Reuben Franklin Melton (February 27, 1917 – September 11, 1971) 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 ...

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 ...

, who played in

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) for the Philadelphia Phillies and Brooklyn Dodgers, from 1941 to 1947. Melton experienced difficulty in his first MLB season when he was suspended by the Phillies for leaving the team without permission reportedly because of

homesickness Homesickness is the distress caused by being away from home.Kerns, Brumariu, Abraham. Kathryn A., Laura E., Michelle M.(2009/04/13). Homesickness at summer camp. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 54. Its cognitive hallmark is preoccupying thoughts of home ...

. Melton led the league in walks and wild pitches during the 1942 season. Melton was traded to Brooklyn, on December 12, 1942, for pitcher Johnny Allen and $30,000. (The Dodgers had previously tried to trade for Melton, but

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 ...

Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis disallowed the transaction; however, because of Philadelphia’s ever-increasing financial instability, the second deal was approved.) Melton missed the 1945 season due to service in the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

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 ...

. His best season occurred just after his military discharge in May 1946, when Melton went 6–3 with a 1.99

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 ...

(ERA) for the Dodgers. An earlier arm injury forced him to shorten his major league career. Melton continued to make comeback attempts through 1951, in the

minor leagues Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in No ...

, then retired as an active player. Melton's playing career overlapped that of his

cousin Most generally, in the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a cousin is a type of familial relationship in which two relatives are two or more familial generations away from their most recent common ancestor. Commonly, ...

Cliff Melton Clifford George Melton (January 3, 1912 – July 28, 1986) was an American professional baseball left-handed pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Giants over parts of eight seasons spanning 1937–44. Listed at , ...

, who pitched for the New York Giants. On September 12, 1971, Melton died in an automobile accident in

Greer, South Carolina Greer is a city in Greenville and Spartanburg counties in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The population was 35,308 as of the 2020 census Greer is part of the Greenville– Anderson– Mauldin Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city is add ...

References

External links

Rube Melton
at Baseball Almanac
Rube Melton
at CNN/SI * Major League Baseball pitchers Brooklyn Dodgers players Philadelphia Phillies players 1917 births 1971 deaths Baseball players from North Carolina Campbell Fighting Camels baseball players Road incident deaths in South Carolina Asheville Tourists players Greensburg Red Wings players Albany Travelers players Columbus Red Birds players St. Paul Saints (AA) players Montreal Royals players Mobile Bears players Greenville Spinners players Gastonia Browns players People from Gaston County, North Carolina United States Army personnel of World War II {{US-baseball-pitcher-1910s-stub