Robert George Young (January 22, 1925 – February 4, 1985) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

player. He played all or part of eight years in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

, primarily as a second baseman. He played most of his career for the St. Louis Browns/Baltimore Orioles franchise. Born in

Granite, Maryland Granite is an unincorporated community in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. Originally known as Waltersville, it was renamed Granite in recognition of its principal product (the Woodstock Quartz Monzonite was quarried). The village was t ...

, he was first signed by the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

before the 1946 season, and appeared in three games for them in 1948 before being traded to the crosstown Browns in June 1949. He was the Browns' regular second baseman from 1951 to 1953, tying for the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

lead in

double play In baseball and softball, a double play (denoted as DP in baseball statistics) is the act of making two outs during the same continuous play. Double plays can occur any time there is at least one baserunner and fewer than two outs. In Major Leag ...

s as a 1951 rookie with 118, and leading the league again in 1952 with 127. He continued as the starting second baseman after the team relocated to

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

before the 1954 season, and was in fact the first player signed to a contract that year. But the move closer to his hometown did not produce strong results, and his

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

– which had hovered around the .250 mark – slipped to .245 in 1954 and to .199 in early 1955, leading to his trade to the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

in June. He played only 18 games for Cleveland over the rest of the season, and one game in 1955; his contract was sold to the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

in June 1957, and he appeared in 32 games for the Phillies in 1958, ending his career. Young batted .249 with 15

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s and 137

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

in 687 career games. Defensively, he recorded a .980

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, div ...

. In 1953, Young was invited to join

Jackie Robinson Jack Roosevelt Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) was an American professional baseball player who became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line ...

's fall barnstorming tour. In previous years, the tour had included only African American major leaguers, who faced off against

Negro league The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...

stars. Young,

Gil Hodges Gilbert Ray Hodges (''né'' Hodge; April 4, 1924 – April 2, 1972) was an American first baseman and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played most of his 18-year career for the Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers. He was widely regarded as t ...

Ralph Branca Ralph Theodore Joseph "Hawk" Branca (January 6, 1926 – November 23, 2016) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 1944 through 1956. Branca played for the Brooklyn Dodgers (1944� ...

and

Al Rosen Albert Leonard Rosen (February 29, 1924 – March 13, 2015), nicknamed "Flip" and "The Hebrew Hammer", was an American baseball third baseman and right-handed slugger for the Cleveland Indians of Major League Baseball for ten seasons in the 194 ...

joined the groundbreaking interracial tour of the South, which began in Baltimore and concluded in Houston. Rosen was injured early on and returned home but the other three White players continued. In Birmingham, where an ordinance forbade racial mixing in athletic events, they were forced to sit in the stands or risk arrest. Young spent part of 1957 with the

Miami Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The franc ...

of the

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ...

, where he,

Woody Smith Forest Elwood "Woody" Smith (born February 25, 1927 in University City, Missouri, United States; died February 4, 2005) was a baseball figure who spent 18 seasons playing in the minor leagues and another 12 managing at that level. A third baseman, ...

Mickey Micelotta Robert Peter "Mickey" Micelotta (October 20, 1928 – October 9, 2022) was an American shortstop in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played 13 total seasons of professional baseball, two of which were spent in the National League with the Philade ...

, and

Pancho Herrera Juan Francisco Herrera Villavicencio (June 16, 1934 – April 28, 2005), nicknamed "Pancho" and "Frank", was a Cuban-born professional baseball player. He appeared in an even 300 games over all or part of three seasons in Major League Baseball f ...

were considered to be one of the best infields in the International League, with one writer saying, "they make plays the Phillies couldn't make." He died of a heart attack at age 60 in Baltimore.

References

External links

Bobby Young
at

SABR The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) is a membership organization dedicated to fostering the research and dissemination of the history and record of baseball primarily through the use of statistics. Established in Cooperstown, New ...

(Baseball BioProject) {{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Bobby Major League Baseball second basemen St. Louis Cardinals players St. Louis Browns players Baltimore Orioles players Cleveland Indians players Philadelphia Phillies players Allentown Cardinals players Rochester Red Wings players Indianapolis Indians players San Diego Padres (minor league) players Miami Marlins (IL) players Baseball players from Maryland People from Howard County, Maryland 1925 births 1985 deaths