Fred Warren Waters (February 2, 1927 – August 28, 1989) 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 ...

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

, scout and coach. The

left-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subject ...

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 ...

appeared in 25 Major League games for the – 56 Pittsburgh Pirates. Born in Benton, Mississippi, Waters attended the

University of Southern Mississippi The University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss or USM) is a public research university with its main campus located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award bachelor's, ma ...

. He stood tall and weighed .

Career

Apart from his trials with the Pirates, Waters had a 13-season (1949–58; 1960–62) pitching career in minor league baseball. He was first signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers, then acquired by the Milwaukee Braves in April 1953, spending most of that season with the

Lincoln Chiefs Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

of the Class A Western League. Then, on December 26, 1953, he was traded to Pittsburgh along with

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 ...

Sid Gordon Sidney Gordon (August 13, 1917 – June 17, 1975) was an American right-handed Major League Baseball two-time All-Star outfielder, third baseman, and first baseman. He had a 13-year career in MLB for the New York Giants (1941–43, 1946–49, a ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

Sam Jethroe Samuel Jethroe, nicknamed "The Jet" (January 23, 1917 – June 16, 2001), was an American center fielder in Negro league and Major League Baseball. With the Cincinnati & Cleveland Buckeyes he won a pair of batting titles, hit .340 over seven seas ...

Max Surkont Matthew Constantine Surkont (June 16, 1922 – October 8, 1986) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played from 1949 through 1957 in the Major Leagues. He played for the Chicago White Sox, Boston / Milwaukee Braves, Pittsburgh Pira ...

, fellow minor leaguers Curt Raydon and Larry Lasalle, and $100,000 for third baseman

Danny O'Connell Daniel Francis O'Connell (January 21, 1929 – October 2, 1969) was an American infielder in Major League Baseball for the Pittsburgh Pirates (; ), Milwaukee Braves (– 57), New York/San Francisco Giants (– 59) and Washington Senators (– ...

. This is the only six-for-one trade in Major League history and was surpassed only by the seven-for-one deal that sent

Vida Blue Vida Rochelle Blue Jr. (born July 28, 1949) is a former American professional baseball player. He was a left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball between and , most notably as an integral member of the Oakland Athletics dynasty that won thr ...

from the Oakland Athletics to the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

in 1978. Waters appeared in two games in

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

for the Pirates at the end of the 1955 season, then worked in 23 games for them over the last three months of 1956 after his recall from the Open-Classification

Hollywood Stars The Hollywood Stars were a Minor League Baseball team that played in the Pacific Coast League during the early- and mid-20th century. They were the arch-rivals of the other Los Angeles-based PCL team, the Los Angeles Angels. Hollywood Stars (192 ...

of the Pacific Coast League. Both of his MLB victories came in starting roles. His first big-league triumph came on July 26, when he went seven

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

innings against the Chicago Cubs, allowing only four singles and three bases on balls.

Howie Pollet Howard Joseph Pollet (June 26, 1921 – August 8, 1974) was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball during the 1940s and 1950s. A three-time All-Star in 1943, 1946 and 1949, he twice led the National League in earned run avera ...

relieved Waters in the eighth inning with two runners on base, and preserved the 4–0 shutout win.1956-7-26 box score
from

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Over his 25 Major League games and 56 innings pitched, Waters allowed 55 hits and compiled a strong 2.89 career

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 ...

. However, he issued 32 bases on balls, with only 14 strikeouts. Waters appeared in only seven minor league games in 1958 and sat out the 1959 season completely. He became a high school baseball coach in Pensacola, Florida.Brown, Scott, ''Baseball in Pensacola.'' Charleston, South Carolina: The History Press, 2013, page 119 But in 1960, at age 33, he returned to baseball as a pitcher-coach for the Class D Pensacola Angels of the

Alabama–Florida League The Alabama–Florida League was a low-level circuit in American minor league baseball that existed from 1936 through 1939 and 1951 through 1962. In 1940–1941 and from 1946–1950. The absence of clubs based in Florida caused the league to chan ...

. In three seasons with Pensacola's professional franchise, he appeared in 73 games, largely as a starting pitcher, and compiled a 41–13 record and a sparkling 2.04 earned run average. In 1964, Waters became a manager and coach in the farm system of the Minnesota Twins, while continuing his high school coaching duties in Pensacola. During Waters' 22 seasons as a manager, all of them in short-season leagues (Rookie and Short Season-A levels), his teams went 681–664 (.505). Waters retired from managing after the 1986 season, and died in Pensacola three years later at the age of 62.

References

External links

, o
Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Waters, Fred 1927 births 1989 deaths American expatriate baseball players in Mexico American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Asheville Tourists players Atlanta Crackers players Baseball players from Mississippi Chattanooga Lookouts players Denver Bears players Diablos Rojos del México players Elmira Pioneers players Fort Worth Cats players Greenwood Dodgers players Hollywood Stars players Lincoln Chiefs players Major League Baseball pitchers Mexican League baseball pitchers Minnesota Twins scouts Minor league baseball managers Mobile Bears players Navegantes del Magallanes players Newport News Dodgers players Pensacola Angels players Pensacola Senators players People from Yazoo County, Mississippi Pittsburgh Pirates players St. Paul Saints (AA) players Southern Miss Golden Eagles baseball players Tigres del México players Waco Pirates players