Eddie Kearse
Ballplayers Wounded in Combat
| Date and Place of Birth: | February 23, 1916 San Francisco, CA |
| Date and Place of Death: | July 15, 1968 Eureka, CA |
| Baseball Experience: | Major League |
| Position: | Catcher |
| Rank: | Sergeant |
| Military Unit: | Company C, 125th Armored Engineer Battalion, 14th Armored Division US Army |
| Area Served: | European Theater of Operations |
“Three years ago a doctor told me Eddie Kearse would never play
ball again. In fact, the doc intimated Eddie’s condition was so serious
the kid might never get out of bed. And look at him, will you! Hitting
that ball and moving around as though he never had an injury or an
ailment.”
New York Yankees’ scout, Joe Devine, in March 1947
Edward P. “Eddie” Kearse was born in San Francisco, California, on
February 23, 1916. He was signed by the New York Yankees and his minor
league career began with the Rogers Lions of the Class D
Arkansas-Missouri League in 1936, appearing in 87 games and batting
.257. In 1937 he played with the Joplin Miners of the Class C Western
Association (in 104 games he hit .248) and spent 1938 with the Wenatchee
Chiefs of the Class B Western International League, where he hit .319 in
103 games. Kearse joined the Fort Worth Cats of the Class A1 Texas
League in 1939 (he hit .277 in 88 games) and was with the Seattle
Rainiers of the Pacific Coast League in 1940, where he batted .302 in 86
games. In 1941, he was with the Kansas City Blues of the Class AA
American Association - one step away from the major leagues - and batted
.239 in 69 games.
Kearse, 26, began the 1942 season with Kansas City, but by early June,
the New York Yankees' catchers - Bill Dickey and Buddy Rosar - were both
out of action and Kearse received his big league call-up. He made his
debut behind the plate in a game against the Tigers on June 11, handling
Lefty Gomez for the third inning before the game was halted due to rain.
His official debut took place on June 13, against the St. Louis Browns
and he appeared in 11 games before the Yankees acquired 15-year big
league veteran Rollie Hemsley. Kearse spent the rest of the season with
the Seattle Rainiers of the Pacific Coast League.
On December 7, 1942, Kearse joined the Army. He served at Camp Chaffee,
Arkansas, where he was behind the plate for Warren Spahn on the 1850th
Service Unit baseball team before going overseas in 1944. Kearse served as a sergeant
with the 125th Armored Engineer Battalion, 14th Armored Division. They
landed along the coast of Southern France in August of 1944, and
advanced up the Rhone Valley in pursuit of the German 19th Army.
Sergeant Kearse was seriously wounded during a mortar barrage in France
on November 22, 1944. He underwent several operations that left
appalling scars on his back and shoulders. But he was determined to play
baseball again and against all odds he did so.
On June 18, 1945, Kearse joined the Oakland Oaks as a back-up catcher to
Billy Raimondi. In 43 games he batted .226. The combat veteran was given
the night off on August 14, to celebrate the end of the war, and on
October 21, he was selected to play in the annual Majors versus Minors
game at Oakland. In 1946, Kearse played 73 games with the Oaks and
batted .273. The following season he appeared in 58 games producing a
.252 average.
“You know what got Eddie back into baseball?” Yankees’ scout, Joe
Devine, told the Oakland Tribune in 1947, “Sheer courage, that’s what.
He wanted to play and he made himself well in spite of any predictions
made by a smart doctor. What a guy!”
There is little doubt that Kearse had incredible will and determination,
in addition to being a tough competitor. “I remember one day,” recalled
Oaks’ owner, Vince Devincenzi in the same Tribune article, “when he went
after a foul ball and his right hand was practically split open when he
misjudged the catch. Did Eddie ask to be taken out of the game? He did
not. We held up the contest until the hand had been taped and Eddie went
the distance.”
Kearse joined the Cost League's San Diego Padres in 1947, and became
player-manager with the Ventura Yankees of the Class C California League
in 1948. The following year he was player-manager at Paducah and Grand
Forks, before retiring from the professional game. However, he was still
playing ball with Eureka VFW in 1954, and played semi-pro baseball in
1958 with the Humboldt Crabs at the age of 42.
Eddie Kearse lived the last 17 years of his life in Eureka, California,
with his wife, Helena, and worked in the plywood industry for Mutual
Plywood in Fairhaven, California. They had three children Edward,
Claudia and Kathleen. Kearse passed away on July 15, 1968. He was just
52 years old.
“Humboldt County lost one of its most prominent,” wrote Don Terbush in
the Eureka Times on July 18, 1968. “He was understandably proud of his
days with the Yankees but chose, instead, to discuss baseball in general
rather than his personal career. He was an avid fan of the game from the
Midget to the Major League level. He was never too busy to lend a
helping hand to the budding player and to the local baseball programs as
a whole.
“Only last summer Ed donated an oversized baseball bat which had been
presented to him during his playing days in New York to the Eureka
Midget League. It is to be awarded annually to the city champion.
“He was a friend indeed to the national pastime and to the multitudes
associated with it.”
Eddie Kearse is buried at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Hayward,
California.
Date Added December 20, 2017
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