Lester Leroy Fusselman (March 7, 1921 – May 21, 1970) was an
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
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, a
catcher
Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the ca ...
who appeared in 43
Major League games for the –
St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...
. He threw and batted
right-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 subjecti ...
, stood tall and weighed .
Born in
Pryor, Oklahoma
Pryor Creek or Pryor''Oklahoma Atlas & Gazeteer,'' DeLorme, 1st Edition, 1998, p. 36 is a city in and county seat of Mayes County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 8,659 at the 2000 census and 9,539 in the 2010 census.
Originally ...
, Fusselman graduated from
Payson-Seymour High School
Payson-Seymour High School is a rural high school (grades 7–12) in Payson, Adams County, Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and t ...
in
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...
and attended
Western Illinois University
Western Illinois University (WIU) is a public university in Macomb, Illinois. It was founded in 1899 as Western Illinois State Normal School. As the normal school grew, it became Western Illinois State Teachers College.
History
Western Illin ...
. His decade-long professional career, which began in the Cardinal
farm system in 1942, was interrupted by three years of service in the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...
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 ...
. Fusselman's postwar baseball career was spent bouncing between upper-level Redbird affiliates until, at age 31, he made the Cardinal roster in 1952 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 ...
. He appeared in 32 games that season as the backup catcher to
Del Rice
Delbert Rice Jr. (October 27, 1922 – January 26, 1983) was an American professional baseball player, coach and manager. He played for 17 seasons as a catcher in Major League Baseball from 1945 to 1961, most notably for the St. Louis Cardinals ...
, who started 137 out of the Cards' 154 games. Fusselman himself
batted 63 times and made ten
hits. On May 9, 1952 he went two for four with a
home run
In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...
and two
runs scored off
Ken Raffensberger of the
Cincinnati Reds.
As a
minor leaguer, Fusselman
batted .274 with 717 hits in 823 games played.
Minor league statistics
from Baseball Reference
Baseball-Reference is a website providing baseball statistics for every player in Major League Baseball history. The site is often used by major media organizations and baseball broadcasters as a source for statistics. It offers a variety of advan ...
His playing career ended after the 1954 season.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fusselman, Les
1921 births
1970 deaths
Baseball players from Oklahoma
Columbus Cardinals players
Columbus Red Birds players
Dallas Eagles players
Houston Buffaloes players
Major League Baseball catchers
People from Adams County, Illinois
People from Pryor Creek, Oklahoma
Rochester Red Wings players
St. Louis Cardinals players
Toledo Sox players
United States Army personnel of World War II