Herbert Loren Adams (April 14, 1928 – February 1, 2012) was an American baseball outfielder who played three seasons in Major League Baseball for the Chicago White Sox. He was born in Hollywood, California, and later coached at Northern Illinois University.
Robert Lee Patrick (October 27, 1917 – October 6, 1999) was a Major League Baseball outfielder. He played parts of two seasons in the major leagues, 1941 and 1942 for the Detroit Tigers. He appeared in nine games, going 4-for-15 at the plate. His career, like so many other players of the so-called Greatest Generation, was interrupted by World War II. He served in the U.S. Army attaining the rank of Staff Sergeant.
Edward Jones "Red" Borom (October 30, 1915 – January 7, 2011) was an American second baseman who played two seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Detroit Tigers. Born in Spartanburg, South Carolina, Borom was 28 years old before he made it to the big leagues. He only played one full season in the major leagues, and that season saw him win the 1945 World Series. Borom also played professional and semi-pro baseball for over 15 years from the mid-1930s into the 1950s.
Borom served in the United States Army briefly in 1943, but was released because of migraine headaches. He recalled: "Two days after getting home, I got a call from Jack Zeller, general manager of Detroit ... Four days after getting out of the service, I was in training camp with Detroit in Evansville, Indiana. I realized it was wartime, but there were some good players still in the majors."In 1945, Borom played the entire season with Detroit. Playing in place of injured second baseman Eddie Mayo, Borom batted over .300 during the September pennant drive.
Borom played in 55 games for the Tigers in 1945, batting .269 with a .307 on-base percentage. He played in two games of the 1945 World Series. Describing his appearance in the World Series, Borom said: "I hit a ground ball up the middle, off the glove of pitcher Hank Borowy. The shortstop, Roy Hughes, threw me out on an extremely close play. I thought I had a base hit." Borom also pinch-ran for catcher Bob Swift in game three.
When asked about his biggest thrill in baseball, Borom responded: "When Hank Greenberg hit the bases-loaded home run against the Browns [in September 1945] and we were behind 3–2 at the time. I was the runner on third, and when I saw the ball headed for the seats and knew we were in the World Series. Nothing could surpass that."In 1946, as veteran players returned from World War II, Borom did not make Detroit's roster. Borom played several more years of minor league and semipro ball. Borom was involved with two NBC tournament titlists – Wichita's Boeing Bombers in 1942 as player and Sinton, Texas, in 1951 as manager. Reflecting on his career, Red observed, "I guess a career that looked like it was headed nowhere for so long turned out pretty well."
Borom was inducted into the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame in 1978 and the Kansas Baseball Hall of Fame in 1996.After retiring from baseball, Borom worked 25 years for a freight company in Dallas. He died on January 7, 2011, in Dallas as one of the oldest living former Major Leaguers. He attended Society for American Baseball Research meetings in the DFW area (Hall-Ruggles Chapter) for many years.
Robert Rudolph Balcena (August 1, 1925 – January 5, 1990) was an American professional baseball player. He played as an outfielder in Major League Baseball for the Cincinnati Redlegs during the 1956 season. He had two at-bats and scored two runs as a pinch runner.
Listed at 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m), 160 pounds (73 kg), Balcena batted right-handed and threw left-handed. He was born in San Pedro, California.
Prior to playing professional baseball, Balcena served in the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II with the United States Navy.Balcena became the first player of Asian American and Filipino ancestry to appear in a major league game. He had a long distinguished Triple-A career with the Seattle Rainiers as a center fielder in the 1950s; one paper described him as a "popular miniature dynamo of almost infallible perpetual motion" after his Rainier team won the 1955 Pacific Coast League title.He also played from 1952 through 1962 in the Minor Leagues, including stints with the Leones del Caracas and the Industriales de Valencia in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League.
He batted .284 with 134 home run and 441 runs batted in in 1948 minor league games. In a VPBL two-season career, he posted a .306 average with five homers and 44 RBI in 87 games.
After his baseball career ended, he worked as a longshoreman in Seattle where he had played parts of four seasons in the minor leagues.Despite being the first Filipino-American to play in the major leagues, Balcena kept company with Slavs during his life. His union president told the Los Angeles Times that he was an "honorary Slav. He always r[a]n around with the San Pedro Slavs. He speaks Slav. He sings Slav." Outside of his professional career, he also played baseball with an amateur team of Yugoslav Americans.Balcena died in his hometown of San Pedro, California at the age of 64.
Gilbert Henry Blanco (born December 15, 1945) is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher. Blanco was signed by the New York Yankees in 1964. He pitched for the Yankees in 1965 and the Kansas City Athletics in 1966. In 28 Major League games, nine as a starting pitcher, had a career record of 3–5, an ERA of 4.45, with 35 strikeouts and 48 bases on balls in 58⅔ innings pitched.
Raymond Frederick Katt (May 9, 1927 – October 19, 1999) was an American professional baseball player and coach. He played as a catcher in Major League Baseball during the 1950s, and later became the longtime and highly successful head baseball coach of Texas Lutheran University. A lifelong resident of New Braunfels, Texas, Katt stood 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) (183 cm) tall, weighed 200 pounds (91 kg), and threw and batted right-handed in his playing days. He attended Texas A&M University.
Arthur Frederick Bues was a Major League Baseball third baseman. He was born on March 3, 1888, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He batted and threw right-handed, weighed 184 pounds (83 kg), and was 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m). Bues was considered one of the best third basemen in the country during his career. Bues was the nephew of George Stallings. Bues originally played for Kansas City of the American Association and made his Major League debut on April 17, 1913, for the Boston Braves. He had just 1 at bat in 2 games. In 1914 he played for the Chicago Cubs in 14 games. He had 45 at-bats with 10 hits. He recorded no home runs and 4 RBIs.
Art Bues died on November 7, 1954, in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin.
Ronald Edward Samford (February 28, 1930 – January 14, 2021) was an American shortstop in Major League Baseball who played from 1954 to 1959 with the New York Giants, Detroit Tigers and Washington Senators.
Mack Edwin Burk (born April 21, 1935) is an American former professional baseball catcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the 1956 and 1958 Philadelphia Phillies. Of his 16 big league game appearances, 13 were as a pinch runner, two as a pinch hitter, and only one inning as a catcher.
Burk stood 6 feet 4 inches (1.93 m) tall, weighed 180 pounds (82 kg) and threw and batted right-handed. He attended the University of Texas at Austin and signed a $40,000 bonus contract with the Phillies in September 1955. Under the rules of the day, a "bonus baby" such as Burk was compelled to spend his first two years as a professional baseball player on a Major League roster. In his pro debut, on May 25, 1956, Burk pinch-ran for catcher Andy Seminick, in a home game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Connie Mack Stadium. In Burk’s third game, on June 5, he pinch hit for pitcher Curt Simmons in the fifth inning and singled off left-hander Joe Nuxhall of the Cincinnati Redlegs. Burk came around to score his first big-league run that inning on a sacrifice fly by Stan Lopata. Burk scored two more runs during the 1956 season, both as a pinch runner. In his lone appearance in the field, Burk caught one inning, the bottom of the eighth, in relief of Lopata on July 15 against the St. Louis Cardinals, and handled one chance flawlessly.Burk missed the entire 1957 season due to military service. But in 1958, he returned to baseball and was able to gain much-needed playing time in minor league baseball. Burk also played in one game with the Phillies. In his second big-league plate appearance and at bat, Burk was called upon to pinch hit for Phils' pitcher Ray Semproch in the 14th inning of a game against the San Francisco Giants, and he was called out on strikes against veteran Johnny Antonelli. It would be Burk's final MLB appearance. All told, he collected three runs scored, and one single in his two at bats for a career batting average of .500.
Burk continued his career in the minors through 1960 in the Phillies' farm system before leaving pro baseball.
John McKittrick Redmond (September 3, 1910 – July 27, 1968) was a professional baseball player. He was a catcher for one season (1935) with the Washington Senators. For his career, he compiled a .176 batting average in 34 at-bats, with one home run and seven runs batted in.
An alumnus of the University of Arizona, he was born in Florence, Arizona and died in Garland, Texas at the age of 57.