Birmingham Barons players

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.

Michael Dan Dejan (January 13, 1915 – February 2, 1953) was a professional baseball player. He was an outfielder and pinch hitter for one season (1940) with the Cincinnati Reds. For his career, he compiled a .188 batting average in 16 at-bats, with two runs batted in.

Arthur Anthony Rebel (March 4, 1914 – July 10, 2004) was a professional baseball player. He was an outfielder over parts of two seasons (1938, 1945) with the Philadelphia Phillies and St. Louis Cardinals. For his career, he compiled a .333 batting average in 81 at-bats and drove in six runs. Rebel also played 17 seasons for 18 teams in the minor leagues, hitting .301 with 106 home runs.
He was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and later died in Tampa, Florida at the age of 90.

James Charles Wasdell (May 15, 1914 – August 6, 1983) was an American professional baseball outfielder and first baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for all or portions of 11 seasons between 1937 and 1947 for the Washington Senators, Brooklyn Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia Phillies and Cleveland Indians. The Cleveland native threw and batted left-handed and was listed as 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m) tall and 185 pounds (84 kg).
Wasdell helped the Dodgers win the 1941 National League pennant. Appearing in 94 games, including 46 as a starting outfielder, Wasdell batted .298 in 287 plate appearances, collecting 79 hits. In the World Series, he appeared in three games, with five at bats; his only hit was a double off Atley Donald of the New York Yankees in the fourth inning of Game 5, the Series' final contest. The Yankees defeated the Dodgers, four games to one.
In 11 MLB seasons, Wasdell played in 888 games and had 2,866 at bats, 339 runs, 782 hits, 109 doubles, 34 triples, 29 home runs, 341 runs batted in, 29 stolen bases, 243 walks, .273 batting average, .332 on-base percentage, .365 slugging percentage, 1,046 total bases and 39 sacrifice hits. Defensively, he recorded a .981 fielding percentage playing primarily at first base and at all three outfield positions. Including minor league service, Wasdell played for 15 seasons (1935–1950) in Organized Baseball.
He died in New Port Richey, Florida at the age of 69.

Garland Frederick Lawing (August 29, 1918 – September 27, 1996) was an American professional baseball player. He appeared in Major League Baseball as an outfielder and pinch hitter in ten games during the 1946 season for the Cincinnati Reds and New York Giants. Lawing threw and batted right-handed; he stood 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m) tall and weighed 180 pounds (82 kg).
Born in Gastonia, North Carolina, Lawing broke into pro baseball in 1938 in the Class D North Carolina State League. He had reached the Class A1 (now Double-A) level in 1943 when, after only 24 games played, he entered the United States Army. Lawing served in the European Theater of Operations during World War II and missed the 1944 and 1945 baseball seasons.
He split 1946 between the Reds and the Giants, going hitless in three at bats with Cincinnati as a centerfielder and pinch hitter in two games played on May 29 and June 6. Then, on June 8, his contract was sold to the Giants, and he collected his first MLB hit, a pinch single, off Johnny Vander Meer and his old teammates from the Reds on June 11. But he played in only eight total games for New York, four as a starting outfielder, and batted only .167 as a Giant. For his MLB career, he hit .133 in 15 at-bats.
Lawing then returned to minor league baseball in 1947, and retired after the 1954 season. He died in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, at the age of 78.

Jason Phillip Bere (born May 26, 1971) is an American former professional baseball pitcher and bullpen coach. He played in Major League Baseball for parts of 11 seasons from 1993 to 2003, for the Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Milwaukee Brewers, Chicago Cubs, and Cleveland Indians. He was elected to the 1994 MLB All-Star Game, but injuries limited his playing career. Bere was the Indians' bullpen coach from 2015 to 2017.

Dwight Lowry (October 23, 1957 – July 10, 1997), born Dwight Lowery was an American professional baseball catcher who played in Major League Baseball for the Detroit Tigers (1984–1987) and Minnesota Twins (1988). He won a World Series championship with the 1984 Detroit Tigers.

Michael Russell Laga (born June 14, 1960) is an American former professional baseball player for the Detroit Tigers, St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants in the 1980s and 1990s. He is best known for once hitting a foul ball out of the second Busch Stadium (September 15, 1986).
Laga played for the 1984 World Series Champion Detroit Tigers, going 6–11 that year with a .545 average for the year, but did not appear in the World Series. Nor did he appear in the 1987 World Series for the St. Louis Cardinals. In his career, Laga played in 188 major league games and had 84 hits, 55 RBIs, 39 runs scored, and 16 home runs. He also hit 32 home runs in 1991, playing for Daiei of the Japanese League. He also played for the Hawks in 1992.
Laga currently lives in Florence, Massachusetts. He has three children.
Laga graduated from Ramsey High School in Ramsey, New Jersey and attended Bergen Community College.

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.