September (6)
September 8th – Long and lanky, Rudolph Serrett stood 6’4″ tall, but he could never quite break into the deep rotations of the New York Yankees in the 1950s, and after he similarly didn’t make the White Sox rotation in 1961, he left the game at just 21 years old.
September 9th – Paul Stuffel, known as Stu, was known for his big fastball in high school in Ohio, but was sent to military service soon after graduating, delaying his pro career. He spent 11 years in the minor leagues, winning 103 games, though he won just 1 game in his 7 major league appearances.
September 12th – An elite college pitcher at Clemson, Billy O’Dell became the first bonus baby of the Baltimore Orioles in 1954 and never played a day in the minor leagues. After making the All-Star team as a swingman in 1958 and 1959 with the Orioles, O’Dell went to the Giants, where they continued to use him in that split role until 1962, when he asked to have a defined role either in the bullpen or rotation. He ended up tossing over 500 innings the next two seasons for the Giants, winning 33 games with a 3.36 ERA.
September 14th – Phil Clark is most well-known in his baseball career due to being Jim Brosnan’s roommate in his book The Long Season, featured prominently in the book. The Georgia Southern righty spent nearly a decade between military service and minor league ball before getting his first major league action in 1958. He again made it back to the majors in 1959. In total, he pitched just 14 games in the majors. In the minors, he pitched in 411 games, tossing 991 2/3 innings.
September 19th – Regarded as one of the elite scouts in the history of the game, Don Welke spent over 40 years scouting in the game. He was the Blue Jays advance scout before the 1992 and 1993 World Series and for the 2000 USA Olympic team that won gold. He was 76.
September 21st – Lee Stange pitched for a decade in the major leagues for four organizations, winning 62 games and throwing 1,216 innings in the majors. He then went on to work as a pitching coach for nearly the rest of his life, still consulting with Florida Institute of Technology within a year of his passing.