Righteous Righting of Ed Wright's Story (Written)

Ed Wright had a couple nice seasons as a pitcher in the majors in 1945 and 1946 with the Boston Braves.

1947 and 1948 weren't so kind to Wright and he found himself back in the minors in 1949, resurfacing for a short while in 1952 with the Philadelphia A's.

His Baseball Reference major league page has the following for his transactions:

Before 1949 Season: Sent from the Boston Braves to the Philadelphia Phillies in an unknown transaction.

Well, he was in Milwaukee at the end of 1948, the Boston minor league club, then Toronto of the Phillies system in 1949. We find out how that happened in this from the Feb. 8, 1949 Milwaukee Journal...

“The Brewers Monday [Feb. 7] announced the sale of pitcher Ed Wright to the Toronto Maple Leafs of the International league. Wright, 30, spent the 1948 campaign with the Brewers on option from the parent Boston Braves, winning nine games and losing 12, and was purchased outright at the end of the season.”

So the Braves sold him outright to the Milwaukee club, then Milwaukee sold him to Toronto!

 July 5, 1950: Traded by the Philadelphia Phillies to the New York Giants for Donald Robertson (minors). (Date given is approximate. Exact date is uncertain.)

from the July 7, 1950 Toledo Blade:

 “The Minneapolis Millers have traded pitcher Don Robertson to Toronto of the International League in exchange for hurler Ed Wright.”

He was in the Phillies organization for a season and a half, then went in a deal to the Giants' Minneapolis team.

A 2-1 record with an ERA over 6.50 in his 1952 A's stint was the last Wright pitched in the majors. Not listed on the Baseball Reference site is what the A's did with his contract. From the Victoria Advocate of  Feb. 6, 1953...

“The Athletics….sold pitcher Ed Wright to Memphis in the Southern Association.”

Wright made a few more lower minor league stops before he was done pitching.

Wright stolen from sabr.org

Toronto Bounces Ed McGhee After One At-Bat

Ed McGhee was an outfielder for the White Sox, Philadelphia A's and the ChiSox again in the early fifties, He was pretty solid in the minors but never could quite land a regular job up top.

He came up first with the Sox in 1950 then was back in the minors for awhile. Trips to other teams' organizations were loans and he stayed in control of Chicago.

His last major league action was with the White Sox in 1955, and he was sent to AA Memphis early in the season. His Baseball Reference minor league page has him with one at-bat for independent Toronto in 1956, followed by the rest of the season in Charleston, Detroit's AAA team.

How did he get to Toronto? The Terre Haute Tribune of Oct. 9, 1955 has the deal...

"MEMPHIS CHICKS SELL ED McGHEE TO TORONTO - MEMPHIS, Tenn., Oct. 8.- The Memphis Chicks today announced the sale of centerfielder Ed McGhee to Toronto of the International League.  McGhee, who had trials with the Chicago White Sox and the old Philadelphia Athletics, hit .263 for the Chicks last season."

Whatever the Toronto team plans were for McGhee, they were awfully quick to bounce him out of town. He got exactly one pinch-hit at-bat for the Maple Leafs before he was sent to the Tigers' Charleston squad...from the Ottawa Citizen of Tuesday May 15, 1956...

“Toronto Maple Leafs of the International Baseball League Monday night announced the sale of outfielder Ed McGhee to Charleston of the American Association.”

McGhee would stay in Detroit's minors thru the end of his career.

What did Charleston see, or Toronto NOT see, in that one pinch-hit appearance?

McGhee pic swiped from

marketplace.beckett.com

 

 
 

Toronto Keeps Selling Ray Crone

Ray Crone was a pretty fair pitcher for the Braves and Giants in the mid fifties. His major league career ended in 1958 when the Giants traded him to independent AAA team Toronto.

His transactive career (copyright phrase and new word ME) didn't end there as he bopped around a bit for a few years,

This Milwaukee Sentinel article from July 5, 1959 shows that Toronto found they enjoyed selling Crone so much they did it twice in a week:

"The (Birmingham) Barons have returned veteran pitcher Ray Crone to Toronto and the International League immediately sold him to the Memphis Chicks.
Crone, 27, lost two games during his one week with the Barons. The Birmingham club had purchased him conditionally from Toronto."

So, on or about June 29, 1959, Toronto sold Crone to Birmingham on a conditional deal. Birmingham returned Crone to Toronto July 5, 1959. Toronto sold Crone to Memphis July 5, 1959.

Toronto wasn't done selling Ray Crone. Somehow they get control of Crone back before the 1960 season, according to the Milwaukee Sentinel of Jan. 25, 1960...

"The Portland Beavers of the Pacific Coast League have bought two former major league pitchers, Ray Crone and Don Johnson, from Toronto of the International League. No price was revealed."

Oddly, Crone and Johnson were traded for each other in the Giants-Toronto deal in 1958.

This Sentinel article, though, messes up in the second graph: "(Crone) was 0-2 for Toronto last season after spending most of the season on the Giants' bench." Crone was not on the Giants at all that year.

Portland, another independent AAA team, moved Crone on to Dallas-Fort Worth and the Athletics' organization...from the Bend Bulletin of June 3, 1960...

"PORTLAND (UPI) - The Portland Beavers released and sold two veteran pitchers Thursday. The Beavers announced they have sold Ray Crone, a former major league miner with Milwaukee, to Dallas-Fort Worth of the American Association and released Bob Alexander."

Crone finished the season at Dallas, and played one more year in single-A before calling it a career.

No word on if Toronto tried selling him after he retired.

Crone card from www.tradingcarddb.com