Richard John Aylward (June 4, 1925 – June 11, 1983) was an

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. The

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

, a native of

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, appeared in four

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for 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 ...

during the 1953 season, although his professional playing career lasted 14 years and 1,148 games in minor league baseball. Aylward, who batted and threw

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, was listed as tall and . After his first pro season in 1943, he joined the

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and served in the

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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 opposin ...

. He resumed his baseball career in 1946 in the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

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, and was eventually acquired by the Indians' organization in 1951. After hitting a career-high .285 in the Double-A

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in 1952, he received his MLB trial with Cleveland the following spring. Aylward's four big-league games during May all occurred as a mid-game replacement for regular catcher

Jim Hegan James Edward Hegan (August 3, 1920 – June 17, 1984) was an American professional baseball player, coach, and scout. He played for 17 seasons as a catcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) from to and to , most notably for the Cleveland Indians ...

in lopsided Cleveland defeats. All told, he played ten

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in the field and handled ten

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without an error. His three MLB

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came in one game, May 5 against the

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. After the Yankees jumped out to an 8–0 lead in their half of the fourth inning, Aylward came into the game. He grounded out twice against

Whitey Ford Edward Charles "Whitey" Ford (October 21, 1928 – October 8, 2020), nicknamed "the Chairman of the Board", was an American professional baseball pitcher who played his entire 16-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the New York Yankees ...

, then

struck out In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is denot ...

in the ninth inning against

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue (medical), fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection (sports), ejection, or for other strategic ...

Tom Gorman.

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br>box score, 1953-05-05
/ref> After playing in his final big-league game on May 20, Aylward spent the rest of the campaign with the Triple-A

Indianapolis Indians The Indianapolis Indians are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. They are located in Indianapolis, Indiana, and play their home games at Victory Field, which open ...

. His minor league career then extended into 1958.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aylward, Dick 1925 births 1983 deaths United States Army personnel of World War II Baseball players from Baltimore Cleveland Indians players Dallas Eagles players Des Moines Bruins players Indianapolis Indians players Lockport Cubs players Major League Baseball catchers Nashville Vols players San Diego Padres (minor league) players Seattle Rainiers players Springfield Cubs (Massachusetts) players Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players