Alfred Vanoide Fletcher (August 6, 1924 – March 17, 2010) was an

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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. The

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pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), 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, ...

appeared in nine games for the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

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 ...

in 1955. He stood tall and weighed .

Early life

Fletcher was born in East Bend,

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

, in 1924. His parents were Wesley E. and Rhett Fletcher. He volunteered for the

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and fought in

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in the

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."Those Who Served, A–Z," Baseball in Wartime.com
/ref>

Career

After the war, Fletcher was 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 ...

' organization. Beginning in 1949, he played for several

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 ...

teams, including the Elkin Blanketeers,

Vancouver Capilanos Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. The Metr ...

, and

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 prev ...

. In August 1954, the

acquired him from the Rainiers. In nine

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(all in

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during the opening six weeks of the 1955 season) and 12 full

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 ...

, he allowed 13

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, two

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 ...

, and ten runs—but only four were

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. He

struck out 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 safel ...

four. He did not record a

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. After spending the 1957 season with the

Birmingham Barons The Birmingham Barons are a Minor League Baseball team based in Birmingham, Alabama. The team, which plays in the Southern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox and plays at Regions Field in downtown Birmingham. The Baron ...

, Fletcher retired from baseball. He returned to

Yadkin County Yadkin County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The population was 37,214 at the 2020 census. Its county seat is Yadkinville. Yadkin County is included in the Winston-Salem, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is al ...

where he worked as a building contractor in the

Winston-Salem Winston-Salem is a city in Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the fifth-most populous city in North Carolina and the 91st-most populous city in the Uni ...

and

Yadkinville Yadkinville is a town in Yadkin County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 2,997 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located in the Piedmont Triad, it is the county seat and most populous city of Yadkin County. History T ...

areas. He also farmed tobacco for many years.

Personal life

Fletcher coached little league baseball in the 1960s and 1970s. He married Rilla Whitaker, and the couple had two sons. Fletcher died in Yadkinville on March 17, 2010, at the age of 85.

References

External links

Retrosheet – major league statisticsObituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fletcher, Van 1924 births 2010 deaths Amarillo Gold Sox players 20th-century American sportsmen Baseball players from North Carolina Birmingham Barons players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Charleston Senators players Detroit Tigers players Elkin Blanketeers players Little Rock Travelers players Major League Baseball pitchers Montgomery Rebels players People from East Bend, North Carolina Seattle Rainiers players Tyler Trojans players United States Army personnel of World War II Vancouver Capilanos players