From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
American baseball player
Baseball player
Rusty Peters
|
---|
Infielder
|
Born:
(
1914-12-14
)
December 14, 1914
Roanoke, Virginia
, US
|
Died:
February 21, 2003
(2003-02-21)
(aged 88)
Harrisonburg, Virginia
, US
|
Batted:
Right
Threw:
Right
|
|
April 14, 1936, for the Philadelphia Athletics
|
|
September 28, 1947, for the St. Louis Browns
|
|
Batting average
| .236
|
---|
Home runs
| 8
|
---|
Runs batted in
| 117
|
---|
|
---|
|
|
Russell Dixon Peters
(December 14, 1914 ? February 21, 2003) was an American
professional baseball
player
. A
second baseman
,
shortstop
and
third baseman
, he played in 471
games
over all or parts of ten seasons in
Major League Baseball
with the
Philadelphia Athletics
(1936?1938),
Cleveland Indians
(1940?1944; 1946), and the
St. Louis Browns
(1947). Peters was born in
Roanoke, Virginia
, and although he spent his childhood in
Dayton, Ohio
, he returned to
Virginia
to attend
Washington and Lee University
and spent several years in retirement in his native state.
Peters, who wore
glasses
,
hit
just .236 in his Major League career and only hit above .300 once ? in 47
at bats
in
1947
. However, he played every
infield
position and found work as a
utility player
. In 1937, he had 339 at-bats for the Athletics (his career high) and hit three
home runs
, drove in 43
runs
and
stole
four bases. An infielder with the
Atlanta Crackers
of the Class A1
Southern Association
in 1938 and 1939, and Rookie of the Year his first year, he was said to be "not only ... a fine mechanical ball player, but he is a fireball in that infield" (
Morgan Blake
. The Atlanta Constitution.)
The Indians purchased his contract from Atlanta in order to bring him on as backup to its already fine infield. Consequently, he did not play on a regular basis, but even after four years as a "second-stringer", when he did play, he played well. Sportswriter Gorden Cobbledick declared that "evidence has been accumulating in the last few weeks that, all unsuspecting, we have been harboring in our midst one of the most remarkable athletes in the county." Writing about a possible trade of Russ to the Browns, Ed McAuley stated that "it is about time Peters received some recognition as a genuinely valuable member of the team. ... he has been ready and efficient whenever he has been called on ? and he has done well at every position in the infield."
His baseball career was interrupted by service in the
United States Army
during World War II. After the defeat of Japan, he served in the Army of Occupation in Germany and organized baseball teams for intramural games among the troops (The Unicorn Free Press). Toward the end of his career with the
Indianapolis Indians
(1949?1951), he managed winter baseball teams in
Puerto Rico
and
Panama
. In 1993, Russ was recognized as "one of the first fence-busters of Virginia", and he was inducted into the Roanoke-Salem Baseball Hall of Fame.
External links
[
edit
]