Otto Halvacs
Ballplayers Wounded in Combat
| Date and Place of Birth: | February 21, 1925, in Cleveland, OH |
| Date and Place of Death: | December 23, 2009 North Olmsted, OH |
| Baseball Experience: | Minor League |
| Position: | First Base |
| Rank: | Private First-Class |
| Military Unit: | 314th Infantry Regiment, 79th Infantry Division US Army |
| Area Served: | European Theater of Operations |
Otto E. Halvacs - the son of Anna Halvacs, a Hungarian immigrant - was
born on February 21, 1925, in Cleveland, Ohio. He attended West Tech
High School in Cleveland and was signed off the local sandlots by the
Cleveland Indians organization before entering military service in May
1943.
Private First-Class Halvacs served with the 314th Infantry Regiment,
79th Infantry Division in Europe. An automatic rifleman, he landed at
Omaha Beach, Normandy, on June 8, 1944, and was wounded at Cherbourg,
France, in July 1944. Following recovery he went on to serve in combat
during the Rhineland campaign and in central Europe.
Halvacs married Jean Bauser in Birmingham, England, in 1945. He returned
to the United States and was picked up again by the Cleveland Indians in
February 1946. The 21-year-old first baseman was assigned to the
Pittsfield Electrics of the Class C Canadian-American League. Following
spring training he was optioned to the Appleton Papermakers of the Class
C Wisconsin State League where he played 97 games and batted .254,
leading the team with nine home runs.
In 1947, Halvacs was back with Pittsfield for spring training, but was
released by the club on May 1. He joined the Youngstown Colts of the
Class C Middle-Atlantic League and played 23 games, batting .182 to
conclude his professional career.
Halvacs returned to England the following season and played baseball in
the Midlands League in Birmingham. He was not the only former GI to
return to play baseball in England after the war. Vic Lambrecht, who had
also been signed by the Indians before the war and who also married an
English girl, played for the Birmingham Beavers around the same time as
Halvacs.
Halvacs, his wife, Jean, and their daughter, Anne Marie, returned to the
United States in the mid-1950s, where he became a mason bricklayer in
Cleveland.
Otto Halvacs passed away in North Olmsted, Ohio, on December 23, 2009.
He was 84 years old.
Thanks to Otto's son, Greg Halvacs, for help with this biography.
Date Added February 23, 2018
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