Bill Evans
Ballplayers Decorated in Combat
| Date and Place of Birth: | March 25, 1919 Quanah, TX |
| Date and Place of Death: | November 30, 1983 Grand Junction, CO |
| Baseball Experience: | Major League |
| Position: | Pitcher |
| Rank: | Sergeant |
| Military Unit: | Company A, 385th Infantry Regiment, 76th Infantry Division US Army |
| Area Served: | European Theater of Operations |
William L. “Bill” Evans, Jr., was born in Quanah, Texas, on March 25,
1919. His family moved to Fruita, Colorado, when he was 18, and he
graduated from Fruita High School. Evans began his professional baseball
career with the Cheyenne Indians of the Class D Western League in 1941,
and was 10-13 with a 4.71 earned run average in 33 games. The 6-foot-2
right-hander spent most of 1942 with the Burlington Bees of the Class D
Bi-State League, and was 8-6 with a 3.65 ERA. He entered military
service on September 28, 1942.
In 1944, Evans was at the 76th Infantry Division’s combat training
facility at Camp McCoy, Wisconsin, where he played baseball with the
76th Infantry Division Onaways. His teammates includes Bama Rowell and
Cecil Travis, and the team captured the Wisconsin State semi-pro
championship in 1944.
Sergeant Evans was sent overseas with Company A, 385th Infantry Regiment
of the 76th Infantry Division, at the end of 1944, arriving in
Southampton, England. He saw combat in France and Germany in 1945, and
was awarded the Silver Star and Bronze Star. After the war's end he had
time to play baseball. "Bill played lots of baseball in Germany," Evans'
widow, Melba, explained. "He was based in Hof, Germany, but played in
Nuremberg for the Third Army. His team also played in France, Belgium,
Luxembourg and Czechoslovakia.” Evans teammates in Europe included
Clarence Maddern, Ken Trinkle and Bama Rowell.
Following his discharge in February 1946, Evans returned to baseball and
reported to the Amarillo Gold Sox of the Class C West Texas-New Mexico
League, where he struck out 18 in the season opener against the Borger
Gassers and posted an outstanding 26-7 won-loss record for the year. he
slumped to 4-17 with the Little Rock Travelers of the Class AA Southern
Association in 1947, but bounced back with a 17-12 record and 2.55 ERA
for the Muskegon Clippers of the Class A Central League.
Evans made his major league debut with the Chicago White Sox on April
21, 1949, making four appearances before being assigned to the Southern
Association's Memphis Chicks, where he was 8-10 in 23 games. He joined
the Pacific Coast League's Sacramento Solons in 1950, and was back in
the major leagues in 1951, making nine relief appearances for the Boston
Red Sox. It was his last look at the big leagues, but Evans continued to
pitch in the minors through 1955, including a 16-13 season with the
Pacific Coast League's Seattle Rainiers in 1953.
In the years after baseball, Evans operated Bill Evans Tenneco Service
in Grand Junction, Colorado, selling automobile accessories. Bill Evans
passed away on November 30, 1983, at St. Mary Hospital in Grand
Junction. He was 64 years old and is buried at Orchard Mesa Cemetery in
Grand Junction.
Date Added January 23, 2018
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