ONE-SHOTS: Don Lund, George Lerchen, Joe Ostrowski

Sometimes ballplayers have their major league careers ended by a sale to the minor leagues, and that doesn't end up on their Baseball-Reference page. Here are three examples:

Don Lund was an outfielder for Brooklyn, the Browns and Detroit from the forties until 1954. That is when his major league career ends mid-season with the Tigers; but HOW it ends gets explained in this article from the Milwaukee Journal of July 30, 1954:

“The Detroit Tigers Thursday purchased outfielder Hoot Evers fom the New York Giants and sold outfielder Don Lund to the Giants’ farm team in Minneapolis.”

Lund finished his playing with Minneapolis that year. Articles from the time suggest that these deals were not related to each other despite the timing.

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George Lerchen played in two major league seasons; with the Tigers in 1952 and the Reds in 1953. I could not find how he got from the Tigers to the Reds, but I could find what happened to him after what seemed to be a nice 22-PA performance for Cincinnati in 1952. From the Daytona Beach Morning Journal of Dec. 10, 1953:

“The Cincinnati Redlegs continued to shift players yesterday, obtaining Bill Powell, righthanded Negro pitcher, from Charleston of the American Association, and selling Outfielder George Lerchen to Portland of the Pacific Coast League.”

Lerchen spent a short amount of time at independent Portland before finishing his playing career in the Cardinals organization.

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Joe "Specs" Ostrowski threw for the Browns and the Yankees in a major league career that lasted from 1948 to 1952. He had a couple nice years up top, but at age 35 he could only manage a 2-2 record and a 5.68 ERA with the strong Yankees. His major league career ended with a sale to the PCL. From the Reading Eagle of Feb. 13, 1953:

"Los Angeles, of the PCL, bought veteran relief pitcher Joe Ostrowski from the New York Yankees."

Right to the point. He tossed 72.2 effective innings in 1953 for the Cubs' affiliate and that was the end of his pitching career.

Lund pic from

www.baseball-almanac.com

Lerchen pic from 

Pinterest

and Ostrowski pic stolen from

www.baseball-birthdays.net

 

Bobby Morgan Sold to Buffalo

Bobby Morgan was an infielder in the National League during the 1950s, with Brooklyn, Philadelphia and the Cubs.

He was purchased by the Cubs for the 1957 season, but lasted just one at-bat in 1958 before disappearing back to the minors with Buffalo. He stayed with the Bisons through 1962, then went into coaching and managing,

The 1958 Bisons were in the Kansas City A's organization, and Morgan's Baseball Reference page doesn't cover how he gets there. We found this from the Harlingen, Texas Valley Morning Star of May 15, 1958:

"The Chicago Cubs, building a new ball around young players, Wednesday sold Bobby Morgan, an eight-year veteran, to the Buffalo Bisons of the International League for a “considerable” sum of money....with rookies Tony Taylor and John Goryl playing well at second and third, respectively, this season, Morgan became expendable."

The Cubs also had Jerry Kindall in the fold, who would become one of the all-time great college coaches.

Health issues are about over, so we hope to be updating more often, if you have some research to contribute, please let me know in comments.

From www.comc.com

Owen Friend Bought To Ensure His $50 Pension

Owen Friend played infield through the early fifties with a few teams, the Browns, Cubs, Tigers, Cleveland and Boston. He was traded and transacted a few times during that time period, but one heretofor undocumented one certainly is worth publishing.

His Baseball Reference major league page mentions his purchase by the Cubs from the Red Sox in 1955, and that he played for the Cubs in 1956. But it isn't that simple.

Friend was released by the Cubs in spring training, and signed with AAA Havana, in the Reds' system. This set up the deal mentioned in the May 25, 1956 Evening Sun from Hanover, Pennsylvania...

"Cubs Recall Winceniak, and Sell Friend To Havana  CHICAGO—Infielder Ed Winceniak has been recalled from Havana of the International League by the Chicago Cubs and Owen Friend has been sold outright to the same club. Winceniak had been optioned only two weeks ago by the Cubs. The recall completes a gesture of courtesy by the Cubs personnel director, Wid Matthews.... Friend had needed only a few more days service in the majors to qualify him for a $50 month pension at the age of 50."

And that was it for Friend in the majors. He went to Vancouver for a couple of seasons, and to independent Dallas after that, but soon, Phoenix came calling:

From the SpokaneDaily Chronicle of April 17, 1959...

"The Giants picked up additional infield help today when Owen Friend was sold to Phoenix by the Dallas Rangers of the American Association."

Phoenix was his last AAA playing stop. Recalling a player for ten days so he could get a $50-a-month pension....certainly wouldn't have seen any player of team bother with that today.

Friend pic from snipview.