Vocation : Sports : Baseball

Nelson Edward Burbrink (December 28, 1921 – April 12, 2001) was an American professional baseball player and scout. A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, he was signed by the Chicago Cubs as an amateur free agent before the 1941 season and served in the United States Navy during World War II. After almost a dozen years playing in the minor leagues, Burbrink finally made it to Major League Baseball at the age of 33 with the St. Louis Cardinals.
After being called up to the big leagues in June 1955, Burbrink shared catching duties with teammate Bill Sarni for the remainder of the season. He made his major league debut on June 5 during a doubleheader against the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field. He appeared in 58 games for St. Louis, going 47-for-170 (.276) with eight doubles, one triple, no home runs, 15 runs batted in, and 11 runs scored. He had a .333 on-base percentage and a slugging percentage of .335.
Defensively, he recorded 261 putouts, 24 assists, six errors, and participated in four double plays. His fielding percentage was .979, slightly under the league average that season.
After his playing career ended, Burbrink scouted for the Cardinals, New York Mets and Milwaukee Brewers. He served as the Mets' scouting director (1968–72) and director of player development (1973–78).
Burbrink died of cancer in Largo, Florida, at the age of 79.

Wilbur Lee "Bill" Brubaker (November 7, 1910 – April 2, 1978) was a professional American baseball player from 1932 to 1943, although he did not play the 1941 or 1942 seasons. Of his ten years of play, Brubaker played nine with the Pittsburgh Pirates, playing third base. His best year was in 1936, when he hit for a .289 batting average and knocked in an impressive 102 RBIs. Brubaker's career fell apart after that, never even getting 50 RBIs again. His last year, in 1943, was with the Boston Braves.
His grandson, Dennis Rasmussen, also played in the major leagues.
The picture of another baseball player, Dave Barbee, appears on some cards and photographs attributed to Bill Brubaker. This appears to follow from a misnamed 1932 photo of Barbee taken by the baseball photographer George Burke. Tom Shieber, curator at the Baseball Hall of Fame, detected this error in 2018 based on details of Barbee's uniform.

Ethan Allen Blackaby (July 24, 1940 – January 16, 2022) was an American professional baseball player who was an outfielder in Major League Baseball, appearing in 15 games for the Milwaukee Braves during the 1962 and 1964 seasons. He threw and batted left-handed, stood 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m) tall and weighed 190 pounds (86 kg).
Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Blackaby attended Canton, Illinois, High School, where he was a multi-sport standout athlete. He played baseball and football at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign before signing with the Braves in 1961. His nine-year professional career included 1,073 games in minor league baseball, punctuated by his two trials with the Braves in the closing weeks of the 1962 and 1964 campaigns, when MLB rosters expanded to 40 players. In his debut on September 6, 1962, he doubled in his first MLB at bat against Ernie Broglio of the St. Louis Cardinals. He had entered the game as a pinch hitter for Braves' catcher Bob Uecker, who later became both a film and television actor and Baseball Hall of Fame play-by-play broadcaster. Blackaby collected only two other hits in the majors, both singles, in 25 at bats over his two brief trials.
After his playing days were over, Blackaby was part-owner and general manager of the Phoenix Giants of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League in the 1970s and early 1980s.
Blackaby died on January 16, 2022, at the age of 81.

Robert Wilbur Barton (July 30, 1941 – January 15, 2018) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher from 1965 to 1974 for the San Francisco Giants, San Diego Padres and the Cincinnati Reds.
Barton made his Major League debut at the age of 22 on September 17, 1965, in a 9–1 Giants loss to the Milwaukee Braves at County Stadium, entering the game in the seventh inning, replacing catcher Jack Hiatt. He batted once, going 0–1 with a foulout. His first hit came in his next at-bat on September 28 in a 9–1 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals at San Francisco's Candlestick Park. Pinch-hitting for Baseball Hall of Famer Warren Spahn in the ninth inning, he singled off Larry Jaster.Barton was primarily a backup catcher, playing behind Tom Haller with the Giants and Baseball Hall of Famer Johnny Bench with the Reds. His best statistical year as a hitter was as a starter for the 1971 Padres; in 121 games, he hit .250 with five home runs and 23 runs batted in along with 17 doubles. On defense, in 1971 he led National League catchers in runners caught stealing (42), percentage of runners caught stealing (51.2%) and errors committed (15) and was second in assists (67).

Robert Gordon Addis (November 6, 1925 – November 15, 2016) was an American professional baseball player. The outfielder appeared in 208 Major League Baseball games over four seasons (1950–53) for three National League teams. He threw right-handed, batted left-handed, and was listed as 6 feet (1.8 m) tall and 170 pounds (77 kg).

William Henry McEnaney (born February 14, 1952) is an American former professional baseball player. He was a left-handed pitcher over parts of six seasons in Major League Baseball (1974–79) with the Cincinnati Reds, Montreal Expos, Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals.
McEnaney was one of five children of William and Eleanor (Grieb) McEnaney and attended Springfield North High School in Springfield, Ohio. He was drafted by the Reds in the eighth round of the 1970 amateur draft. He made his Major League debut at age 22 on July 3, 1974, in relief of starter Clay Carroll in a 4–1 Reds loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers at Riverfront Stadium. McEnaney's first-ever inning was a 1–2–3 one as he induced popouts from Tommy John, Davey Lopes and Bill Buckner, and for the game he pitched two scoreless innings. In his rookie season, he pitched 24 games, with a 2–1 record and a 4.44 earned run average.
McEnaney was a key member of the bullpen of the Big Red Machine Reds teams that were the 1975 and 1976 World Series champions. In 1975, he posted a 5–2 record with a 2.47 ERA and 15 saves in 70 pitching appearances. But he is best known for his performance in the Series, in which he pitched five games (6+2⁄3 innings) in relief with a 2.70 ERA and one save. He earned the save in the seventh and final game as he pitched a perfect three-out ninth inning.In 1976 he fell to 2–6 with a 4.85 ERA in 55 games. But he again excelled in the World Series, pitching 4+2⁄3 scoreless innings in two games and earning two saves. And, just as in the previous World Series, he closed out the series with a 1–2–3 9th inning, for a four-game sweep over the New York Yankees.In December 1976 he was traded to the Expos. In 1977, he pitched 69 games with a 3–5 record and a 3.95 ERA. He was then traded to the Pirates for the 1978 season and pitched only six games with a 10.38 ERA. Released by the Pirates, he played for the Cardinals in 1979. In that season, he pitched in 25 games with an 0–3 record and a 2.95 ERA, but it was his final season in the majors as the Cardinals released him prior to the 1980 season. For his Major League career he compiled 12–17 record with a 3.76 earned run average and 148 strikeouts in 269 appearances, all as a relief pitcher.
McEnaney played in Mexico with the Águilas de Mexicali and the Plataneros de Tabasco, as well as for the West Palm Beach Tropics of the Senior Professional Baseball Association. In 1980, while pitching for Mexicali, McEnaney hurled a 1–0 no-hitter against the Algodoneros de Guasave.McEnaney lives in Florida with his second wife, Cindy. They have two adult sons. He also has a daughter from his first wife, Lynne Magaw. After baseball, he has been an investment banker, had a painting business, later a bathtub refinishing business for 12 years and was most recently the scoreboard operator for the Miami Marlins minor league affiliate Jupiter Hammerheads.

Donald Jeffrey Little (born December 25, 1954) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. Little played in two seasons: 1980 for the St. Louis Cardinals and 1982 for the Minnesota Twins. He pitched in a total of 40 games, including two starts.

Anthony Scott (born September 18, 1951) is a former American professional baseball center fielder and coach.

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.

Henry Alexander Ruszkowski (November 10, 1925 – May 31, 2000) was an American professional baseball player. A catcher, he appeared in 40 Major League games over parts of three seasons for the Cleveland Indians (1944–1945; 1947). Listed at 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m), 190 pounds (86 kg), Ruszkowski batted and threw right-handed. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio.During his Major League career, Ruszkowski was a .238 hitter (20-for-84) with three home runs, two doubles and a .310 on-base percentage. He also played seven minor league seasons between 1944 and 1954, appearing in 298 games.Ruszkowski died in his native Cleveland at the age of 74.