Minor League Baseball Players

[Cusick]

Originally Posted by rico43

I have not been able to find out why John Simicich left baseball following the 1959 season at the age of 20.. Anyone know background?

Attachment 438276

There are many mentions of Simicich in the Des Moines Register during the 1959 season, but none which would foretell his not returning to baseball in 1960.

[rico43]

Signed as free agents in 1964 and 1965, respectively, Mets minor league infielders Jack Tracy and David C. Smith must have felt like the emergency fire extinguisher that's never needed, never used. Tracy toiled in the Mets' system from 1964-68 before calling it a career witht he Orioles' Class AAA team, while Smith was a Met wannabe from 65-69.
The Topps Vault has given up both (see below). Photo from a Lexibell file.



Just wondering: Am I the only one who thinks that Smith's ears are unusually low on his head?

[FatJack]

Originally Posted by rico43

Signed as free agents in 1964 and 1965, respectively, Mets minor league infielders Jack Tracy and David C. Smith must have felt like the emergency fire extinguisher that's never needed, never used. Tracy toiled in the Mets' system from 1964-68 before calling it a career witht he Orioles' Class AAA team, while Smith was a Met wannabe from 65-69.
The Topps Vault has given up Tracy, but we're still looking for Smith. Photo from a Lexibell file.

Attachment 438405

Just wondering: Am I the only one who thinks that Smith's ears are unusually low on his head?

Not trying to be a jerk or anything, but the Vault gave us images of David C. Smith long, long ago. Back in the days of the Baseball-Birthdays Flickr site, in fact. AT 321-322. Mr. Tracy is GQ 199-200.

[rico43]

That's what I get for not being more careful in my search engire. I entered David Smith and only got the Angels' lefty pitcher. After seeing your note, I went to the checklist and saw that he was entered as "Dave Smith."

Duh.

Fixing that now, both on the checklist and here.

[rico43]

Among the latest revelations (at least, to me) I have found in the Lexibell file is that Hall of Fame quarterback Sammy Baugh spent a season (1938) as an infielder in the St. Louis Cardinals' farm system. A couple of photos from his brief, Jordan-esque baseball career follow:

[rico43]

A recenrt Lexibell folder gave up a bountiful amount of Dodgers photos, majors and minors.

Among the not-quite-Dodgers include:
1964: PItcher Stephen Silverman, one and done as a Dodger minor leaguer.



1963: Larry Staab, unveiled in the Vault, in system 1961-70



1962 Wally Heckel, system INF from 1961-65:



1965: Ken Page, lefty minor league lifer (1958-66)

[Cusick]

Originally Posted by rico43

Among the latest revelations (at least, to me) I have found in the Lexibell file is that Hall of Fame quarterback Sammy Baugh spent a season (1938) as an infielder in the St. Louis Cardinals' farm system. A couple of photos from his brief, Jordan-esque baseball career follow:

Attachment 438503 Attachment 438504

Baugh went one step farther than Michael Jordan. Baugh was on the St. Louis Cardinals' spring roster in 1938. Jordan's highest ascension in baseball was as a non-roster invitee with the White Sox in 1994 and 1995. Apt comparisons in terms of brevity.

[Cusick]

Speaking of football HOFers who played pro baseball, Ken Strong was on the Detroit Tigers' spring roster in 1932. He is shown below in an NYU baseball uniform as well as a football uniform.

Ken Strong Register Statistics & History | Baseball-Reference.com

http://www.profootballhof.com/player...ong/biography/

[Cusick]

While on the subject of multi-sport athletes, Anthony "Tony" Plansky was a two-time national decathlon champion while a student at Georgetown University. He was also an outfielder on the 1931 Philadelphia Phillies' spring roster. Beyond that, he was a running back for the New York Football Giants.

Tony Plansky Register Statistics & History | Baseball-Reference.com

[Cusick]

Pitcher Gary Pickert was a non-roster invitee to the San Diego Padres' spring camp in 1981. His 8-1 record the previous year at AA Amarillo had earned him a look by the Padres. He passed away a few days ago on February 14.

Gary Pickert Register Statistics & History | Baseball-Reference.com

[Cusick]

Outfielder Ed "Bucky" Boehm was on the Philadelphia Athletics' spring rosters in 1947 and 1948. He died on February 15, 2016.

Ed Boehm Register Statistics & History | Baseball-Reference.com

[Spritze]

Anyone have an unofficial photo pack for the 159,603 minor league players who are or may be appearing in OOTP17?

I do have a list.

[Penale52]

George Prigge in the June 26, 1951 edition of the Binghamton Press
George Prigge Register Statistics & History | Baseball-Reference.com

[Penale52]

George Maier in the June 26, 1951 edition of the Binghamton Press
George Maier Register Statistics & History | Baseball-Reference.com

[Penale52]

Charles "Buzz" Bowers pictured in the Aug. 1,1956 edition of the Binghamton Press and in a later photo found in his 2015 obituary on BostonGlobe.com
Charles Bowers Register Statistics & History | Baseball-Reference.com

[Dto7]

Martin Tabacheck 1946 Detroit Tigers training camp

[rico43]

Outfielder Nat Peeples, the pawn in the unsuccessful attempt to integrate the Southern Association. He played in two games for the Atlanta Crackers in 1954.
The story goes like this: Earl Mann, owner of the Crackers, in 1949, scheduled an exhibition series in Atlanta's Ponce de Leon Park against the Brooklyn Dodgers, who by then had Jackie Robinson in their lineup. The final game of the series drew a club record 25,221 fans -- including 13,885 Negro fans -- in what was the first time that black and white players had ever competed against one another in an Atlanta sporting event.
By 1954, the Crackers had entered into a PDC with the Milwaukee Braves, and Mann had decided, for almost surely pure financial reasons, to try to integrate the Crackers. Two players were being considered: Henry Aaron and Nat Peeples, but Aaron made the major league club, while Peeples ended spring training with the Crackers. Peeples pinch-hit in a game at Mobile on April 9, 1954, to become the first black player in Southern Association history, and the next day he started and played all nine innings.
But he did not play in another game, and on April 17, was optioned to Jacksonville, which had broken the Sally League color barrier the year before with several players, including Aaron. No other black player competed in a Southern Association game before it disbanded in 1962.
Peeples is picture with Louisville of the American Association in 1959. From the Lexibell files.
(much of the above comes from an article by SABR's Skip Nipper and Roy Darnell's Crackers history for the Georgia Encyclopedia)

[rico43]

World War II claimed it share of careers, and potential careers. Left-hander Leo Bobeck is a prime example: starting his pro career late, at age 22, he posted a 19-3 record in 1939, leading to his acquisition by the Dodgers. The Reds acquired him a year later, and he looked ready to break through with a 15-4 record in the Sally League in 1941.
He went to camp with the Reds in 1942, but Uncle Sam beckoned him, and he spent the next three-plus years in the U.S. Navy. The end of the war allowed him to return to baseball in 1945, but despite an excellent ERA, he was 30, and retired to a career in the U.S. Postal Service.
Photo from the Lexibell files.

[Cusick]

Bruce Adelson, in his book BRUSHING BACK JIM CROW: THE INTEGRATION OF MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL IN THE AMERICAN SOUTH, devotes about a third of a chapter to the Nat Peeples experience with the Atlanta Crackers. The book indicates that Peeples had an outstanding exhibition season with the Crackers, hitting .348 and slugging 6 of Atlanta's 14 home runs. Chuck Tanner was a close friend of Nat's while they were together on the Crackers. Tanner felt that Peeples had the tools to become a major leaguer, but wasn't given a fair chance during the regular Southern Association season to prove himself. In Tanner's opinion, the whole Atlanta experiment was so traumatic for Nat that it broke his heart and he was never the same ballplayer again.

[Penale52]

Edgar Moeller pictured in the July 2, 1954 edition of the Tonawanda News
Edgar Moeller Register Statistics & History | Baseball-Reference.com