Nemo Gaines

Willard Roland Gaines

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 0", Weight 180 lb.
• School United States Naval Academy
• Debut June 26, 1921
• Final Game July 16, 1921
• Born December 23, 1897 in Alexandria, VA USA
• Died January 26, 1979 in Warrenton, VA USA

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Biographical Information

Nemo Gaines was a 1921 graduate of the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis. He appeared in four games for the Washington Senators in 1921, about the time of his graduation, giving up no earned or unearned runs.

Other than that brief cup of coffee in the majors, he was a career naval officer. He served as naval attaché to the nation of Peru during World War II and retired from the Navy with the rank of Captain in 1946, the year after the War ended.

He then went into the hardware store business with his brother in the northern Virginia suburbs of the District of Columbia. He also owned a cattle farm in rural Virginia. He was a senior warden in the Episcopal Church at the time of his death, in 1979.

He was the only Naval Academy graduate ever to play in the major leagues until pitchers Mitch Harris and Oliver Drake both made their debut in 2015.