1945

Loyd Christopher was born on December 31, 1919, in Richmond, California. He attended Richmond Union High School, where he played high school ball, played for the Point Richmond Post in American Legion ball, and played some semipro baseball. He also swam some in high school, and expected to become a mechanic of some sort.

He signed with the Yankees and played for three different teams in 1938. In 1939, he had a breakout season at age 19 in Class-B baseball, batting .353 with 31 homers and a league-leading 131 runs batted in for the Wenatchee (Washington) Chiefs in the Western International League and was named to the league’s All-Star team.

He was advanced to the Double-A Pacific Coast League in 1940, playing for the Oakland Oaks. The next year, 1941, he played for the Kansas City Blues in the Double-A American Association and hit only .224.

Still in the Yankees system, he was acquired by the Newark Bears in February 1942. Loyd played for Kansas City in 1943, but only batted .241 before being moved on to Seattle.

He suffered from a bad knee which required him to wear a brace, and that was the reason he was never drafted into military service.

He played all of 1944 for the Seattle Rainiers, hitting for a .284 average and made his big-league debut for the Red Sox in April 1945, the home opener. After a few appearances, he was put on waivers and the Chicago Cubs claimed him in May.

Loyd was with the Cubs for a month and half but only got into one game and the Cubs optioned him to their Los Angeles Angels affiliate. In 1946, however, he had an excellent year for Los Angeles, batting .304, with a league-leading 26 homers. He was then taken by the Chicago White Sox in that year’s Rule 5 draft in November.

He opened the 1947 season with the White Sox and played in seven games, before it was announced he would be returning to the Angels. His games with the White Sox were his last in the major leagues. For the next five seasons, 1948 through 1952, he played for the Oakland Oaks before a knee injury caused him to retire from baseball.

In 1955 he felt he had recovered and decided to give baseball another shot. He signed in March with the Stockton Ports of the Class-C California League and only appeared in seven games, which were his last in professional baseball.

In the early 1950s, Loyd became an automobile salesman in Richmond, working for Claar Chevrolet. In 1957 he took up work as a scout and became a very successful one.

Loyd Christopher was still a scout, back with the Angels, at the time of his death, in Richmond, of prostate cancer on September 5, 1991 at the age of 71.