at El Paso. He appeared in one game for the 1935 Akron Yankees of the Class C Middle Atlantic League, then began his professional baseball career in earnest in 1939 at the Class D level.
Glenn Ignatius Liebhardt (July 31, 1910 – March 14, 1992) was a Major League Baseball pitcher who played for three seasons. He played for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1930 and the St. Louis Browns in 1936 and 1938.
Glenn's father, Glenn John Liebhardt, was also a major league pitcher.
Robert George Kline [Junior] (December 9, 1909 – March 16, 1987) was a pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for three teams between the 1930 and 1934 seasons. Listed at 6' 3", 200 lb., Kline batted and threw right-handed. He was born in Enterprise, Ohio.
Oscar Ray Grimes Jr. (April 13, 1915 – May 19, 1993) was a utility infielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Cleveland Indians (1938–1942), New York Yankees (1943–1946) and Philadelphia Athletics (1946). Grimes batted and threw right-handed.
He was born in Minerva, Ohio.
In a nine-season career, Grimes posted a .256 batting average with 18 home runs and 200 RBI in 602 games played.
Grimes died in Westlake, Ohio, at the age of 78. He played semi-pro football for the Minerva Merchants.
Robert Joseph Wellman (July 15, 1925 – December 20, 1994) was an American professional baseball player, manager and scout. He managed for a quarter-century in minor league baseball, winning more than 1,600 games — with his 1966 Spartanburg Phillies setting a Western Carolinas League record by ripping off a 25-game winning streak. He also briefly played Major League Baseball.
Wellman was a native of Norwood, Ohio. An outfielder and first baseman, he batted and threw right-handed, stood 6 feet 4 inches (1.93 m) tall and weighed 210 pounds (95 kg). He had two brief trials — four games in 1948 and 11 more in 1950 — with the Philadelphia Athletics of the American League, batting .286 in 25 at bats, with one triple, one home run (hit off Mel Parnell of the Boston Red Sox on April 23, 1950, at Shibe Park) and one run batted in. The rest of Wellman's uniformed career would be spent in the minors, first as a player (he led his league in home runs over four consecutive seasons, 1954–1957, including the Class A Western International League), then as a playing manager and manager.
His managing career began in 1955 with the Douglas Trojans, a Class D affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds in the Georgia State League, where his club finished in first place but fell in the playoffs. He would handle teams in the farm systems of the Reds (1955–1959), Philadelphia Phillies (1961–1976) and New York Mets (1977–1980), compiling a win–loss record of 1,663 wins, 1,440 defeats (.536) with three playoff championships. His 1966 Spartanburg squad — which featured future major leaguers Larry Bowa, Denny Doyle, Barry Lersch, Ron Allen and Lowell Palmer — won 91 of 126 regular-season games, a .722 winning percentage (equivalent to 117 victories over a 162-game season). However, he spent only part of one season as a manager at the Triple-A level, with the 1970 Eugene Emeralds of the Pacific Coast League, and was released on May 25 after his team dropped 28 of its first 43 games. The next year, he resumed his success in Spartanburg.
After leading the 1980 Jackson Mets into the Texas League playoffs, Wellman hung up his uniform and became a Mets scout. He died in Villa Hills, Kentucky, at the age of 69.