1944-1945

It took quite an odyssey for right-hander Rex Cecil to get into his first major-league game. It was August 11, 1944, and he was in San Diego. It was a Friday. Cecil had been playing professional baseball since 1937, when he was 20 and pitching for the Vancouver Maple Leafs. He’d never played for a team farther east than Bartlesville, Oklahoma. He would turn 28 in October 1944. Then he got the word: On August 9th Boston Red Sox starter Tex Hughson had pitched his last game for a while. He was to report for induction in the military. The Red Sox needed another arm. They had purchased Cecil’s contract from the Padres on July 31st ...

continue reading bio at ...