Knoxville Smokies players

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.

Ronald Edward Samford (February 28, 1930 – January 14, 2021) was an American shortstop in Major League Baseball who played from 1954 to 1959 with the New York Giants, Detroit Tigers and Washington Senators.

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.

Wilbur Scott "Jake" Striker (October 23, 1933 – March 7, 2013) was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played in 1959 and 1960 with the Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox.
Originally signed by the Indians in 1952, the 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m), 200 lb (91 kg) Striker enjoyed a promising start to his career. In his MLB debut on September 25, 1959, against the Kansas City Athletics at the age of 25, Striker tossed 6⅔ innings of solid baseball, allowing only two earned runs for a 2.70 earned run average and the win. He went 0 for 1 with a walk at the plate in what would be the only game in which he would appear in 1959.
The only player from Heidelberg College to reach the major leagues, Striker was traded on December 6, 1959 with Dick Brown, Don Ferrarese and Minnie Miñoso to the White Sox for Johnny Romano, Bubba Phillips and Norm Cash. He only appeared in two games with the White Sox, both relief appearances. In 3+ innings of work, he posted a 4.91 ERA, striking out one and walking one. His major league career ended on April 24, 1960. Overall, he went 1 and 0 with a 3.48 ERA in 3 games in his career. He walked five, struck out six and gave up one home run (to Casey Wise) in about 10 innings of work. Overall, he wore three uniform numbers in his short two-year career. He wore 23 with the Indians, and 20 and 31 with the White Sox.

George Elwell Spencer (July 7, 1926 – September 10, 2014) was an American pitcher in Major League Baseball. A right-hander, he was primarily a relief pitcher for the New York Giants and the Detroit Tigers. Spencer stood 6 feet 0 inches (1.83 m) tall and weighed 200 pounds (91 kg).
A graduate of Bexley High School and Ohio State University, where he played quarterback on the OSU varsity football team, Spencer was a key member of the 1951 Giants' pitching staff, leading the club in saves and winning ten of 14 decisions, including a key August start over the front-running Brooklyn Dodgers. The Giants would famously overcome a 131⁄2-game, mid-August deficit to tie Brooklyn on the season's final day, then defeated the Dodgers for the National League pennant on Bobby Thomson's historic Game 3 home run.

Douglas Eugene Gallagher (February 21, 1940 – December 17, 2017) was an American professional baseball player and left-handed pitcher who appeared in nine games for the Detroit Tigers in 1962. Born in Fremont, Ohio, he batted right-handed and was listed as 6 feet 3 inches (1.91 m) tall and 195 pounds (88 kg).
Gallagher attended Fremont Ross High School before signing with the Tigers' organization in 1958. He made his professional debut with the Class-D Erie Sailors of the New York-Pennsylvania League. He threw a no-hitter for the Double-A Birmingham Barons in the 1961 Southern Association playoffs. Overall he was 15–9 for the Barons that season, which led to his getting called up to the Tigers the following season.Gallagher made his Major League Baseball debut as a relief pitcher on April 9, 1962, opening day, against the Washington Senators, a game attended by President John F. Kennedy. He pitched 11⁄3 innings of relief in the game, allowing two hits and striking out Bennie Daniels. He would pitch in nine total games for the Tigers that season, including making two starts, and finished with an 0–4 record and 4.68 ERA in 25 full innings pitched. He allowed 31 hits and 15 bases on balls, and was credited with 14 strikeouts.
One highlight of Gallagher's MLB career came on April 27, 1962, when he pitched the final three innings against the Los Angeles Angels to preserve a 13–4 Tigers' victory for future Baseball Hall of Famer Jim Bunning and pick up his lone big-league save.The following year, Gallagher was invited to spring training, where the Tigers wanted him to work on his curveball in an effort to get him back on the MLB roster. However, he ended up not making the varsity, and 1962 became his only year in the majors.After his playing career, he served in the United States Air Force during the Vietnam War. In later life, he coached American Legion Baseball.

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.