Ralph Harold Brickner (May 2, 1925 – May 9, 1994) was an American

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who pitches in the game after the starting pitcher or another relief pitcher has been removed from the game due to fatigue (medical), fatigue, injury, ineffectiveness, ejection ...

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 ...

who played for the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

in the

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, ...

season. Nicknamed "Brick", he batted and threw right-handed, stood 6 feet, 3 inches (1.92 m) tall and weighed . He was born in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

, and attended

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

. Brickner was a member of the IU Hoosiers baseball team in 1946–47. Signed originally by 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 ...

' organization, he was selected by the Red Sox from the independent

Portsmouth Cubs The Portsmouth Cubs were a minor league baseball team based in Portsmouth, Virginia. From 1935 to 1955, Portsmouth teams played exclusively as members of the Class B (baseball), Class B level Piedmont League, which was one of few minor leagues tha ...

of the

Piedmont League The Piedmont League was a minor league baseball league that operated from 1920 through 1955. The league operated principally in the Piedmont plateau region in the eastern United States. Cities represented The following cities hosted teams th ...

in the 1950 minor league draft, and reached the Major Leagues on May 2, 1952. He had a successful

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience, a rookie is typically considered needing more tra ...

season with the Red Sox, appearing in 14

games A game is a Structure, structured type of play (activity), play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an Educational game, educational tool. Many games are also considered to be Work (human activity), work (such as p ...

, 13 in relief, and posting a 3–1

win–loss record Win–loss may refer to: * Win–loss analytics, analysis of the reasons why a visitor to a website was or wasn't persuaded to engage in a desired action * Win–loss record, also winning percentage * Win–loss record (pitching), the number of ...

with one save and an

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

of only 2.18 with nine

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...

s and 32

hits allowed In Baseball statistics, hits allowed (HA) signifies the total number of hits allowed by a pitcher. Definition A hit occurs when a batter strikes the baseball into fair territory and reaches base without doing so via an error or a fielder's choice ...

and 11

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), better known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches during a plate appearance that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The bas ...

in 33

innings pitched In baseball, the statistic innings pitched (IP) is the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of Batter (baseball), batters and baserunners that have been put out while the pitcher is on the Baseball field#Pitcher's mou ...

. But a shoulder injury diagnosed as

bursitis Bursitis is the inflammation of one or more bursae (synovial sacs) of synovial fluid in the body. They are lined with a synovial membrane that secretes a lubricating synovial fluid. There are more than 150 bursae in the human body. The bursae (bu ...

curtailed his pitching career. He played his final MLB game on September 17, 1952, and retired after spending 1953 in

minor league baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

. Ralph Brickner died in

Bridgetown, Ohio Bridgetown is a census-designated place (CDP) in Green Township, Hamilton County, Ohio, United States. The population was 14,731 at the 2020 census. In earlier censuses it was listed as the slightly smaller Bridgetown North CDP. History Bridg ...

, at the age of 69.

External links

Baseball Almanac
* 1925 births 1994 deaths Baseball players from Cincinnati Birmingham Barons players Boston Red Sox players Indiana Hoosiers baseball players Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Major League Baseball pitchers Portsmouth Cubs players Terre Haute Phillies players Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players Utica Blue Sox players Elder High School alumni 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-baseball-pitcher-1920s-stub