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).
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.
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.
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.
Dee Virgil Fondy (October 31, 1924 – August 19, 1999) was an American professional baseball player who played first base in the Major Leagues from 1951 to 1958. He played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds, and Chicago Cubs.
Fondy was 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) and weighed 195 pounds. He spent a portion of his youth in
San Bernardino, California.Fondy was the last player to bat at Ebbets Field. The Pirates lost to the Dodgers 2–0 on September 24, 1957. He grounded out to shortstop Don Zimmer who threw to first baseman Jim Gentile for the final out of the game. He batted above .300 three times, twice for the Cubs and the Pirates during the 1950s.
Seth Marvin "Moe" Morehead (August 15, 1934 – January 17, 2006) was a left-handed specialist reliever in Major League Baseball. He was born in Houston, Texas.
Morehead was signed by the Philadelphia Phillies as an amateur free agent in 1952 out of C. E. Byrd High School in Shreveport, LA. He spent five seasons in the major leagues pitching in parts of three seasons with the Phillies (1957–59), two seasons with the Chicago Cubs (1959–60) and one season with the Milwaukee Braves (1961).
Morehead posted a 5–19 record with a 4.81 ERA and five saves in 132 games pitched (24 as a starter). Among his career highlights was being the last pitcher to face Roy Campanella and also the last pitcher to face the Brooklyn Dodgers before the team moved to Los Angeles after the 1957 season.
Following his baseball career, Morehead graduated from Baylor University with a degree in business. He worked in banking for 36 years before retiring in 1999.
Morehead died in Shreveport, Louisiana, at the age of 71.
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.
Stephen Patrick Larkin (December 9, 1910 – May 2, 1969) was a Major League Baseball pitcher.
Larkin joined the Detroit Tigers organization in 1931, signing a contract with Evansville. During the 1931 season, he played in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Wheeling, West Virginia. During the 1932 season, he played for the Tigers' farm clubs in Decatur, Illinois, Moline, Illinois, Huntington, and Beaumont. In 1933, he compiled a 22–7 record for the Shreveport Sports in the Dixie League, pitching 280 innings with 142 strikeouts and 96 walks. He led the Dixie League in wins and winning percentage during the 1933 season.After his strong performance in Shreveport, Larkin was invited to the Tigers' spring camp at Lakeland, Florida, in 1934. He played in two games for the 1934 Detroit Tigers. He pitched 6 innings and gave up only one earned run for an earned run average of 1.50.With the Tigers' having a strong pitching staff, Larkin was sent to Beaumont in June 1934. In November 1934, The Sporting News profiled Larkin as one of the "Minors Coming UP to Majors in '35." The Sporting News said of Larkin: "If size, weight and general physical appointments mean anything, somebody will have to move over on the Detroit bench and make room for Steve Larkin next spring. The 200-pounder, towering an inch above six feet ... appears to be one of the most promising of the pitching prospects scheduled to receive big league inspection."Larkin did not make the Tigers' roster in 1935. After two more years in Detroit's farm system, playing in Beaumont and Milwaukee, Larkin was released by the Tigers' organization in December 1936. Larkin concluded his baseball career in 1938 pitching for Portland and Fort Worth.
Gordon Richard Massa (September 2, 1935 – July 16, 2016) was an American professional baseball player who appeared in eight games as a catcher and pinch hitter for the 1957–1958 Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball. A left-handed batter who threw right-handed, he stood 6 feet 3 inches (1.91 m) tall and weighed 210 pounds (95 kg).
After graduating from Elder High School in Cincinnati, Massa attended The College of the Holy Cross, where he starred in baseball and football. In 1955 he led the Crusaders in home runs and runs batted in as the team posted a 13–4 record and qualified for the NCAA Division I College baseball tournament. Overall, Holy Cross won 42 of 53 games during Massa's time on the varsity. In football, he played center and linebacker and was selected by the New York Giants in the tenth round of the 1957 National Football League Draft.
But Massa chose professional baseball as his destination and signed with the Cubs on June 24, 1957. Three months later, after prepping with the Des Moines Bruins of the Class A Western League, Massa made his MLB debut, starting at catcher and notching two hits, both singles, in four at bats with one run batted in against Hal Jeffcoat of the Cincinnati Redlegs. All told, Massa collected seven hits in 15 at-bats with three RBI during his first trial with the Cubs. The following year, he was sent to the Class B Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League for further minor league seasoning, and he batted .316 to earn his second late-season call-up to the Cubs. He went hitless in two at-bats.
Massa returned to the minors for good in 1959, and retired in late 1963 after seven seasons in the Cub farm system, pitching in 24 games as well as handling catching chores.He was elected to the Holy Cross Athletic Hall of Fame in 2005.Massa died July 16, 2016, aged 80, in Cincinnati.
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.