Tommy Fine

Tommy Fine had a couple trips to the majors, in 1947 with the Red Sox, and 1950 with the Browns. He had spent many seasons in the minors for Boston, starting with his signing in 1938, and, after years off for World War II, finally cracking the bigs at age 32. His trip with the Red Sox netted just one win, one complete game, but a poor overall record, and his Baseball-Reference page lists his trade/sale to PCL San Francisco for 1948.

The next transaction listed on that page has him signing as a free agent with the Browns before the 1949 season...with no explanation as to how he gets there from independent San Francisco. The Feb. 16, 1949 Stanford Daily tells us what happened to Fine:

"Feb. 15 — The San Francisco Seals tonight announced outright release of pitcher Tommy Fine, who came to them last year from the Boston Red Sox."

So he was a free agent after being released in what the article inferred was a roster cut-down rather than a performance issue.

Fine made it back to the majors with the Browns in 1950, unfortunately with poor results again. He was optioned to San Antonio in the Browns' system, then to the White Sox' Memphis affiliate, still under option in 1952. Memphis then acquired Fine outright; this from the Schenectady Gazette of Feb. 15, 1953:

"The Browns also sold Tommy Fine, right-handed pitcher, outright to Memphis in the Southern Association. Fine was on option this year and played with Memphis the latter part of the season.”

Fine had a good year at Memphis, but was on the move again after the season. From the Montreal Gazette of Feb. 15, 1954:

“Richmond Virginians announced Saturday the purchase of Tommy Fine, veteran righthanded pitcher who last year played a key role in Memphis’ drive to a Southern Association pennant”

The article mentions a purchase from the White Sox.

Fine played into his forties with independent Memphis, then went to Shreveport for his final season.

Fine pic from the Baseball Birthdays site.

Catcher Ken Sears

Ken Sears had two stints in the major leagues in the forties as a catcher, his Baseball-Reference page lists him as hitting .278 in 60 games for the 1943 Yankees, and .333 in  7 games for the Browns in 1946.

The page doesn't list any transactions for Sears, but we found a couple in searching the net:

First, how did Sears get from the Yankees organization to the Browns? This article from the April 5, 1946 Reading Eagle tells all:

“Catcher Ken Sears, obtained from the Yankees in a trade for Milt Byrnes, joined the Browns…”

Byrnes' Baseball-Reference page doesn't mention this either, but he went straight from the Browns to the Yankees' farm system that year.

Sears would move on one more time, from the Browns' minors to the Dodgers' system. From the St. Petersburg Times of May 7, 1947:

"Catcher Ken Sears, once with the Yankees in spring training here, has been sold by the San Antonio Missions to Bill Dickey’s Little Rock team in the Southern association.”

Odd that Sears didn't get more major league time with the batting average he was able to put up. Byrnes had a few extra moves too, we will see if we can uncover those transactions.

Sears pic from  pinstripebirthdays.mlblogs.com

Byrnes from ebay