Eddie Glinnen
| Date and Place of Birth: | October 18, 1948 Brooklyn, NY |
| Date and Place of Death: | January 11, 1970 Dau Tieng, Binh Duong Province, Vietnam |
| Baseball Experience: | Minor League |
| Position: | Third Base |
| Rank: | Specialist Fourth Grade |
| Military Unit: | Company B, 2nd Battalion (Mechanized), 2nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division US Army |
| Area Served: | Vietnam |
Eddie D. Glinnen was born in Brooklyn, New York, on October 18, 1948.
He grew up in Brooklyn’s northernmost neighborhood, Greenpoint, and
attended John Ericsson Junior High School and Grover Cleveland High
School in Queens.
Glinnen played baseball throughout his teens, working his way through
the Greenpoint Little League system (he was an MVP in 1965) and creating
a name for himself as an outstanding young player. He could catch, play
the infield and the outfield, as well as hit for power. In addition to
playing Little League ball, he played for the Greenpoint Savings Bank
Pointers American Legion team and the Greenpoint Indians of the Long
Island City YMCA Senior baseball league. Playing with as many as three
different teams at one point, Glinnen was rarely away from the ballfield
at McCarren Park.
In 1966, while playing for the AFCO Greenpoint Indians in the Queens
Alliance League, big league scouts were keeping a close eye on the
17-year-old. The following year, while playing for the Greenpoint Braves
of the same league, he was easily selected to the all-star squad and was
signed by the San Francisco Giants in August 1967.
Glinnen reported to the Giants spring training camp at Phoenix, Arizona,
in 1968, and played briefly in their farm system before entering
military service. He served in Vietnam as a specialist fourth grade with
Company B, 2nd Battalion (Mechanized), 2nd Infantry Regiment of the 1st
Infantry Division. On December 25, 1969, Glinnen was wounded when the
Armored Personnel Carrier on which he was riding hit a 20-pound mine.
After being hospitalized for a short time he returned to his unit light
duty on January 1, 1970, but was fatally wounded in an accident that day
on the bunker line at Dau Tieng. He died at the 3rd Field Hospital on
January 11, 1970.
This photo, taken in January 1962, shows Eddie Glinnen (first boy on the
left) getting into shape in line with President Kennedy's physical
fitness campaign
Date Added: October 1, 2017
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