Jack Daniels

From BR Bullpen

Harold Jack Daniels (Sour Mash Jack)

Bats Left, Throws Left
Height 5' 10", Weight 165 lb.

Debut April 18, 1952
Final Game September 28, 1952
Born December 21, 1927 in Chester, PA USA

[edit] Biographical Information

Before the 1947 season Jack Daniels of the Bloomingdale Troopers of the North Atlantic League was sent to the Boston Braves in an unknown transaction. The 18 year old first baseman-outfielder had been with the Troopers in 1946 hitting .313 in 58 games with 8 home runs.

The Braves assigned "Sour Mash", as he was sometimes called, to the Fort Lauderdale Braves in '47 and he hit .258 in 64 games and finished out the 1947 year with the Eau Claire Bears, where he hit .274 in 65 games.

"Sour Mash" would spend the next four seasons in the minors before getting his one and only look at the major leagues. He had a good year with the Hartford Chiefs of the class A Eastern League in 1951 and the Boston Braves used him for the entire year in 1952. Jack appeared in 106 games, had 219 at bats and hit for a .187 average. Needless to say these would be his lifetime major league statistics.

Daniels would be back in the minors with the Toledo Mud Hens in 1953, where he got into 100 games, hitting .231 with 6 home runs. He would remain in the minors the rest of his pro baseball days, and on October 15, 1956 he would be traded by the now Milwaukee Braves along with cash and two unnamed players to the Toronto Maple Leafs, of the International League, for Carl Sawatski.

He would get into 81 games for the Toronto team in 1957 and would wind up his 13 year pro baseball career with the Havana Sugar Kings of the AAA IL in 1958. The 30 year old outfielder's minor league stats show that he appeared in 1,378 contests, went to bat 4,278 times, garnered 1,093 base hits, including 159 home runs for a .255 batting average.

It might have been better fitting that Daniels would go on to own a liquor distributorship, but he owned a food catering business in Evansville, IN.