Roland Edouard Gladu (May 10, 1911 – July 26, 1994) was a Canadian

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 ...

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 ...

. He played in 21 games for the Boston Braves of

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), ...

(MLB) during the 1944 baseball season.

Biography

Gladu's baseball career began in 1932 at Binghamton, New York, and extended over more than 20 years as a player and

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 ...

in five countries: Canada, the United States, Mexico, Cuba, and England. Gladu played in London in the late 1930s for a team based at

West Ham Stadium West Ham Stadium was a stadium that existed between 1928 and 1972 in Custom House, in East London (it was in the County Borough of West Ham, in the county of Essex, at the time of the stadium's construction). The stadium was built in 1928 on Pri ...

. Gladu was one of 13 players suspended by

Commissioner of Baseball The Commissioner of Baseball is the chief executive officer of Major League Baseball (MLB) and the associated Minor League Baseball (MiLB) – a constellation of leagues and clubs known as "organized baseball". Under the direction of the Commiss ...

Happy Chandler in May 1946 for jumping to the

Mexican League The Mexican League (, ) is a professional baseball league based in Mexico and the oldest running professional league in the country. The league has 18 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games each season. Five te ...

, which offered higher salaries than the U.S. major leagues. Gladu had signed with

Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

three months prior. Catcher

Mickey Owen Arnold Malcolm "Mickey" Owen (April 4, 1916 – July 13, 2005) was an American professional baseball player, coach and scout. He played as a catcher for 13 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) between and for the St. Louis Cardinals, Brookly ...

and pitchers

Sal Maglie Salvatore Anthony Maglie (April 26, 1917 – December 28, 1992) was an American Major League Baseball pitcher and later, a scout and a pitching coach. He played from 1945 to 1958 for the New York Giants, Cleveland Indians, Brooklyn Dodgers, New Y ...

and

Max Lanier Hubert Max Lanier (August 18, 1915 – January 30, 2007) was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who spent most of his career with the St. Louis Cardinals. He led the National League in earned run average in 1943, and was the ...

were the best known of the other suspended players. Gladu also played professional hockey in the off-season as a defenceman in the

Quebec Hockey League The Quebec Senior Hockey League (QSHL) was an ice hockey league that operated from 1941 to 1959 , based in Quebec, Canada. The league played senior ice hockey under the jurisdiction of the Quebec Amateur Hockey Association until 1953, when it became ...

. After his playing career, Gladu worked as a scout for the Milwaukee Braves. Pitcher Claude Raymond was one of the first players signed by Gladu. Gladu died in 1994 in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

at age 83. He was inducted to the British Baseball Hall of Fame in 2011 and the

Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame The Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum (french: Temple de la renommée du baseball canadien) is a museum located in St. Marys, Ontario, Canada. The museum commemorates great players, teams, and accomplishments of baseball in Canada. H ...

in 2021

Notes

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gladu, Roland 1911 births 1994 deaths Baseball people from Quebec Boston Braves players Canadian expatriate baseball players in Mexico Canadian expatriate baseball players in the United States Canadian expatriate sportspeople in England Hartford Laurels players Major League Baseball third basemen Major League Baseball players from Canada Milwaukee Braves scouts Minor league baseball managers Montreal Royals players Nuevo Laredo Tecolotes players Philadelphia Phillies players Quebec Athletics players Richmond Colts players Sherbrooke Athletics players Baseball players from Montreal Tuneros de San Luis Potosí players York White Roses players Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame inductees