1947

Frank Strickland Shofner was born in Crawford, Texas, on July 13, 1919. He went through the public schools in Crawford and graduated from Crawford High School. He was a halfback on the school’s football team, which won the conference title three years in a row and football earned him a scholarship to North Texas State College in Denton.

During his junior year, he was summoned to military service. He had planned to go into naval aviation, but navy doctors found he had a perforated eardrum so instead he spent 13 months in the United States Army. 

His first year in Organized Baseball was in 1944 when he signed with the Red Sox farm team, the Louisville Colonels. He had a very good year, playing shortstop and batting .317. He played a little third base for the Colonels in 1945, the rest at shortstop and hit .298, with a league-leading 13 triples. Louisville became a Triple-A club in 1946, and Strick played more third base than short and hit .305.

He was ticketed for Boston in 1947 and worked out at Wichita Falls College for three weeks before reporting to spring training at Sarasota. He had a very good spring training, and made the big-league team. Playing part time, n May, his batting average was just .154, and that’s where it stayed. He stuck with the team another couple of weeks, but was optioned to Louisville, where he struggled, only hitting .264.

In October, he was released outright to the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League and played two full seasons for the Seals, 1948 and 1949. In January 1950, the Seals traded him to the Columbus Red Birds and in October, his contract was assigned to the Houston Buffaloes of the Double-A Texas League. His final season was 1952. He began the year with Houston, but was sent to the Oklahoma City Indians in May.

After baseball, he worked for a while at W. A. Holt in Houston, then moved to Waco, Texas, working as a salesman at B and B Sporting Goods.

"Strick" Shofner passed away on October 10, 1998 at 79 years old, in Crawford, Texas at the Crestview Retirement Center.