Ted Maillet
| Date and Place of Birth: | 1920 Livermore Falls, ME |
| Date and Place of Death: | April 7, 1945 Belgium |
| Baseball Experience: | Minor League |
| Position: | Pitcher |
| Rank: | Private First-Class |
| Military Unit: | 386th Infantry Regiment, 97th Infantry Division US Army |
| Area Served: | European Theater of Operations |
The Sailors won the Middle-Atlantic League playoffs here
tonight as Ted Maillet pitched brilliant ball to defeat Canton, 4-3.
Charleston Daily Mail September 16, 1941
Theodore C. Maillet attended Livermore Falls High School in Maine,
where, under the direction of coach John P. “Paddy” Davan he became an
outstanding southpaw pitcher.
As a sophomore he pitched the high school team to the 1936 state
baseball championship, and the following year he won 18 games, including
two no-hitters in as many days against Wilton Academy and Winslow High.
In his senior year in 1938 Maillet again pitched Livermore Falls High to
the state finals where he was beaten, 6–0, by Lewiston High. He got
Livermore Falls’ only base hit of the day.
Maillet was signed by the Cincinnati Reds following graduation and
joined the Durham Bulls of the Class B Piedmont League late in 1939,
appearing in two games and being credited with a win. He joined the
Tyler Trojans of the Class C East Texas League in 1940, and finished the
season with a 12–8 record and 3.41 ERA. In 1941, he was with the
Columbia Reds of the Class B South Atlantic League, and was 4–3 in nine
games before joining the Erie Sailors of the Class C Mid-Atlantic League
where, in 18 appearances he produced an excellent 11–4 won-loss record
with a 2.12 ERA. The Sailors finished second in the regular league
standings — two-and-a-half games behind the Akron Yankees — then swept
the Springfield Cardinals in three games in the playoffs and clinched
the league title in five games against the Canton Terriers. Maillet
defeated the Terriers, 5–2, in the opening game of the series, holding
them hitless over six innings and allowing just three hits in the game.
He then clinched the title for the Sailors in the fifth game with a 4–3
win in which he made an unusually high 11 assists from the mound.
Maillet, who had a 1-A draft classification, expected to be called for
military service at any time following the 1941 season. Instead of
joining the Erie club for the 1942 season, he chose to retire from
baseball and took employment in defense work at the General Electric
plant in Erie while awaiting his call. Maillet, however, did not hear
from the
military all summer and played semi-pro baseball for local teams while
working at General Electric.
As an indication of how popular Maillet was as a pitcher for the
Sailors, he was convinced to come out of retirement on July 8, 1942, to
rejoin the club in an exhibition game against the Cleveland Indians. In
front of 3,000 fans at Erie’s Ainsworth Field, Maillet yielded four hits
in the first inning which sent the Indians away to a five-run lead. He
blanked the major leaguers on two hits during the next five innings, but
a seventh-inning double by second baseman Ray Mack and a home run by
shortstop/manager Lou Boudreau, which landed on top of the schoolhouse
in right field, produced a pair of runs. The Indians came away from the
contest as 10–1 winners.
Maillet remained at General Electric until entering military service on
November 8, 1943. Serving with the 386th Infantry Regiment of the 97th
“Trident” Infantry Division, he arrived in France in March 1945. On
March 28, the division moved into Germany and crossed the Rhine River on
April 5. Two days later the 386th Infantry Regiment crossed the Sieg
River and faced counterattacks by German forces. Private First Class
Maillet was killed that day. He is buried at the Ardennes American
Cemetery in Neupre, Belgium.
|
Year |
Team |
League |
Class |
G |
IP |
ER |
BB |
SO |
W |
L |
ERA |
| 1939 | Durham | Piedmont | B | 2 | 8 | - | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - |
| 1940 | Tyler | East Texas | C | 27 | 177 | 67 | 82 | 94 | 12 | 8 | 3.41 |
| 1940 | Columbia | South Atlantic | B | 2 | 9 | - | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - |
| 1941 | Columbia | South Atlantic | B | 9 | 40 | - | 16 | 4 | 4 | 3 | - |
| 1941 | Pensacola | Southeastern | B | 1 | 8 | - | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | - |
| 1941 | Erie | Mid-Atlantic | C | 18 | 119 | 28 | 41 | 50 | 11 | 4 | 2.12 |
Ted Maillet's grave at the Ardennes American Cemetery in Neupre, Belgium
Thanks to Davis O. Barker and Richard Marshall for help with this biography.
Date Added February 1, 2012 Updated June 5, 2014
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