Minor League Baseball Players

[Penale52]

Dee Poindexter with the 1906 Cleburne Railroaders.

[Penale52]

Bobby Wright with the 1906 Cleburne Railroaders

[Home Free]

Originally Posted by pinsonhof

rico43, i did not find a chattanooga photo of bobby
sanders but i did have this image of sanders saved from his time in williamsport when he was the eastern league mvp in 1962. It looks like he faded a bit in aa but i'm not sure if it was that or injuries that ended his professional career.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/r...d=sander001bob

thanks to you!

[Home Free]

The only attendee of the Atlanta Braves' first spring training camp of 1966 has popped up -- in living color, no less.

Bob Turzilli was signed in 1965, so the '66 camp was his first as a pro. He would also be a spring training camp catcher through the 60s as he reached Triple-A for the 69-70 seasons. He was actually photographed with another unidentified player listening intently to Hank Aaron relating a story. It was a one-of-a-kind original negative being sold on eBay.

I recognized the other player as pitcher Dick Kelley, but the guy on the left wearing #61 and holding a catcher's mitt set off my spidey sense. Sure enough, that was his camp number, according to the 1966 Braves media guide. That was good enough for me.

[PinsonHOF]

In a fun filled search for 70's minor leaguers I came across Rick Down , an outfielder and sometime first baseman who played in the Expos chain from 1969 to 1975. After a two year hiatus Down played briefly in the Mariners system. Rick Down reached AAA at age 20 but never played in a major league game. He was a highly successful Manager for the Triple A Columbus Clippers guiding them to three straight first place finishes, He later became an MLB hitting coach for 6 different teams. According to his Wikipedia page, Rick Down was called up to the Expos roster on September 30, 1971. Does anyone have a photo of him from that time or from spring training? Or as a minor leaguer? Thanks in advance.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/r...d=down--001ric

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Down

[cmcgill]

Here's a picture of Down wearing the tri-color hat, from 1971.

Source: https://www.newspapers.com/clip/80376640/rick-down/

[PinsonHOF]

Joe Macko hit 306 homeruns in 18 minor league seasons from 1948 to 1963 with brief cameos as a minor league player manager and player coach in 1964 and 1970. In an era with many diminutive ballplayers the 6'2 205 Macko played first and third for the Indians, New York Giants, Cubs, Red Sox and Orioles organizations. Included here are photos of Macko as a Tulsa Oiler (1954-5) and in the uniform of the Portland Beavers from 1957. Joe Macko did his best hitting at AA (141 HR's .270) but still displayed some power at Triple A and perhaps should have warranted a long look from the late 50's Cubs, who had the aging tandem of Dale Long and Alvin Dark manning the infield corners. Alas a big league call up was not meant to be. Macko was a longtime minor league manager and later a bench coach with the Chicago Cubs.




https://www.baseball-reference.com/r...d=macko-001jos

[PinsonHOF]

Steve Macko was a rookie Cub who got off to a hot start in his second go round with the north siders hitting .300 when he was injured in a collision with Bill Madlock in the 1980 season. Steve never played another big league game. Slow to recover he was soon after diagnosed with testicular cancer and died on November 15th, 1981. Here is the hustling Steve Macko on a 1980 Wichita Aeros card.

[PinsonHOF]

]Before his professionally career Steve Macko was a Baylor Bear. A hard nosed middle infielder made up for in hustle what he lacked in size and athleticism. Here he is executing a wildly successful maneuver over a Miami of Ohio catcher. The Bears would advance to the 1977 College World Series.

[PinsonHOF]

I forgot to upload the last photo ...

[PinsonHOF]

Later in his long baseball career Joe Macko became the Texas Rangers clubhouse manager. He passed away in 2015. Enclosed is an image of th old timer and his son Steve playing second base at Wrigley Field.

[PinsonHOF]

Here is the promised Wrigley Field image. Today I'm all thumbs.

[PinsonHOF]

HARDY FRAZIER -- RHP, Byrd High, Panola College, Texas A&M, a star in high school and the 1967 All-City Most Valuable Player in American Legion junior ball as a third baseman-pitcher for Ford, Walker and Hearne, he went on to play at Panola College in 1968 and '69, pitching the final three innings of the Ponies' national junior college championship. He batted .368, too, that regular season. He then pitched as a starter for Texas A&M, then signed with the Angels' organization. He pitched in nine games, 12 innings, for Idaho Falls (Pioneer League) in 1971, with a 1-0 record and 1.50 ERA, and singled in his only pro at-bat.

LARRY FRAZIER -- LHP, Northwood High and Panola College, younger brother of Hardy Frazier, signed as a free agent in the Milwaukee Brewers' system and was assigned to the hometown Shreveport Captains (Texas League) in 1972, nine games (two starts, one complete game), 1-1 record, 2.86 ERA, 22 innings.

An obvious error here in one photograph. I have captioned Larry Frazier as if he were playing for the Shreveport Shortstops but of course it is really the Shreveport Captains he played for. The Shreveport Shortstops is one of my fantasy minor league teams.

[PinsonHOF]

I am looking for an image of this third baseman/outfielder who played for the Tigers and Braves organizations from 1970-74. He went on to have a good run at the plate for Chihuahua in the Mexican League through the 70's.


https://www.baseball-reference.com/r...d=brooki001len

[Cusick]

Originally Posted by PinsonHOF

I am looking for an image of this third baseman/outfielder who played for the Tigers and Braves organizations from 1970-74. He went on to have a good run at the plate for Chihuahua in the Mexican League through the 70's.


https://www.baseball-reference.com/r...d=brooki001len

The newspapers generally referred to this player as Joe Brookins.

After a lot of searching, I came up with this photo, which shows him with the Chihuahua Dorados of the Mexican League. It is from Mexican League season that began in either 1976 or 1977. Brookins is the guy on the left who is pretending to choke Norm McRae. The two were teammates with Chihuahua for only those two seasons.

[PinsonHOF]

Thank you Cusick I appreciate the entertaining image. I'm also looking for a couple of other 70's minor leaguers. Jimmie Collins , a left handed hitting outfielder from another era. He hit 33 homeruns in 17 minor league seasons between the Braves organization and the Mexican league from 1970 to 1987.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/r...d=randal001aar

[PinsonHOF]

Randall was a switch hitting first baseman and occasional outfielder in the Cubs organization from 1974 to 1978. He was competent at the plate but quite good enough. In 1979 he would play for Santo Domingo in the long storied and long forgotten Inter-American League , a dreamer's brief attempt to create a second MLB in Latin America. The money ran out quickly ... before season's end. Thanks to all in advance for your time and efforts in bringing these ballplayers back into the light of day.




https://www.baseball-reference.com/r...d=randal001aar

[Cusick]

This photo shows Aaron Randall in a Grambling uniform. It's from the Shreveport (LA) Journal of April 29, 1974.

[Cusick]

This photo shows Jimmie Collins receiving his plaque on his induction to the Mexican Sala de la Fama (Hall of Fame). I've had the photo for a long time, and don't remember the source.

[PinsonHOF]

Thanks Cusick!