Harry O'Neill
Harry Mink O'Neill
Philadelphia Athletics 1939
Position: Catcher
Bats: Right Throws: Right
Height: 6'3" Weight: 205lb
Born: May 8, 1917 in Philadelphia, PA. USA
Died: March 6, 1945 in Iwo Jima, Japan (27)
Buried: Arlington Cemetery, Drexell Hill, PA. USA
Debut: July 23, 1939 Philadelphia Athletics @ Detroit Tigers (22)
The link on his full name will take you to a better article than I could ever write about his career, I will say one thing though. I never was going to pick Harry O'Neill with my first pick nor any other pick to be honest, the first pick was going to be taken up by Moonlight Graham who else? But I was putting the players into the game and made a couple of mistakes so checked their names and such on baseball reference, when I was checking Harry O'Neill's page I wasn't even looking for where he died but his birthplace to make sure I had the right player it was then I saw Iwo Jima. I'm not scared to admit it but kind of got a bit emotional reading about Harry, a guy who played one major league game in what people look upon throughout the world as America's game as American as apple pie so to say. A game that says freedom probably more than any other game and here's one guy who played one game then gave his life so others could have their cup of coffee that they could follow their dreams of playing in the majors. I know one thing the next time I'm over stateside I'll go visit young Harry and maybe leave a baseball for him to play catch with.