| Description | Former professional ballplayer, bartender. His experiences as a professional baseball player in the U. S. during World War II. His semi-pro baseball career in the late 1930s and early 1940s; origins of his nickname, “Lefty”; signing of his first professional contract, 1941, and assignment to the Hagerstown (Maryland) club in the Class B Interstate League; life in the minor leagues during wartime; his draft classification as 4-F; sale of his contract to the Allentown (Pennsylvania) Cardinals of the Interstate League, 1943; employment in defense-related work during the off-seasons; promotion to the Class AAA Columbus Redbirds of the American Association, 1944; sale of his contract in 1945 to the AAA Rochester Redwings of the Class AAA International League; promotion to the Saint Louis Cardinals in September, 1945; rookie initiation rites; contrasts between life in the minors and life in the majors; comments about individual Cardinals players; his first game and his first, and only, hit in the majors; his demotion to Rochester, 1946; the remainder of his minor league career, 1946-52; his personal thoughts about the reserve clause, player strikes, modern-day salaries, and expansion. |
