Real Work - Offseason Jobs of Vintage Ballplayers

[Peter_Spaeth]

a few from 1958 article

Eddie Mathews: president of Eddie Mathews Enterprises, a construction firm.

Johnny Logan: president of a title company that bears his name.

Gene Conley: vice-president of an oil company.

Ernie Johnson: insurance salesman.

Frank Torre: public relations representative for a soft drink concern.

Bob Rush: sell real estate in Mesa, Arizona.

Bob Buhl: has an appliance dealership in Saginaw, Michigan.

Harry Hanebrink: drive an oil truck in St. Louis.

Joe Koppe: paint houses in Detroit.

Warren Spahn: work his cattle ranch in Hartshorne, Oklahoma.

Don Newcombe: whiskey business in Newark, New Jersey.

Walt Dropo: sell real estate in Marblehead, Massachusetts.

Pete Whisenant: has a bar in Charlotte (“I’ll sell beer and drink beer”).

Smoky Burgess: run a service station in Forest City, North Carolina.

Bob Schmidt: “will wrestle a concrete mixer in St. Louis.”

Sad Sam Jones: drive a lumber truck in West Virginia.

Larry Jackson: “plans to work on the sports staff of the Idaho Daily Statesman back in Boise.” (After his playing days Jackson served in the Idaho legislature and ran for governor.)

Stan Musial: “has a bowling alley to look after, in addition to his restaurant, banks, etc.”

Del Ennis: opening a bowling alley in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania.

Irv Noren: owns a bowling alley in Pasadena, California.

Eddie Kasko: work with a beer distributor in Richmond, Virginia.

Ray Katt: sell life insurance in New Braunfels, Texas.

Wilmer Mizell: with a new insurance firm in St. Louis.

Jim Brosnan: will resume his job with a Chicago advertising agency. (During the 1959 season Brosnan would write the first of his classic books, “The Long Season.”)

Sal Maglie: has a liquor store in Niagara Falls, New York.

[sayhey24]

Great list Peter!

Mark Belanger sold sporting goods at a department store in Pittsfield, MA, and Jim Konstanty of the Chiefs and Phillies owned his own sporting goods store in his hometown of Oneonta, NY.

Greg

[conor912]

Great thread, Frank.

[Den*nis O*Brien]

As previously mentioned the '33 Goudey set points out off season work. Guy ran filling stations in Chicago. Great venue to get a ball autographed!

[Kawika]

"Johnny delivers mail during the off-season."

[MacDice]

Earl Averill was a flourist

[frankbmd]

A few more, some new, some previously mentioned from an article cited below.


Stan Musial sold Christmas trees from a parking lot alongside his St. Louis Cardinals teammates Red Schoendienst, Marty Marion and Terry Moore during the late 1940s.

Roy Campanella owned and operated a Harlem liquor store throughout his playing career.

Al Jackson, a member of the inaugural 1962 Mets team, sold men’s suits at Howard Clothes in New York.

Jim Palmer was the youngest player to ever throw a shutout in a World Series. He then started selling men’s clothes at Hamburgers in Baltimore.

Palmer arrived at the store every morning at 9, sold suits, signed some autographs and went out to lunch with the other sales representatives. It was nothing out of the ordinary. One of his Orioles teammates, he recalled, made steering wheels at a General Motors plant. Another was a part-time social worker.

edited from a NYT article in February 13, 2013

[frankbmd]

Originally Posted by MacDice

Earl Averill was a flourist

Does a flourist sell flour?

[ValKehl]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

a few from 1958 article
Gene Conley: vice-president of an oil company.

Gene Conley also played in the NBA for a few seasons with the Celtics and the Knicks during the off season. I can recall watching the Celtics on TV in the 1950's when Conley played (sparingly) with the likes of Cousy, Russell, Sharman, and the Joneses.
Val

[gman]

Dennis Menke, while a member of the Houston Astros, sold motorcycles at a Honda dealership in the southeast part of Houston

[tedzan]

Did you know that Cap Anson was also an accomplished billiards player....and, owned a billiards hall in Chicago.


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TED Z

__________________________________________________ _________________________________
LOOKING for this T206 guy to complete my EXCLUSIVE 12 red HINDU sub-set (12 subjects)

SHECKARD (glove)
.

[tedzan]

1949 Dodgers
1951 Cubs

And, the rest is history......






TED Z

__________________________________________________ _________________________________
LOOKING for this T206 guy to complete my EXCLUSIVE 12 red HINDU sub-set (12 subjects)

SHECKARD (glove)

[mets41]

Also Chuck Conners was the greatest center in the history of the Boston Celtic franchise.

Additionally, others played basketball (including Ron Reed) and football (including George Hallas) during off-seasons.

[Kawika]

Originally Posted by mets41

Also Chuck Conners was the greatest center in the history of the Boston Celtic franchise.

Huh?

[Eric72]

Originally Posted by tedzan

Did you know that Cap Anson was also an accomplished billiards player....and, owned a billiards hall in Chicago.


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TED Z


__________________________________________________ _________________________________
LOOKING for this T206 guy to complete my EXCLUSIVE 12 red HINDU sub-set (12 subjects)

SHECKARD (glove)
.

Hi Ted,

Leo "The Lip" Durocher was an extremely good billiards player, too. If I remember correctly, he broke into baseball by defeating Willie Hoppe, the World Billiard champion, for ten dollars to buy a bus ticket to Hartford for a baseball tryout.

He was sixteen at the time. It would appear that he made the right decision.

Best regards,

Eric

[frankbmd]

There is a "ball" player who is considered one of the best in the sport, who is also a world champion in the offseason in a second sport that does not use any balls whatsoever.

Who is he?

[Bocabirdman]

Originally Posted by frankbmd

There is a "ball" player who is considered one of the best in the sport, who is also a world champion in the offseason in a second sport that does not use any balls whatsoever.

Who is he?

Burt Lancaster? Oh you asked "is"... never mind.

[Mikehealer]

Originally Posted by frankbmd

There is a "ball" player who is considered one of the best in the sport, who is also a world champion in the offseason in a second sport that does not use any balls whatsoever.

Who is he?

Bronko Nagurski.

[frankbmd]

Originally Posted by Mikehealer

Bronko Nagurski.

Nagurski for football and wrestling meets the riddle's criteria, but there is another.