Dale Leonard Alderson (March 9, 1918 – February 12, 1982) was a

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("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, who attempts to e ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

who played from 1943 through 1944 for the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

. Listed at , , Alderson batted and threw

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

. A native of Belden, Nebraska and graduate of Upper Iowa University, Alderson was one of many major leaguers who saw his baseball career interrupted by a military stint during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. He began his professional baseball career in 1942 with the

Zanesville Cubs Zanesville is a city in and the county seat of Muskingum County, Ohio, United States. It is located east of Columbus and had a population of 24,765 as of the 2020 census, down from 25,487 as of the 2010 census. Historically the state capital ...

of the

Middle Atlantic League The Middle Atlantic League (or Mid-Atlantic League) was a lower-level circuit in American minor league baseball that played during the second quarter of the 20th century. History The Middle Atlantic League played from 1925 through 1951, with t ...

. In 1943, he pitched for the

Nashville Volunteers The Nashville Vols were a Minor League Baseball team that played in Nashville, Tennessee, from 1901 to 1963. Known only as the Nashville Baseball Club during their first seven seasons, they were officially named the Nashville Volunteers (often sh ...

of the

Southern Association The Southern Association was a higher-level minor league in American organized baseball from 1901 through 1961. For most of its existence, the Southern Association was two steps below the Major Leagues; it was graded Class A (1902–1935), ...

and earned a late call-up to the Chicago Cubs in late September. During the 1944 midseason, he was optioned back to Nashville, where he enlisted the Navy though he had twice been previously rejected because of a kidney ailment. He was sent to the Naval Training Center in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

and remained there until being discharged in late 1945. In 1946 he returned with the Cubs but was optioned again to Nashville. He had a 6–8 record and a 4.70 ERA with Nashville that season before retiring. In a two-season career, Alderson posted a 0–1 record with a 6.56 ERA in 16 appearances, including three

start Start can refer to multiple topics: *Takeoff, the phase of flight where an aircraft transitions from moving along the ground to flying through the air * Starting lineup in sports * Standing start, and rolling start, in an auto race Acronyms * ...

s, giving up 30 runs (four unearned) on 52 hits and 12 walks while striking out 11 in 35 innings of work. Alderson died in

Garden Grove, California Garden Grove is a city in northern Orange County, California, United States, located just southwest of Disneyland (located in Anaheim, CA). The population was 171,949 at the 2020 census. State Route 22, also known as the Garden Grove Freeway, ...

, at the age of 63.

Personal life

Alderson served as a seaman first class in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

during World War II. Enlisting in 1944, he saw no action.

References

External links

Baseball Almanac
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alderson, Dale Chicago Cubs players Major League Baseball pitchers United States Navy personnel of World War II Baseball players from Nebraska People from Cedar County, Nebraska Upper Iowa Peacocks baseball players 1918 births 1982 deaths Nashville Vols players Zanesville Cubs players United States Navy sailors