1944-1945

Jim Bucher was born on March 11, 1911, in Manassas, Virginia. He went to the Manassas schools for his first eight grades but then the family moved to Palmyra, Pennsylvania and he graduated from high school there. He played ball in high school, and then  semipro ball in Palymra.

His first year in professional baseball was with the Wayneboro (Pennsylvania) Red Birds in the Class-D Blue Ridge league in 1930. His 1931 season was spent with the Middle Atlantic League Scottdale (Pennsylvania) Cardinals. In 1932, he played for Elmira in the Class-B New York-Pennsylvania League. 

His 1933 season was the most productive one of his career. He traveled a little further from Pennsylvania and played in Greensboro, North Carolina for the Class-B Piedmont League Greensboro Patriots playing in 128  games and helping to lead the team to first place in league standings. Jim led the league in batting average (.369), base hits (188), home runs (25), and doubles (40), while driving in 118 runs and stealing 26 bases.

After four years in the Cardinals system, he spent 1934 through 1937 playing in the big leagues with the Brooklyn Dodgers. He had been selected by Brooklyn in the minor-league draft. His debut with the Dodgers was in a pinch-hitting role. In May he suffered a broken ankle in a game and was put on the voluntarily retried list.

Everything came together for him in 1935 and he had the best season of his career. He was still working as a utility infielder, but he was called on in 123 games and he batted .302, third-highest on the ball club. He worked 110 games in 1936, but his numbers dropped across the board but for a reserve or utility player, he was still steady and competent.

After the 1937 season, the Dodgers really wanted shortstop Leo Durocher, so in October they traded Jim and three others to the Cardinals to get him. Jim began the 1938 season with St. Louis and played in 17 games, through May.  He was unconditionally released to Columbus, their Double-A farm club and didn’t come back to the big leagues until 1944.

For the 1938 Columbus Red Birds, he hit for a .317 batting average. He had two more good years with Columbus in 1939 and 1940. He was a second-team All-Star in the American Association in 1941, but he only appeared in 52 games. In January 1942, his contract was sold to the Toronto Maple Leafs. He played in five games for them, but was then optioned to the Texas League Houston Buffaloes. He played for the Toledo Mud Hens in 1943 and 1944.

In 1944, the Boston Red Sox were losing players left and right to military service and had just learned that Bobby Doerr was classified 1-A. In May, the Red Sox bought rights to Jim. Primarily, he played third base, though at the end of August when Doerr left for the Army, he switched over to play second base. The Red Sox were in a pennant race up to that point, but with Doerr and others gone they rapidly dropped out of the running. 

In 1945, even against depleted pitching around the league, Jim struggled at the plate. After the first game of an August doubleheader, he was batting an even .200. In December 1945, the Portland Beavers purchased him from the Red Sox for cash. It was his last year in pro baseball.

From 1947 through 1950, Jim managed the College Hill Chix baseball team of Fredericksburg. After baseball, he was employed by the United States Department of Agriculture and sold Federal crop insurance. He also owned a 21-foot boat and enjoyed fishing in Chesapeake Bay and Delaware Bay.

Jim Bucher was named to the Central Pennsylvania Chapter Sports Hall of Fame and died in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania on October 21, 2004, at the age of 93.