Jack Merson
From BR Bullpen
John Warren Merson
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 5' 11", Weight 175 lb.
- Debut September 14, 1951
- Final Game April 24, 1953
- Born January 17, 1922 in Elk Ridge, MD USA
- Died April 28, 2000 in Elk Ridge, MD USA
[edit] Biographical Information
Eighteen-year-old Jack Merson was signed by the Washington Senators as an amateur free agent before the 1940 season. The young infielder would appear in only twelve games for the Newport Canners of the class D Appalachian League, hitting .135 for the season. He was released by the Senators before the 1941 season. Little is found on Jack for the next few years with the exception that he was married in 1943 to Jimmie B. Baldwin in Elk Ridge, MD, in a marriage that lasted 57 years an produced three sons, John jr., Jeff and Jason. Merson was also inducted into the United States Army and served an extended tour of duty during World War II.
Merson, now 25, resurfaced before the 1947 season and was signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates as an amateur free agent. Jack would spend 1947 with the class C Uniontown Coal Barons of the Middle Atlantic League handling the second base spot and hitting .388 with eleven home runs. So one would think wherever he had been he picked up a little moxie. Jack woud spend the next four years climbing up the minor league ladder and would get a mid September call-up from Indianapolis by the Pirates to Forbes Field in 1951. Jack singled in his first at-bat and came around to score the winning run in an 11-10 victory over the Brooklyn Dodgers.
The next day he contributed three singles and a triple in the Pirates 11-4 win over the Dodgers and by the end of the season he was hitting .360 (18-for-60). As the Pirates second baseman in 1952 he hit .246 in 111 games and then on December 1, 1952 Jack was drafted by the Boston Red Sox from the Pirates in the 1952 Rule V Draft. The 31 year old Merson would only get into one contest for the Red Sox in 1953. This would end his major league time and he finished out with a .257 average in 125 contests. Jack would spend the next three seasons in the Pacific Coast League with the San Diego Padres and after hitting only .253 with 2 homers in 1956 the 34 year old decided to hang up his uniform. This ended Jack's baseball run and he finished up his 10 year minor league jaunt hitting .288 with 50 home runs in 1,067 games.
After baseball, Merson, who worked as a supervisor for the state of Maryland House of Corrections, died April 28, 2000, at age 78 in Elk Ridge, MD.
