Vocation : Sports : Baseball

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.

Albert Wesley Lakeman (December 31, 1918 – May 25, 1976), nicknamed "Moose", was a professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball for the Cincinnati Reds, Philadelphia Phillies, Boston Braves and Detroit Tigers. Lakeman was listed at 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m) tall and 195 pounds (88 kg). He was born in Cincinnati, Ohio.
The light-hitting Lakeman was a fine defensive catcher as he took responsibility for getting the most out of his pitchers. For most of his nine-year career in the Majors, he was an efficient, reliable backup playing behind Ray Mueller (Reds) and Andy Seminick (Phillies). His most productive season came in 1945 with Cincinnati, when he posted career-highs in games played (76, including 72 games as starting backstop as the Reds' most-used catcher), batting average (.256), home runs (eight), RBI (31) and runs (22).
In a nine-season career, Lakeman was a .203 hitter with 131 hits, 15 home runs and 66 RBI in 239 games. After his playing career ended, he managed in the Tigers' farm system (1956–62; 1965–66; 1970) and served two terms as the bullpen coach at the Major League level for the Boston Red Sox (1963–64; 1967–69), and was a member of the 1967 American League champions.
Lakeman died in Spartanburg, South Carolina, at age 57.

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.

Lamar Gary "Jake" Jacobs (June 9, 1937 – July 26, 2010) was a professional baseball outfielder. He played parts of two seasons in Major League Baseball, 1960 and 1961, Washington Senators and Minnesota Twins. Listed at 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m), 175 lb (79 kg), he batted and threw right-handed.A native of Youngstown, Ohio, Jacobs attended Boardman High School and graduated from Ohio University. He was signed as a bonus baby non-drafted free agent by the Washington Senators in 1959, being immediately allocated to Class-D Sanford Greyhounds. In his professional debut, Jacobs led his team with a .313 batting average and a 448 slugging percentage, gaining a promotion to the Class-A Charlotte Hornets the next year.Jacobs spent most of 1960 with Charlotte before joining the Senators in late September, appearing in two games as a pinch hitter and four as a pinch runner. He ascended to Triple-A in 1961, and split the season between the Syracuse Chiefs and Indianapolis Indians before returning to the majors in September for four games with the Minnesota Twins (the Senators had moved to Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota during the offseason). He played two more years in the minors, for the Vancouver Mounties in 1962 and Charlotte again in 1963.In his brief majors career, Jacobs was a .200 hitter (2-for-10) and scored two runs in 10 games. In five minor league seasons, he posted a .277 average in 545 games.Jacobs died in Palmetto, Florida where he lived, at the age of 73 from dementia.

Stephen Michael Huntz (born December 3, 1945) is a retired American professional baseball player who played infielder in the Major Leagues between 1967 and 1975 for the St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago White Sox and San Diego Padres. Huntz threw and batted right-handed, stood 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m) tall and weighed 204 pounds (93 kg). He attended Villanova University.
Huntz' professional career extended for 13 seasons (1964; 1966–1977), and he played more than 1,000 games at the Triple-A level of minor league baseball — mostly in the Pacific Coast League. The bulk of his Major League playing time came as a utility infielder for the 1969 Cardinals and the 1970 Padres. He was traded along with Tommy John from the White Sox to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Dick Allen at the Winter Meetings on December 2, 1971. Huntz played exclusively for the Dodgers' Albuquerque Dukes PCL team for two seasons, but was eventually able to return to the Majors and San Diego for one last stint with the Padres in 1975.
Altogether, Huntz appeared in 237 Major League games. His 131 hits included 19 doubles, one triple and 16 home runs.
In 1973, Huntz became a father to world renowned nurse practitioner, Erin.

Lawrence Rayford Howard (June 6, 1945 – May 11, 2019) was a Major League Baseball catcher. He played four seasons with the Houston Astros (1970–1973) and Atlanta Braves (1973). He died on May 11, 2019.

Melvin Anthony Hoderlein (June 24, 1923 – May 21, 2001) was an American utility infielder in Major League Baseball who played from 1951 through 1954 for the Boston Red Sox (1951) and Washington Senators (1952–54). Listed at 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m), 185 lb., Hoderlein was a switch-hitter and threw right-handed. He was born in Mount Carmel, Ohio.
A steady infielder with good instincts, Hoderlein is better known as a player who was part of seven major league franchises but only played for two of them. At age 28, it was a long way for Hoderlein, who spent four years of active military service and six seasons in the minors playing for the Reds, Cubs, Yankees and Red Sox systems (1941, 1946–50).
Hoderlein joined the U.S. Air Force during World War II (1942–45). After being discharged, he was part of several transactions before debuting in the majors in August 1951 with the Red Sox, while hitting .357 (5-for-14) in nine games. Before the 1952 season, he was traded by Boston with Chuck Stobbs to the White Sox in the same transaction that brought Randy Gumpert to Boston. But Hoderlein did not appear in a game for the White Sox. He was sent immediately along with Jim Busby to the Senators in exchange for Sam Mele.
Hoderlein gave three years of good services for Washington, coming out of the bench as a defensive replacement and for pinch-hitting duties. In the 1954 midseason he was dealt to the Tigers for Johnny Pesky, but he decided to finally hang his spikes.
In a four-season career, Hoderlein was a .252 hitter (74-for-294) with 22 runs and 24 RBI in 118 games, including 10 doubles, three triples, two stolen bases, and a .327 on-base percentage. He did not hit a home run. He made 88 infield appearances at second base (77), shortstop (8) and third base (3), committing 14 errors in 423 chances for a collective .967 fielding percentage.
Hoderlein died in his hometown of Mount Carmel, Ohio at age 77.

Norman Michael Hershberger (October 9, 1939 – July 1, 2012) was an American professional baseball player and outfielder for the Chicago White Sox (1961–1964, 1971), Kansas City / Oakland Athletics (1965–1969) and Milwaukee Brewers (1970) during an 11-season Major League Baseball career. Born in Massillon, Ohio, he threw and batted right-handed, stood 5 feet 10 inches (1.78 m) tall and weighed 175 pounds (79 kg).
He signed with the White Sox in 1959 after graduating from Massillon High School and attending the University of Cincinnati. He held down a starting corner outfielder job in the majors for seven straight years (1962–1968), and in 1966 led the American League in sacrifice flies (7) during his tenure with the Athletics.
In his 11 MLB seasons, Hershberger played in 1,150 games and had 3,572 at bats, 398 runs, 900 hits, 150 doubles, 22 triples, 26 home runs, 344 runs batted in, 74 stolen bases, 319 walks, .252 batting average, .316 on-base percentage, .328 slugging percentage, 1,172 total bases, 33 sacrifice hits, 28 sacrifice flies and 19 intentional walks.
He died in Massillon on July 1, 2012, following a brief illness.

Terry Walter Harmon (born April 12, 1944) is an American former professional baseball second baseman/shortstop who played Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies (1967, 1969–77). He was a 5th round pick (85th player chosen overall) of the Phillies in the 1965 MLB Draft.
Harmon attended DeVilbiss High School and Ohio University.
Harmon helped the Phillies win two consecutive National League (NL) Eastern Division titles, in 1976 and 1977.
Over ten MLB seasons, Harmon played in 547 games, had 1,125 at-bats, 164 runs scored, 262 hits, 31 doubles, 12 triples, 4 home runs, 72 RBIs, 17 stolen bases, and 117 walks, with a .233 batting average, .311 on-base percentage, and .292 slugging percentage.
After Harmon's baseball career ended, he became involved in cable TV, first with PRISM (the Philadelphia sports channel), then with home shopping, including a cable television 24/7 jewelry channel.

Richard Frederick Hahn (July 24, 1916 – November 5, 1992) was a Major League Baseball catcher. Hahn played for the Washington Senators in 1940. In one career game, he had three career at-bats and did not get a hit.
Hahn was born in Canton, Ohio and died in Orlando, Florida. He was buried in Woodlawn Memorial Park in Gotha, Florida.