Edward Paul Fernandes (March 11, 1918 – November 27, 1968) 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 ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

whose 18-year career included one full season and part of another in

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as a member of the

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

and

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

."Ed Fernandes Statistics and History"
''baseball-reference.com''. Retrieved 2011-1-13. Born in

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

, Fernandes was a

switch hitter In baseball, a switch hitter is a player who bats both right-handed and left-handed, usually right-handed against left-handed pitchers and left-handed against right-handed pitchers, although there are some exceptions. Characteristics Right-han ...

who threw right-handed, stood tall and weighed . He entered pro baseball at 17 in 1935 and made his

MLB 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 ...

debut with Pittsburgh in June 1940 after hitting .333 in the top-level

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

. But he collected only four

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over the next four months, and batted a weak .118 in 28 games in a Pirate uniform. He returned to 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 ...

from 1941–1944, then spent 1945 serving in the

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Bedingfield, Gary, ''Those Who Served,''
Baseball in Wartime during the final year of

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 ...

. Fernandes then spent all of 1946 with the White Sox, although he appeared in only 14 games. Playing behind Mike Tresh, Frankie Hayes and George Dickey, Fernandes started nine games as Chicago's fourth catcher, and his eight hits doubled his 1940 total. He returned to the minors in 1947, having batted .185 (eight for 41) with three doubles and six

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 42 career big-league games. Late in his active career, he served as a

player-manager A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

in the Class C Pioneer League for two seasons. He died in

Hayward, California Hayward is a city located in Alameda County, California, United States, in the East Bay subregion of the San Francisco Bay Area. With a population of 162,954 as of 2020, Hayward is the sixth largest city in the Bay Area, and the third largest in ...

, at age 50 on November 27, 1968.

References

External links

1918 births 1968 deaths Baseball players from Oakland, California Boise Pilots players Butler Indians players Chicago White Sox players Los Angeles Angels (minor league) players Major League Baseball catchers Minor league baseball managers Monessen Indians players Nashville Vols players Oakland Oaks (baseball) players Pittsburgh Pirates players Pocatello Bannocks players Portland Beavers players Potros de Tijuana players Sacramento Solons players St. Paul Saints (AA) players Seattle Indians players Seattle Rainiers players Stockton Ports players Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players Zanesville Greys players American expatriate baseball players in Mexico American people of Portuguese descent United States Navy personnel of World War II 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-baseball-catcher-1910s-stub