Major League Baseball second basemen

Richard Roy Cole (May 6, 1926 – October 18, 2018) was an American Major League Baseball infielder.Before the 1943 season, Cole was signed as an amateur free agent by the St. Louis Cardinals. Over eight years later, he made his debut with the Cardinals, but was traded after only 15 games of service to the Pittsburgh Pirates, where he would spend the majority of his career.Cole was used at three different positions during his career, playing 169 games at shortstop, 118 games at second base, and 107 games at third.In Cole's only full season, 1954, he grounded into 20 double plays, which was enough to tie for the second highest total in the National League with Stan Musial, only being topped by Del Ennis with 23. However, Cole hit .270, along with 22 doubles, 5 triples, and 40 RBI in 138 games. The only home run of the year he hit was off the Brooklyn Dodgers' All-Star Carl Erskine.Cole died on October 18, 2018, at the age of 92.

Edward Jones "Red" Borom (October 30, 1915 – January 7, 2011) was an American second baseman who played two seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Detroit Tigers. Born in Spartanburg, South Carolina, Borom was 28 years old before he made it to the big leagues. He only played one full season in the major leagues, and that season saw him win the 1945 World Series. Borom also played professional and semi-pro baseball for over 15 years from the mid-1930s into the 1950s.
Borom served in the United States Army briefly in 1943, but was released because of migraine headaches. He recalled: "Two days after getting home, I got a call from Jack Zeller, general manager of Detroit ... Four days after getting out of the service, I was in training camp with Detroit in Evansville, Indiana. I realized it was wartime, but there were some good players still in the majors."In 1945, Borom played the entire season with Detroit. Playing in place of injured second baseman Eddie Mayo, Borom batted over .300 during the September pennant drive.
Borom played in 55 games for the Tigers in 1945, batting .269 with a .307 on-base percentage. He played in two games of the 1945 World Series. Describing his appearance in the World Series, Borom said: "I hit a ground ball up the middle, off the glove of pitcher Hank Borowy. The shortstop, Roy Hughes, threw me out on an extremely close play. I thought I had a base hit." Borom also pinch-ran for catcher Bob Swift in game three.
When asked about his biggest thrill in baseball, Borom responded: "When Hank Greenberg hit the bases-loaded home run against the Browns [in September 1945] and we were behind 3–2 at the time. I was the runner on third, and when I saw the ball headed for the seats and knew we were in the World Series. Nothing could surpass that."In 1946, as veteran players returned from World War II, Borom did not make Detroit's roster. Borom played several more years of minor league and semipro ball. Borom was involved with two NBC tournament titlists – Wichita's Boeing Bombers in 1942 as player and Sinton, Texas, in 1951 as manager. Reflecting on his career, Red observed, "I guess a career that looked like it was headed nowhere for so long turned out pretty well."
Borom was inducted into the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame in 1978 and the Kansas Baseball Hall of Fame in 1996.After retiring from baseball, Borom worked 25 years for a freight company in Dallas. He died on January 7, 2011, in Dallas as one of the oldest living former Major Leaguers. He attended Society for American Baseball Research meetings in the DFW area (Hall-Ruggles Chapter) for many years.

Robert Frank Knoop ( kuh-NOP; born October 18, 1938) is an American former Major League Baseball second baseman and coach. In his nine-year MLB career, he appeared in 1,153 games as a member of the Los Angeles / California Angels (1964–69), Chicago White Sox (1969–70) and Kansas City Royals (1971–72). He threw and batted right-handed, stood 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m) tall and weighed 170 pounds (77 kg).

Everett Lamar "Rocky" Bridges (August 7, 1927 – January 28, 2015) was a middle infielder and third baseman with an 11-year career in Major League Baseball from 1951 to 1961. Bridges played for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Cincinnati Redlegs and St. Louis Cardinals of the National League, and the Washington Senators, Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Indians and Los Angeles Angels of the American League.

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.

John Lucadello (February 22, 1919 – October 30, 2001) was an American professional baseball player. Primarily a second baseman, he appeared in 239 Major League games for the St. Louis Browns (1938–1941; 1946) and New York Yankees (1947). The 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m), 160 lb (73 kg) native of Thurber, Texas, threw and batted right-handed. He served in the United States Navy during World War II. He was the brother of longtime MLB scout Tony Lucadello.
Johnny Lucadello's pro career lasted from 1936 to 1955, with four seasons (1942–1945) missed because of his wartime service. In six Major League seasons, he had 686 at bats, 95 runs scored, 181 hits, 36 doubles, 7 triples, and 5 home runs. He had 60 RBIs, 6 stolen bases, 93 walks, a .264 batting average, a .353 on-base percentage, a .359 slugging percentage, 246 total bases and 5 sacrifice hits.
He died in San Antonio, Texas at the age of 82.

Melvin Anthony Hoderlein (June 24, 1923 – May 21, 2001) was an American utility infielder in Major League Baseball who played from 1951 through 1954 for the Boston Red Sox (1951) and Washington Senators (1952–54). Listed at 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m), 185 lb., Hoderlein was a switch-hitter and threw right-handed. He was born in Mount Carmel, Ohio.
A steady infielder with good instincts, Hoderlein is better known as a player who was part of seven major league franchises but only played for two of them. At age 28, it was a long way for Hoderlein, who spent four years of active military service and six seasons in the minors playing for the Reds, Cubs, Yankees and Red Sox systems (1941, 1946–50).
Hoderlein joined the U.S. Air Force during World War II (1942–45). After being discharged, he was part of several transactions before debuting in the majors in August 1951 with the Red Sox, while hitting .357 (5-for-14) in nine games. Before the 1952 season, he was traded by Boston with Chuck Stobbs to the White Sox in the same transaction that brought Randy Gumpert to Boston. But Hoderlein did not appear in a game for the White Sox. He was sent immediately along with Jim Busby to the Senators in exchange for Sam Mele.
Hoderlein gave three years of good services for Washington, coming out of the bench as a defensive replacement and for pinch-hitting duties. In the 1954 midseason he was dealt to the Tigers for Johnny Pesky, but he decided to finally hang his spikes.
In a four-season career, Hoderlein was a .252 hitter (74-for-294) with 22 runs and 24 RBI in 118 games, including 10 doubles, three triples, two stolen bases, and a .327 on-base percentage. He did not hit a home run. He made 88 infield appearances at second base (77), shortstop (8) and third base (3), committing 14 errors in 423 chances for a collective .967 fielding percentage.
Hoderlein died in his hometown of Mount Carmel, Ohio at age 77.

Terry Walter Harmon (born April 12, 1944) is an American former professional baseball second baseman/shortstop who played Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies (1967, 1969–77). He was a 5th round pick (85th player chosen overall) of the Phillies in the 1965 MLB Draft.
Harmon attended DeVilbiss High School and Ohio University.
Harmon helped the Phillies win two consecutive National League (NL) Eastern Division titles, in 1976 and 1977.
Over ten MLB seasons, Harmon played in 547 games, had 1,125 at-bats, 164 runs scored, 262 hits, 31 doubles, 12 triples, 4 home runs, 72 RBIs, 17 stolen bases, and 117 walks, with a .233 batting average, .311 on-base percentage, and .292 slugging percentage.
After Harmon's baseball career ended, he became involved in cable TV, first with PRISM (the Philadelphia sports channel), then with home shopping, including a cable television 24/7 jewelry channel.

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.

Thomas Lee "Chip" Coulter (born June 5, 1945) is an American former Major League Baseball second baseman who played for the 1969 St. Louis Cardinals. Listed at 5'10" tall, weighing 172 pounds, Coulter was a switch-hitter and threw right-handed. He was born in Steubenville, Ohio.
Originally signed by the Cardinals as an amateur free agent in 1964, Coulter made his Major League debut at the age of 24 on September 18, 1969, against the Pittsburgh Pirates, facing pitcher Steve Blass, finishing the game 0-for-2, after which Julián Javier pinch hit for him in the eighth inning.
His second big league game, on September 26, 1969, was against the Montreal Expos where Coulter went 4-for-5, with a double and three RBIs, which saw the Cardinals win 12–1.
Coulter went 0-for-10 in his next three games, then in his final game, on October 1, 1969, he went 2-for-2 with a triple in his final at-bat, off Woodie Fryman.
Coulter finished his career with six hits in 19 at-bats for a .316 batting average and did not hit a home run. In total he appeared in six games, collecting a double and a triple, driving in four runs while scoring three times, walking twice and striking out six times. He committed one error in 25 fielding appearances for a .960 fielding percentage.
After his stint in the majors, Coulter continued playing in the Minor Leagues. He was traded with Jim Beauchamp, Harry Parker and Chuck Taylor from the Cardinals to the New York Mets for Art Shamsky, Jim Bibby, Rich Folkers and Charlie Hudson on October 18, 1971.Coulter lives in Toronto, Ohio.