James Walter Gladd (October 2, 1922 – November 8, 1977) 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 baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

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 ...

who played in four games in the major leagues for the

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in . Born in

Fort Gibson, Oklahoma Fort Gibson is a town in Cherokee and Muskogee counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 4,154 at the 2010 census, an increase of 2.5 percent over the figure of 4,054 recorded in 2000. It is the location of Fort Gibson Histor ...

, he threw and batted right-handed, stood tall and weighed . Gladd entered minor league baseball in 1940. After three seasons, he joined the

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for

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 ...

military service. Commissioned a

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in June 1943, he was assigned to the 33rd Field Artillery Battalion of the First Infantry Division—the "Big Red One"—which saw combat in the North African Campaign, the

Invasion of Sicily The Allied invasion of Sicily, also known as Operation Husky, was a major campaign of World War II in which the Allied forces invaded the island of Sicily in July 1943 and took it from the Axis powers ( Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany). It bega ...

, and the

European Theatre The European theatre of World War II was one of the two main theatres of combat during World War II. It saw heavy fighting across Europe for almost six years, starting with Germany's invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 and ending with the ...

. Gladd returned to baseball in 1946, and after 50 games with the Triple-A

Jersey City Giants {{about, the baseball team, the football team, American Association (American football) The Jersey City Giants was the name of a high-level American minor league baseball franchise that played in Jersey City, New Jersey, as the top farm system a ...

, he was recalled to New York for a September

MLB 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), ...

audition. Starting four games between September 9 and 29, he collected his only

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, a

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off

Dick Koecher Richard Finlay Koecher (March 30, 1926 – February 4, 2020), nicknamed "Highpockets", was an American professional baseball pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward th ...

of the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

, in his fourth and final contest.

Retrosheet Retrosheet is a nonprofit organization whose website features box scores of Major League Baseball (MLB) games from 1906 to the present, and play-by-play narratives for almost every contest since the 1930s. It also includes scores from every major ...

br>box score (29 September 1946): "New York Giants 3, Philadelphia Phillies 1"
/ref> Although he never again reached the majors, Gladd continued his active career at the highest levels of the minors, playing eight seasons in the

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

. He retired from the game in 1955 and died at age 55 in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

, on November 8, 1977.

References

External links

1922 births 1977 deaths Baseball players from Oklahoma Fort Smith Giants players Hollywood Stars players Jersey City Giants players Major League Baseball catchers New York Giants (baseball) players People from Fort Gibson, Oklahoma Portland Beavers players Salisbury Giants players San Diego Padres (minor league) players San Francisco Seals (baseball) players United States Army personnel of World War II {{US-baseball-catcher-1920s-stub