Robert George Young (January 22, 1925 – February 4, 1985) 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 ...

player. He played all or part of eight years in

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 ...

, primarily as a

second baseman In baseball and softball, second baseman, abbreviated 2B, is a fielding position in the Infielder, infield, between Baseball field#Second base, second and Baseball field#First base, first base. The second baseman often possesses quick hands and f ...

. He played most of his career for the St. Louis Browns/Baltimore Orioles franchise. Born in

Granite, Maryland Granite is an unincorporated area, unincorporated community in Baltimore County, Maryland, Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. Originally known as Waltersville, it was renamed Granite in recognition of its principal product (the Woodstock ...

, he was first signed by the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

before the 1946 season, and appeared in three games for them in 1948 before being traded to the crosstown Browns in June 1949. He was the Browns' regular second baseman from 1951 to 1953, tying for the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

lead in

double play In baseball and softball, a double play (denoted as DP in baseball statistics) is the act of making two outs during the same continuous play. Double plays can occur any time there is at least one baserunner and fewer than two outs. In Major Le ...

s as a 1951 rookie with 118, and leading the league again in 1952 with 127. He continued as the starting second baseman after the team relocated to

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

before the 1954 season, and was in fact the first player signed to a contract that year. But the move closer to his hometown did not produce strong results, and his

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

– which had hovered around the .250 mark – slipped to .245 in 1954 and to .199 in early 1955, leading to his trade to the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

in June. He played only 18 games for Cleveland over the rest of the season, and one game in 1955; his contract was sold to the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

in June 1957, and he appeared in 32 games for the Phillies in 1958, ending his career. Young batted .249 with 15

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s and 137

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

in 687 career games. Defensively, he recorded a .980

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a baseball positions, defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putout ...

. In 1953, Young was invited to join

Jackie Robinson Jack Roosevelt Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) was an American professional baseball player who became the first Black American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the Baseball color line, ...

's fall barnstorming tour. In previous years, the tour had included only African American major leaguers, who faced off against

Negro league The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be used narrowly for the seven relativel ...

stars. Young,

Gil Hodges Gilbert Raymond Hodges (born Hodge; April 4, 1924 – April 2, 1972) was an American first baseman and manager (baseball), manager in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played most of his 18-year career for the History of the Brooklyn Dodgers, Broo ...

Ralph Branca Ralph Theodore Joseph Branca (January 6, 1926 – November 23, 2016), nicknamed "Hawk", was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 1944 through 1956. Branca played for the Brooklyn Dod ...

and

Al Rosen Albert Leonard Rosen (February 29, 1924 – March 13, 2015), nicknamed "Flip" and "the Hebrew Hammer", was an American baseball third baseman and right-handed slugger for the Cleveland Indians of Major League Baseball for ten seasons in the 194 ...

joined the groundbreaking interracial tour of the South, which began in Baltimore and concluded in Houston. Rosen was injured early on and returned home but the other three White players continued. In Birmingham, where an ordinance forbade racial mixing in athletic events, they were forced to sit in the stands or risk arrest. Young spent part of 1957 with the

Miami Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League East, East Division. The ...

of the

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major ...

, where he, Woody Smith, Mickey Micelotta, and Pancho Herrera were considered to be one of the best infields in the International League, with one writer saying, "they make plays the Phillies couldn't make." He died of a heart attack at age 60 in Baltimore.

References

External links

Bobby Young
at

SABR Sabr () (literally 'endurance' or more accurately 'perseverance' and 'persistence'"Ṣabr", ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'') is one of the two parts of Iman (concept), faith (the other being ''shukr'') in Islam. It teaches to remain Spirituality, sp ...

(Baseball BioProject) {{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Bobby Major League Baseball second basemen St. Louis Cardinals players St. Louis Browns players 20th-century American sportsmen Baltimore Orioles players Cleveland Indians players Philadelphia Phillies players Allentown Cardinals players Rochester Red Wings players Indianapolis Indians players San Diego Padres (minor league) players Miami Marlins (International League) players Baseball players from Howard County, Maryland 1925 births 1985 deaths