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Tommy Hughes

 

Date and Place of Birth: October 7, 1919 Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania

Died: November 28, 1990 Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania

Baseball Experience: Major League
Position: Pitcher
Rank: Private First Class

Military Unit: US Army

Area Served: United States

 

Thomas O “Tommy” Hughes was born on October 7, 1919 in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Hughes attended Hanover Township High School where he converted from a first baseman to a pitcher. After graduating in 1937 he played semi-pro baseball and turned down several offers to go to college. In 1939 he signed with the Baltimore Orioles and was farmed to Dover. He pitched in 13 games and won nine without a defeat.

 

In 1940 he won 14 games with the Orioles, and joined the Phillies in 1941. Hughes put up a 9-14 record in 34 games. In 1942, he was 12-18 with an excellent 3.06 ERA for the last-placed Phillies.

 

Hughes entered military service on December 19, 1942. He was with the Army at New Cumberland Reception Centre, Pennsylvania in 1943. On July 18, he out pitched Tom Earley as New Cumberland won, 4-2, for its second straight game against the Norfolk Naval Training Station. On July 28, he held Fort Dix to three hits in New Cumberland’s 9-2 win. New Cumberland finished the season with a record of 44 and six, Hughes was 14 and three for the year.

 

He was at Camp Siebert in Alabama in 1944, a replacement training center for the Army's Chemical Corps. Pitching for the Camp Siebert Gashouse Gang, Hughes stopped the 20^th Armored Division Armoraiders’ 35-game winning streak with a 7-4 win on July 16, Ducky Detweiler hitting a three-run home run in the fourth inning.

 

In 1945, he was at Camp Patrick Henry in Virginia, a staging area for Hampton Road Port of Embarkation, where he continued to play baseball.

 

Hughes, was back with the Phillies in 1946 and was 6-9. In 1947 he was 4-11 and the Phillies traded him to the Cincinnati Reds at the end of the year. In his only season with the Reds and last in the major leagues, Hughes was 0-4 in 12 games with an ERA of 9.00.

 

He played for Tulsa in the Texas League in 1948 before retiring from organized baseball.

 

In 1950, Hughes was named director of baseball in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania in charge of baseball diamonds sponsored by the city park department. In 1953, he was a coach with Wilkes-Barre in the Eastern League and briefly went on the active list in mid-season.

 

Tommy Hughes passed away on November 28, 1990 in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. He was 71 years old.

 

Created June 17, 2007.

Copyright © 2007 Gary Bedingfield (Baseball in Wartime). All Rights Reserved.