Edward James Blake was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played four seasons with the Cincinnati Reds and the Kansas City Athletics. In eight career games, Blake pitched 8? innings and had an 8.31 earned run average. After graduating high school in East St. Louis, Blake played in the farm system of the nearby St. Louis Cardinals before enlisting in the army. He returned to baseball after being wounded in the military service, pitching in the minors for five years before making his major league debut for the Cincinnati Reds. He pitched for them on and off for three years, then spent the next six years pitching for the Toronto Maple Leafs. His last major league appearance was a stint with the Athletics in 1957, and two years later his professional baseball career ended. After retirement he became a plumber, and died in 2009. [More at Wikipedia]

December 23rd, 1925 in St. Louis  /  Died:   Apr 15th, 2009 - aged 83