Marvin Eugene Rackley (July 25, 1921 – April 24, 2018) was an American baseball player who was an

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

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) ...

. He played from 1947 to 1950 with the

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the club moved to Los Angeles, Californ ...

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 (NL) National League Central, Central division. Founded as part o ...

, and

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

. He appeared in the 1949 World Series as a member of the Dodgers.

Career

Rackley was born in

Seneca, South Carolina Seneca is a city in Oconee County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 8,102 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Seneca Micropolitan Statistical Area (population 74,273 at the 2010 census), an (MSA) that includes ...

. He signed with the Dodgers in 1941, at the age of 19. In his first professional season, he hit .322 in the Georgia–Florida League."Marv Rackley Minor League Statistics & History"
''baseball-reference.com''. Retrieved 2010-11-03. After the 1942 season, Rackley enlisted in the

Army Air Force The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

. He spent three years in the service and also played some semi-pro baseball. In 1946, Rackley was discharged and returned to organized baseball. The Dodgers sent him to the

Montreal Royals The Montreal Royals were a minor league baseball, minor league professional baseball team in Montreal, Quebec, during 1897–1917 and 1928–1960. A member of the International League, the Royals were the top farm system, farm club (Triple-A (base ...

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 level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ( ...

, where he was teammates with

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

in Robinson's first minor league season. While Robinson was the star of the team, Rackley also played well, batting .305 and leading the league in

triples TripleS (stylized as tripleS; Help:IPA/English, /ˈtɹɪpəl:ɛs/; ) is a South Korean girl group formed by MODHAUS. They aim to be the world's first decentralized K-pop idol group. The members will rotate between the group, sub-unit, and solo ac ...

(14) and stolen bases (64). Montreal won the pennant and the

Junior World Series The Junior World Series was a postseason championship series between champions of two of the three highest minor league baseball leagues modeled on the World Series of Major League Baseball. It was called the Little World Series (no relation to ...

. After the season, Robinson hired Rackley to play on the Jackie Robinson All-Stars exhibition team. Rackley joined the Dodgers in 1947. He made his major league debut as a pinch-runner on April 15, in the same game that Jackie Robinson made his debut as the starting first baseman. Rackley would be the last surviving player from either team in that game. In 18 games in 1947, Rackley batted .222. He finished the season in the American Association. Rackley then rejoined Brooklyn in 1948 and had his best major league campaign, hitting .327 in 88 games. On May 1, 1949, he was traded to Pittsburgh for

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the major ...

Johnny Hopp. But after three weeks with the Pirates (during which Rackley appeared in 11

games played Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. Baseball ...

and batted .314), the trade was voided on June 7 and Rackley went back to the Dodgers. He was purchased by Cincinnati in October, for $60,000. He played five games for them in 1950 before going to the

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 level, which is one grade below Major League Bas ...

Seattle Rainiers The Seattle Rainiers, originally named the Seattle Indians and also known as the Seattle Angels, were a Minor League Baseball team in Seattle, Washington, that played in the Pacific Coast League from 1903 to 1906 and 1919 to 1968. They were init ...

. Over the next several years, Rackley also played in 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 the International League. He retired in 1955 and died in April 2018 at the age of 96.Marvin Eugene Rackley Obituary
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References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rackley, Marv 1921 births 2018 deaths Atlanta Crackers managers Atlanta Crackers players Baltimore Orioles (IL) players Baseball players from South Carolina Birmingham Barons players Brooklyn Dodgers players Cincinnati Reds players Dayton Ducks players Durham Bulls players Major League Baseball center fielders Minor league baseball managers Montreal Royals players People from Seneca, South Carolina Pittsburgh Pirates players Richmond Virginians (minor league) players St. Paul Saints (AA) players Seattle Rainiers players United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II Valdosta Trojans players