Shreveport Sports players

Rachel Wayne "Rac" Slider (born December 23, 1933) is an American former infielder and manager in American minor league baseball who also spent four seasons (1987–1990) as a Major League Baseball coach with the Boston Red Sox. In his playing days, Slider stood 5 feet 8 inches (1.73 m) tall, weighed 160 pounds (73 kg), batted left-handed and threw right-handed.
Slider graduated from James Bowie High School in Simms in 1951, and signed his first professional baseball contract in 1954. During an 11-year playing career (1954–1956; 1958–1964; 1966) he never reached the Major League level, although he spent four seasons in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League. In his finest year in the PCL, with the 1961 Hawaii Islanders, Slider batted .300 with 154 hits, 75 runs scored, and a career-high seven home runs. In 1962, the Kansas City Athletics sold Slider's contract to the Red Sox, and he spent the remainder of his career in the Boston organization.
He managed Bosox farm clubs for 21 consecutive seasons, from 1965 through 1985, beginning with the Harlan Red Sox and Covington Red Sox in the Rookie-level Appalachian League. His next assignment, in 1967–1968 as skipper of the Class A Waterloo Hawks, saw the professional debut of eventual Hall of Fame catcher Carlton Fisk. Slider spent nine seasons at the helm of the Red Sox' Winter Haven affiliate in the Class A Florida State League. He won pennants in 1970 (in the Class A Western Carolinas League) and 1979 (in the Florida State League). In 1983, his New Britain Red Sox won the Double-A Eastern League playoffs behind first-year pitcher Roger Clemens.
In all, Slider spent three seasons in Double-A and reached the highest minor league level as the pilot of the 1985 Pawtucket Red Sox of the Triple-A International League. Overall, his managerial record was 1,275–1,405 (.476) in 2,680 games.
Slider was promoted to the MLB Red Sox' coaching staff after the 1986 season. He served under John McNamara as Boston's bullpen coach, and under Joe Morgan as the Red Sox' third-base coach, from 1987 to 1990. He was a minor league infield instructor with the Red Sox in 1986 and from 1991 to 1994.

Billy Arnold Muffett (September 21, 1930 – June 15, 2008) was an American professional baseball player and coach. He pitched in the Major Leagues for all or parts of six seasons (1957–1962) for the St. Louis Cardinals, San Francisco Giants and Boston Red Sox. In his playing days, he stood 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m) tall, weighed 198 pounds (90 kg), and threw and batted right-handed. He was born in Hammond, Indiana.
Beginning his professional career in 1949, Muffett missed the 1952 and 1953 seasons due to military service. He returned to minor league baseball in 1954.Muffett came to the major leagues with St. Louis in 1957 and fashioned his best overall season, winning three of five decisions, posting an earned run average of 2.25 and notching eight saves. Over his career, he won 16 and lost 23 (.410) with a 4.33 ERA in 125 games. He threw seven complete games and one shutout and was credited with 15 career saves.
After retiring as a player, Muffett was a longtime MLB pitching coach for the Cardinals, California Angels and Detroit Tigers between 1967 and 1994, as well a minor league instructor. He coached on the Cardinals' 1967–68 National League pennant-winning clubs, and their 1967 World Series champion edition. He survived a bout with cancer in 1987, but continued in his role as Tiger pitching coach during his recovery.
Billy Muffett died June 15, 2008, at his home in Monroe, Louisiana.

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.

Robert Eugene Durnbaugh (January 15, 1933 – September 20, 2023) was an American Major League Baseball player. He played in two games at shortstop for the Cincinnati Redlegs in 1957, and grounded out in his only major league at-bat.