Clarence Scott Beers (December 9, 1918 – December 6, 2002) 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 leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

whose 13-season career included a single game played in the major leagues in as a member of 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 ...

. Born in El Dorado, Kansas, Beers batted and threw right-handed, stood tall and weighed . He signed with St. Louis in 1937, but his minor league career was interrupted when he missed the 1938 season and the 1943–1945 campaigns, the latter because of his service in the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. He returned to baseball in , and the following season he led the Double-A

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

in games won (25) and posted a stellar 2.40

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

as a member of the

Houston Buffaloes The Houston Buffaloes, Houston Buffalos, or Buffs were an American minor league baseball team, and were the first minor league team to be affiliated with a Major League Baseball, Major League franchise, which was the St. Louis Cardinals. The clu ...

. Beers was 29 years old when he received his only big-league opportunity on May 7, 1948. The Cardinals were trailing the Chicago Cubs at

Sportsman's Park Sportsman's Park was the name of several former Major League Baseball ballpark structures in St. Louis, Missouri. All but one of these were located on the same piece of land, at the northwest corner of Grand Boulevard and Dodier Street, on th ...

7–4 when Beers was summoned to the mound in the eighth inning to relieve left-hander Ken Johnson with two men on base and one out. Beers faced seven batters, allowing a single,

wild pitch In baseball, a wild pitch (WP) is charged against a pitcher when his pitch is too high, too short, or too wide of home plate for the catcher to control with ordinary effort, thereby allowing a baserunner, or the batter (on an uncaught third str ...

, two doubles, and an

intentional walk In baseball, an intentional base on balls, usually referred to as an intentional walk and denoted in baseball scorekeeping by ''IBB'', is a walk issued to a batter by a pitcher with the intent of removing the batter's opportunity to swing at the ...

; he was the victim of a passed ball and an

error An error (from the Latin ''error'', meaning "wandering") is an action which is inaccurate or incorrect. In some usages, an error is synonymous with a mistake. The etymology derives from the Latin term 'errare', meaning 'to stray'. In statistics ...

committed by his

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the ca ...

, Del Wilber. He retired two Cubs,

Hank Schenz Henry Leonard Schenz (April 11, 1919 – May 12, 1988) was an American professional baseball player whose career lasted 14 seasons (1939–1942; 1946–1955), including all or parts of six years in Major League Baseball as a member of the Chicago ...

on a

ground ball In the sports of baseball and softball, a batted ball is a pitch that has been contacted by the batter's bat. Batted balls are either fair or foul, and can be characterized as a fly ball, pop-up, line drive, or ground ball. In baseball, a fou ...

and Phil Cavarretta on a fly out. Beers permitted both inherited runners to score, and was charged with four runs of his own, although only one was earned. When he exited the game for a pinch hitter in the bottom of the inning, the Cubs led 13–4. His final major league line included two-thirds of one inning pitched, one earned run allowed, and a career ERA of 13.50. Beers returned to the minors following his appearance on May 2, and pitched through 1953 before leaving pro baseball. He died in

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

, three days short of his 84th birthday in 2002.

References

External links

Retrosheet
1918 births 2002 deaths Asheville Tourists players Baseball players from Kansas Beaumont Exporters players Beaumont Roughnecks players Charleston Senators players Columbus Red Birds players Hobbs Drillers players Houston Buffaloes players Lincoln Chiefs players Major League Baseball pitchers Midland Cardinals players Paris Indians players People from El Dorado, Kansas Pocatello Cardinals players Sabios de Vargas players St. Louis Cardinals players Sacramento Solons players Seattle Rainiers players Toledo Mud Hens players United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II {{US-baseball-pitcher-1910s-stub