Ernest Henry Andres (January 11, 1918 – September 19, 2008), nicknamed "Junie", was an American

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

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), ...

who played for the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

in the season. Born in Jeffersonville, Indiana, he batted and threw right-handed. Andres' professional career lasted from 1939 to 1941 and 1946 to 1947. He missed four seasons (1942–1945) while serving in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

in the Pacific Theater of Operations 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 ...

. Andres appeared in 15 games played during the first month of the Red Sox' 1946 season. He was Boston's Opening Day third baseman as a

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

, and shared that position with Rip Russell through May 16. However, Andres' batting issues resulted in his demotion to the

minor leagues Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in No ...

. During his month in the Majors, he batted 41 times and his four hits included two doubles. Andres was also a talented

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player. He played varsity basketball for

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universi ...

, where he twice won the Balfour Award as the school's top athlete, and was named

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n and All-

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

. He played professional basketball for the

Indianapolis Kautskys Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of U.S. state and territorial capitals, state capital and List of U.S. states' largest cities by population, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat, seat of ...

of the National Basketball League, where in 1939–40 he was selected to the All-NBL Second Team. Andres was also inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 1975. From 1948 to 1973, Andres was the head baseball coach at

External links

Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame

1918 births 2008 deaths All-American college men's basketball players Baseball players from Indiana Basketball players from Indiana Boston Red Sox players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Indiana Hoosiers baseball coaches Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball coaches Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball players Indianapolis Indians players Indianapolis Kautskys coaches Indianapolis Kautskys players Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Major League Baseball third basemen Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players People from Jeffersonville, Indiana American men's basketball players {{LouisvilleMSA-stub