Frederick Cyril "Fred" Besana (April 5, 1931 – November 7, 2015) was a

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), ...

pitcher who played for the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

in 1956. He also played in the minor leagues for eight seasons. Besana made his Major League debut on April 18, 1956, at the age of 25. In his first appearance, he pitched two innings, allowing two walks while striking out one batter ( Don Buddin) and allowing no runs to score. In total, he appeared in seven games in his sole big league season and posted a 1–0 record with a 5.60 ERA. On April 22, he made the first of two career starts, picking up the victory against the Washington Senators. He appeared in his final big league game on May 13. Besana pitched in the minor leagues in 1950, from 1954 to 1959 and in 1960. In his first professional season, he won 18 games for the

Sweetwater Swatters The Sweetwater Swatters were a West Texas League (1920-1922) and Longhorn League (1949-1951) baseball team based in Sweetwater, Texas, United States. They began as the Gorman Buddies in 1920, however they moved to Sweetwater partway through the seas ...

and

Albuquerque Dukes The Albuquerque Dukes were a minor league baseball team based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. History The first Dukes team was formed in 1915 as part of the Class D Rio Grande Association. The team finished in third place with a 32-25 record. Fra ...

, despite posting a 5.14 ERA. With the

Vancouver Mounties The Vancouver Mounties were a high-level minor league baseball club based in Vancouver, British Columbia, that played in the Pacific Coast League (PCL) from 1956– 62 and – 69. Its home field was Capilano Stadium. During the Mounties' first tw ...

in 1959, he posted a 2.77 ERA in 32 games. Overall, Besana went 58–67 with a 4.33 ERA in 254 minor league games. Besana also coached at the high-school level (

Oakmont High School Oakmont High School is located at 1710 Cirby Way, in Roseville, California, United States. The school is surrounded by the communities of Citrus Heights, Rocklin, Granite Bay, and Antelope. It is one of five comprehensive high schools in the Ro ...

and Roseville High School) and at the

American River College American River College (ARC) is a public community college in unincorporated Sacramento, California. It is part of the California Community Colleges System. History The college was opened in 1955 as American River Junior College, on the site ...

. His son,

Fred Besana Fred Besana (born March 9, 1954) is a former American football player, a quarterback for the Oakland Invaders of the United States Football League. He was briefly on the rosters of the Buffalo Bills and the New York Giants of the National Footbal ...

, played in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

and

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Besana, Fred 1931 births 2015 deaths Major League Baseball pitchers Baltimore Orioles players Albuquerque Dukes players Amarillo Gold Sox players Knoxville Smokies players Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Oakland Oaks (baseball) players Spokane Indians players Sweetwater Swatters players Vancouver Mounties players California State University, Sacramento alumni Sacramento State Hornets baseball players Baseball players from California People from Lincoln, California