Columbus Red Birds players

Walter Emmons Alston (December 1, 1911 – October 1, 1984), nicknamed "Smokey", was an American baseball manager in Major League Baseball who managed the Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers from 1954 through 1976, signing 23 one-year contracts with the team. Regarded as one of the greatest managers in baseball history, Alston was known for his calm, reticent demeanor, for which he was sometimes referred to as "the Quiet Man."
Born and raised in rural Ohio, Alston lettered in baseball and basketball at Miami University in Oxford. A journeyman whose MLB playing career consisted of only one game–two innings played, and one at-bat with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1936–Alston spent 19 years in the minor leagues as a player, player-manager and non-playing manager. His service included a stint as manager of the 1946 Nashua Dodgers, the first U.S.-based integrated professional team in modern baseball. After six successful seasons as manager of Brooklyn's Triple-A teams, the St. Paul Saints and Montreal Royals, Alston was promoted to manage the Dodgers in 1954.
As a major league manager, Alston led Dodger teams to seven National League (NL) pennants and four World Series titles, including the only championship title won while the club was still in Brooklyn. After 23 seasons, Alston retired with over 2,000 career wins and had been selected as Manager of the Year six times. He also managed NL All-Star teams to seven victories. Alston's number 24 was retired by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1977. In 1983, he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame but was unable to attend his induction ceremony after suffering a heart attack that year and being hospitalized for a month. He never fully recovered and died in Oxford, Ohio, on October 1, 1984.

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.

Herbert Loren Adams (April 14, 1928 – February 1, 2012) was an American baseball outfielder who played three seasons in Major League Baseball for the Chicago White Sox. He was born in Hollywood, California, and later coached at Northern Illinois University.

Charles Arthur Shires (August 13, 1906 – July 13, 1967) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman for the Chicago White Sox, Washington Senators and Boston Braves. In a four-year major league career, Shires played in 290 games, accumulating 287 hits in 986 at bats for a .291 career batting average along with 11 home runs, 119 runs batted in, an on-base percentage of .347, and a .988 fielding percentage.
Shires was a colorful personality with a penchant for self-praise, giving himself the nickname, Arthur The Great Shires and, earning the nickname of "What-a-Man" from reporters.

James Baugh "Sunny Jim" Mallory III (September 1, 1918 – August 6, 2001) was an American football coach and baseball player. As a Major League Baseball outfielder, he played parts of two seasons in the majors, debuting in 1940 for the Washington Senators, then returning in 1945, which he split between the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Giants. Mallory was the head football coach at Elon University from 1948 to 1952, compiling a record of 28–18–3. He attended the University of North Carolina. Mallory died in 2001.

Ralph William Beard (February 11, 1929 – February 10, 2003) was an American professional baseball player, a right-handed pitcher whose ten-season (1947–56) pro career included 13 games pitched for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball. Beard, a native of Cincinnati, attended the University of Cincinnati. He stood 6 feet 5 inches (1.96 m) tall and weighed 200 pounds (91 kg).
Beard's 13 big-league appearances included ten starting pitcher assignments, as he took a regular turn in the Cardinals' rotation during late July and August of the 1954 season. Although he lost all four decisions, he made a memorable start on July 22, 1954, against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Busch Stadium. He went 12 innings and allowed only one earned run and eight hits (including a home run by Preston Ward for the Pirates' earned run), but left the game for a pinch hitter with the score tied 2–2. He was relieved by Gerry Staley, who hurled two perfect frames and St. Louis won, 3–2, in 14 innings.As a starter, Beard gave up 29 runs in ten efforts and 492⁄3 innings pitched, but only 21 were earned (for a 3.81 earned run average in starting assignments). All told as a Major Leaguer, he surrendered 62 hits and 28 bases on balls in 58 innings pitched, with 17 strikeouts.
Beard died in West Palm Beach, Florida, on the day before his 74th birthday.

Donald Raymond Fisher (February 6, 1916 – July 29, 1973) was a Major League Baseball pitcher who appeared in two games for the New York Giants in 1945. The 29-year-old rookie was a native of Cleveland, Ohio.
Fisher is one of many ballplayers who only appeared in the major leagues during World War II. Fisher did not play minor league baseball for several years before joining the Giants. The Giants instead signed him directly out of the semi-pro ranks.He made his major league debut in relief on August 25, 1945, against the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field. He pitched the last five innings of one of the games of the doubleheader and gave up four earned runs.
Fisher played his next and last game on September 30, 1945, the last day of the season, he started the first game of a doubleheader against the Boston Braves at Braves Field. He pitched a 13-inning complete game shutout, winning 1–0.
In 18 total innings pitched, Fisher allowed just 19 baserunners and 4 earned runs, giving him an ERA of 2.00 to go along with his 1–0 record.
Fisher died at the age of 57 in Mayfield Heights, Ohio.

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.

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.