Gary Bedingfield remembers baseball players who
made the ultimate sacrifice for their country
Date and Place of Birth: |
July 11, 1923 |
Date and Place of Death: |
January 3, 1945 |
Baseball Experience: |
Minor League |
Position: |
Second Base |
Rank: |
Private First-Class |
Military Unit: |
Company M, 275th Infantry Regiment, 70th Infantry Division
|
Area Served: |
European Theater of Operations |
Troy L. Furr,
the son of cotton mill workers, Bill and Bessie Furr,
was born in
With ballplayers being called into military service at an alarming rate, Earl
Mann, president of the Atlanta Crackers of the Class A1 Southern Association,
signed Furr during the winter of 1943 in the hope he
would be a useful infielder for the club's 1944 season. James Stewart,
a young pitcher from
Unfortunately, military service intervened before Furr
could play a game as a professional, and he entered service with the Army at
On January 3, 1945, while in combat as a machine gunner during the battle for
the town of
On September 8, 1946, a special
service was held between games of a double header between the Atlanta Crackers
and the Mobile Bears, with a plaque unveilled at the
rear of the grandstand of Ponce de Leon Park to honor the five Cracker players
who made the ultimate sacrifice in World War II - Troy Furr, Frank Haggerty, Duck McKee, James Stewart and Milton
Rosenstein.
Troy Furr is buried at
Year |
Team |
League |
Class |
G |
AB |
R |
H |
2B |
3B |
HR |
RBI |
AVG |
1943 |
|
|
A1 |
Signed but did not play |
The
Troy Furr's grave at
Thanks to R.G. (Hank) Utley for
help with this biography.
Date Added January 29, 2012
March 14, 2020
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