He was a scrappy type of player that took a lot of walks, received some MVP consideration in 1945, and even pitched a few games in 1944.
After an abbreviated season in 1950, where he played in just 20 games, going 0-for-7 at the plate, Lake came to spring training with the Tigers as an unhappy camper.
Actually, he didn't come to spring training, holding out after getting a contract offer slashing his pay from $10,000 to $7,500 for the season. Baseball Reference's Eddie Lake page doesn't list any transaction after the move to the Tigers, but we found this: From the St. Petersburg Times of Apr 6 1951...
“Outright sale of Infielder Eddie Lake to San Francisco of
the Pacific Coast League was announced yesterday by the Detroit Tigers.”
The price was not announced according to the short article. Lake did well with the Seals, a Yankee farm club at the time, clubbing 27 homeruns. In the off-season, though, he was on the move again. From the Eugene Register-Guard of Feb. 24, 1952:
“Eddie Lake, the highest-paid player on the San Francisco
Seal roster last year, was traded to Oakland for pitcher West Bailey and
utility infielder Jimmy Moran.”
Bailey and Moran were career minor leaguers. Lake wasn't nearly as successful in Oakland as he had been in San Francisco, and after two seasons he went to lower minor league cities to finish his career.
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