Merrill Glend "Pinky" May (January 18, 1911 – September 4, 2000) was an American professional baseball player and third baseman who appeared in 665 games in Major League Baseball for the Philadelphia Phillies from 1939 through 1943. He later became a longtime manager in the minor leagues and fashioned a 40-year career in organized baseball. He served in the United States Navy during World War II and was the father of former longtime major league catcher Milt May.
Louis Joseph Berberet (November 20, 1929 – April 6, 2004) was an American catcher in Major League Baseball who played for the New York Yankees, Washington Senators, Boston Red Sox and Detroit Tigers between 1954 and 1960. He was born in Long Beach, California.A stocky player of 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m), 200 pounds (91 kg), Berberet was a very solid defensive catcher and a decent left-handed hitter. He retired after the 1960 season having a career batting average of .230, with 31 home runs, 153 runs batted in, and a fielding percentage of .992.
Berberet died on April 6, 2004.
John Phillip James (born July 23, 1933) is a former Major League Baseball relief pitcher who played for the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Angels between 1958 and 1961. James was originally signed by the Yankees in 1953. He batted left-handed but threw right-handed, and he was 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m), 160 pounds. He attended the University of Southern California.
He played only one game in his debut season, 1958. Appearing in relief for Art Ditmar (who had given up seven earned runs in six innings of work) on September 6, James pitched three innings of scoreless baseball, walking four batters and striking out one. He also had one at-bat in that game, and struck out.He did not play in the major leagues in 1959, but he did appear in 28 games in relief for the Yankees in 1960. He earned a spot on the team by being a part of a spring training no-hitter. In 43 innings of work, he posted a 5–1 record, allowing 21 earned runs and striking out 29 batters. He walked 26. He also saved two games.
1961 would end up being his final season in the majors. He pitched in only one game for the Yankees that year before being traded to the Angels with Ryne Duren for Tex Clevenger and Bob Cerv on May 8. In 36 games with the Angels, he posted a 5.30 ERA. Overall that season, he walked 54 batters and struck out 43. His record was 0–2. James gave up the 20th home run of Roger Maris' then record-setting 61 home run season.
His career ended on October 1 of that year. He had a 5–3 record in 66 career games, starting 3 games. In 119 innings of work, he walked 84 and struck out 73, finishing with a 4.76 ERA. Although he did not collect a single hit in 17 at-bats (and struck out 8 times), he did score three runs. He was a perfect fielder, handling 25 total chances (4 putouts, 21 assists) for a 1.000 fielding percentage.
He wore three numbers in his career: 27 in 1958, 53 in 1959 and 1960, and 22 in 1961.
Hiram Gabriel Bithorn Sosa (March 18, 1916 – December 29, 1951) was a professional right-handed pitcher who became the first baseball player from Puerto Rico to play in Major League Baseball.Standing 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m) and weighing about 200 pounds (90 kg), Bithorn was a hard-throwing pitcher who commanded attention when he began his delivery with a distinctive windup, raising his long left leg high in the air and throwing a blazing fastball toward home plate.
Harold Eugene Reniff (July 2, 1938 – September 7, 2004) was an American professional baseball player. The right-handed relief pitcher appeared in Major League Baseball for all or parts of seven seasons, from 1961 to 1967, almost exclusively as a member of the New York Yankees. Reniff was listed as 6 feet (1.8 m) tall and 215 pounds (98 kg). He was born in Warren, Ohio, and signed with the Yankees in 1956 after graduating from Chaffey High School in Ontario, California.
Reniff spent five full years in minor league baseball (winning 21 games for the Modesto Reds of the Class C California League in 1959) before he was called up to the Yankees in June 1961. He also spent part of 1962 in the minors, before making the Bombers' bullpen corps for good in 1963. That season, the best of his career, he recorded a career-high 18 saves (sixth in the American League) and posted his finest earned run average (2.62). He pitched in the 1963 and 1964 World Series for the Yankees, allowing two hits and a base on balls, but no runs in 31⁄3 total innings pitched. He did not get credit for a decision or a save, as the Yankees fell in both Fall Classics, to the Los Angeles Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals respectively.
The Yankees sold Reniff's contract to the crosstown New York Mets in June 1967, and he completed his major league career on the Mets' bullpen staff, getting into 29 games. Returning to the Yankee organization in 1968, he spent five full years at Triple-A Syracuse, but did not earn a recall to the majors. He retired after the 1972 season, his 17th in pro ball, at age 34. He died in the city of Ontario, aged 66, in 2004.
James Ehrenfeld Brideweser (February 13, 1927 – August 25, 1989) was an American shortstop in Major League Baseball who played from 1951 to 1957 for the New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox and Detroit Tigers. He was 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) tall but weighed only 165 pounds.
Before being signed by the Yankees before the 1950 season, Bridewiser spent time in the United States Army during the World War II era and attended the University of Southern California. On August 2, 1945, he enlisted in the army.He made his big league debut on September 29, 1951 for the Yankees. He spent three years with them, playing in only 51 games but batting a solid .327 in 49 at bats.
He was purchased by the Orioles in May 1954, and he hit .265 in 73 games with them. After the season, he was traded by the Orioles with Bob Chakales and Clint Courtney to the White Sox for Don Ferrarese, Don Johnson, Matt Batts, and Fred Marsh.
He did poorly while with the White Sox. He spent 1955 and part of 1956 with them, batting only .203 in 69 at bats total. In May 1956, he was traded by the White Sox with Harry Byrd and Bob Kennedy to the Tigers for Fred Hatfield and Jim Delsing. He did not improve much with them, hitting only .218 in 156 at bats. Overall that year, he hit .216.
He played his final season in 1957 with the Orioles, who purchased him from the Tigers in February of that year. He hit .268 in his final season, belting the only home run of his career that year – a three-run shot off of Boston Red Sox pitcher Frank Sullivan. He played his final game on September 21, 1957.
Overall, he hit .252 in his career. In 329 games, he collected 156 hits in 620 at bats, scoring 79 runs and driving in 50. He doubled 22 times, tripled six times and homered once. He walked 63 times and struck out only 77 times. He had a great eye at the plate, striking out only 12.4% of the time.
His fielding percentage was .949.
After he retired from playing, he obtained teaching credentials. He taught mathematics at Redondo Union High School in Redondo Beach, California and, as coach of the varsity baseball team, had at least two championship seasons. He was also a Title IX counselor.
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).
Robert Bernard Meyer (born August 4, 1939) is an American former Major League Baseball left-handed pitcher. He was signed by the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent in 1960. Meyer pitched for the Yankees (1964), Los Angeles Angels (1964), Kansas City Athletics (1964), Seattle Pilots/Milwaukee Brewers (1969–1970). His first major league strikeout victim was future Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski. During a three-year baseball career, Meyer compiled two wins, 92 strikeouts, and a 4.38 earned run average.On September 12, 1964, while starting for the Athletics on the road at Memorial Stadium, he and Baltimore Orioles left-hander Frank Bertaina each pitched a complete game one-hitter, but the A's lost 1–0 as Jackie Brandt hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth to score pinch-runner Bob Saverine from third.Other career highlights include a six scoreless inning win against the Kansas City Athletics on June 26, 1964, a six-hit, complete game win (6–1) against the Baltimore Orioles on September 7, 1964, and pitching the first nine innings and giving up one unearned run in a 13-inning victory over the New York Yankees on September 1, 1969.