John Robert Savage (December 1, 1921 – July 26, 2013) was an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

. He played for the

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, they became the Oakland ...

and

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) in parts of five seasons spanning 1942–1949. Listed at and , he batted and threw right-handed.

Biography

Savage was born in 1921 in

Manchester, New Hampshire Manchester is the List of municipalities in New Hampshire, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. Located on the banks of the Merrimack River, it had a population of 115,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Manches ...

. He originally signed with the

in 1942, making his major league debut on June 24. Like many other players of the era, his career was interrupted by

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

with the 3rd Infantry Regiment, where he received three

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the president to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...

awards.Baseball in Wartime – Bob Savage
/ref> Following his discharge from military service, Savage returned to the Athletics in 1946, pitching for them during three seasons before joining the

in 1949, his last major league season. He then continued to pitch in the

minor leagues Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

until 1953. After retiring from baseball, Savage worked for

Wilson Sporting Goods The Wilson Sporting Goods Company is an American sports equipment manufacturer based in Chicago, Illinois. Wilson makes equipment for many sports, among them baseball, badminton, American football, basketball, fastpitch softball, golf, racquetball ...

before opening his own sporting goods store. He also taught physical education at Gorham High School in New Hampshire. He also went into politics, serving two terms as Clerk of the Probate Court of

Coös County, New Hampshire Coös County (, with two syllables) or Coos County is the northernmost County (United States), county in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 31,268, making it the least-populated ...

, retiring in 1986. Savage died in

Berlin, New Hampshire Berlin ( ) is a city along the Androscoggin River in Coös County, New Hampshire, Coös County in northern New Hampshire, United States. It is the northernmost city in New Hampshire and the only city in Coös County. The population was 9,425 at ...

, in 2013 at the age of 91.Bob Savage at Baseball Almanac
/ref>

Sources

External links

Philadelphia Athletics Historical Society – Bob Savage tells his story
{{DEFAULTSORT:Savage, Bob 1921 births 2013 deaths United States Army personnel of World War II Baseball players from Manchester, New Hampshire Major League Baseball pitchers People from Coös County, New Hampshire Philadelphia Athletics players St. Louis Browns players 20th-century American sportsmen San Diego Padres (minor league) players San Francisco Seals (baseball) players Staunton Military Academy alumni Yakima Bears players Military personnel from New Hampshire