Syracuse Chiefs players

Al_Lakeman

Albert Wesley Lakeman (December 31, 1918 – May 25, 1976), nicknamed "Moose", was a professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball for the Cincinnati Reds, Philadelphia Phillies, Boston Braves and Detroit Tigers. Lakeman was listed at 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m) tall and 195 pounds (88 kg). He was born in Cincinnati, Ohio.
The light-hitting Lakeman was a fine defensive catcher as he took responsibility for getting the most out of his pitchers. For most of his nine-year career in the Majors, he was an efficient, reliable backup playing behind Ray Mueller (Reds) and Andy Seminick (Phillies). His most productive season came in 1945 with Cincinnati, when he posted career-highs in games played (76, including 72 games as starting backstop as the Reds' most-used catcher), batting average (.256), home runs (eight), RBI (31) and runs (22).
In a nine-season career, Lakeman was a .203 hitter with 131 hits, 15 home runs and 66 RBI in 239 games. After his playing career ended, he managed in the Tigers' farm system (1956–62; 1965–66; 1970) and served two terms as the bullpen coach at the Major League level for the Boston Red Sox (1963–64; 1967–69), and was a member of the 1967 American League champions.
Lakeman died in Spartanburg, South Carolina, at age 57.

Russ_Kerns

Russell Eldon Kerns (November 10, 1920 – August 21, 2000) was an American Major League Baseball player who played in one game for the Detroit Tigers on August 18, 1945. He went hitless in one at bat.

Jake_Jacobs

Lamar Gary "Jake" Jacobs (June 9, 1937 – July 26, 2010) was a professional baseball outfielder. He played parts of two seasons in Major League Baseball, 1960 and 1961, Washington Senators and Minnesota Twins. Listed at 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m), 175 lb (79 kg), he batted and threw right-handed.A native of Youngstown, Ohio, Jacobs attended Boardman High School and graduated from Ohio University. He was signed as a bonus baby non-drafted free agent by the Washington Senators in 1959, being immediately allocated to Class-D Sanford Greyhounds. In his professional debut, Jacobs led his team with a .313 batting average and a 448 slugging percentage, gaining a promotion to the Class-A Charlotte Hornets the next year.Jacobs spent most of 1960 with Charlotte before joining the Senators in late September, appearing in two games as a pinch hitter and four as a pinch runner. He ascended to Triple-A in 1961, and split the season between the Syracuse Chiefs and Indianapolis Indians before returning to the majors in September for four games with the Minnesota Twins (the Senators had moved to Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota during the offseason). He played two more years in the minors, for the Vancouver Mounties in 1962 and Charlotte again in 1963.In his brief majors career, Jacobs was a .200 hitter (2-for-10) and scored two runs in 10 games. In five minor league seasons, he posted a .277 average in 545 games.Jacobs died in Palmetto, Florida where he lived, at the age of 73 from dementia.

Dick_Hahn

Richard Frederick Hahn (July 24, 1916 – November 5, 1992) was a Major League Baseball catcher. Hahn played for the Washington Senators in 1940. In one career game, he had three career at-bats and did not get a hit.
Hahn was born in Canton, Ohio and died in Orlando, Florida. He was buried in Woodlawn Memorial Park in Gotha, Florida.

Jim_French_(baseball)

Richard James French (born August 13, 1941) is an American former catcher in Major League Baseball who played between 1965 and 1971 for the Washington Senators. Listed at 5' 7", 182 lb., French batted left-handed and threw right-handed. He was born in Warren, Ohio, and was signed by Washington in 1963 out of Ohio University.
The Washington pitchers liked French behind the plate for the way he called games and by his strong arm and defensive skills. The Senators hoped he would be an eventual successor for Mike Brumley, but French never came within 86 points of his .297 rookie average. His most productive season came in 1970, when he appeared in a career-high 69 games while hitting .211 with 29 runs and 13 RBI.
In a seven-season career, French was a .196 hitter (119-for-607) with five home runs and 51 RBI in 234 games, including 53 runs, 17 doubles, four triples, three stolen bases, and a .328 on-base percentage. In 220 catching appearances he posted a .982 fielding percentage (22 errors in 1203 chances).
French also played in the Washington, Detroit and Atlanta Minor league systems. French received his Juris Doctor at The John Marshall Law School, and is still a practicing attorney to this day.

Bill_Brubaker

Wilbur Lee "Bill" Brubaker (November 7, 1910 – April 2, 1978) was a professional American baseball player from 1932 to 1943, although he did not play the 1941 or 1942 seasons. Of his ten years of play, Brubaker played nine with the Pittsburgh Pirates, playing third base. His best year was in 1936, when he hit for a .289 batting average and knocked in an impressive 102 RBIs. Brubaker's career fell apart after that, never even getting 50 RBIs again. His last year, in 1943, was with the Boston Braves.
His grandson, Dennis Rasmussen, also played in the major leagues.
The picture of another baseball player, Dave Barbee, appears on some cards and photographs attributed to Bill Brubaker. This appears to follow from a misnamed 1932 photo of Barbee taken by the baseball photographer George Burke. Tom Shieber, curator at the Baseball Hall of Fame, detected this error in 2018 based on details of Barbee's uniform.

Jim_Brideweser

James Ehrenfeld Brideweser (February 13, 1927 – August 25, 1989) was an American shortstop in Major League Baseball who played from 1951 to 1957 for the New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox and Detroit Tigers. He was 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) tall but weighed only 165 pounds.
Before being signed by the Yankees before the 1950 season, Bridewiser spent time in the United States Army during the World War II era and attended the University of Southern California. On August 2, 1945, he enlisted in the army.He made his big league debut on September 29, 1951 for the Yankees. He spent three years with them, playing in only 51 games but batting a solid .327 in 49 at bats.
He was purchased by the Orioles in May 1954, and he hit .265 in 73 games with them. After the season, he was traded by the Orioles with Bob Chakales and Clint Courtney to the White Sox for Don Ferrarese, Don Johnson, Matt Batts, and Fred Marsh.
He did poorly while with the White Sox. He spent 1955 and part of 1956 with them, batting only .203 in 69 at bats total. In May 1956, he was traded by the White Sox with Harry Byrd and Bob Kennedy to the Tigers for Fred Hatfield and Jim Delsing. He did not improve much with them, hitting only .218 in 156 at bats. Overall that year, he hit .216.
He played his final season in 1957 with the Orioles, who purchased him from the Tigers in February of that year. He hit .268 in his final season, belting the only home run of his career that year – a three-run shot off of Boston Red Sox pitcher Frank Sullivan. He played his final game on September 21, 1957.
Overall, he hit .252 in his career. In 329 games, he collected 156 hits in 620 at bats, scoring 79 runs and driving in 50. He doubled 22 times, tripled six times and homered once. He walked 63 times and struck out only 77 times. He had a great eye at the plate, striking out only 12.4% of the time.
His fielding percentage was .949.
After he retired from playing, he obtained teaching credentials. He taught mathematics at Redondo Union High School in Redondo Beach, California and, as coach of the varsity baseball team, had at least two championship seasons. He was also a Title IX counselor.

Greg_Pryor

Gregory Russell Pryor (born October 2, 1949), is an American former Major League Baseball infielder. He played all or part of ten seasons in the majors, in 1976 and 1978–1986.
He was 6'0 feet tall and weighed 185 pounds. He batted right and threw right handed.

Johnny_Pramesa

John Steven Pramesa (August 28, 1925 – September 9, 1996) was an American professional baseball player, a catcher in the Major Leagues from 1949–1952 for the Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds. A native of Barton, Ohio, he threw and batted right-handed, stood 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m) tall and weighed 210 pounds (95 kg).
Pramesa spent the full seasons of 1950 and 1951 as the Reds' second-string catcher, playing behind Homer "Dixie" Howell. In 1950, his best MLB season, Pramesa batted .307 in 74 games played and 228 at bats, with a career-high 30 runs batted in.

Bob_Wellman

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.