Hamilton Cardinals players

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.

Walter Charles Shannon (January 23, 1933 – February 8, 1992) was an American professional baseball player, a second baseman and shortstop who appeared in parts of two seasons for the 1959–1960 St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, he batted left-handed, threw right-handed, stood 6 feet (1.8 m) tall and weighed 178 pounds (81 kg). He was the son of Walter G. Shannon (1907–1994), a longtime scout, director of scouting, and front office executive for the Cardinals, Cleveland Indians, Baltimore Orioles, California Angels and Milwaukee Brewers.
Wally Shannon attended Washington University in St. Louis. He signed with the Cardinals in 1951 and was called to the Major Leagues in July 1959 after batting .291 with 13 home runs for the Rochester Red Wings of the Triple-A International League. In 47 MLB games as a pinch hitter and backup infielder, Shannon collected 27 hits, including five doubles. But in 1960 Shannon was sent back to the minor leagues for good in May after only 18 games with the Cards, three as a starter, and he played the rest of his ten-season career in the minors.
In 65 Major League games, Shannon had 31 hits and a lifetime batting average of .263. After his retirement as a player, Shannon was a scout for the New York Mets during Bing Devine's tenure as the team's president. Shannon died at Creve Coeur, Missouri, from a heart attack at the age of 59.