Jim Pruett

James Calvin Pruett
Born: Dec. 16. 1917 in Nashville, Tenn.
Died: July 29, 2003 in Waukesha, Wis.
Debut: 1944 | Pos: C
Ht: 5'10" | Wt: 178 | B: R | T: R

>> Visit the Jim Pruett biography on Baseball Almanac for complete statistics.

Jim Pruett, who played 9 games in the major leagues in the 1940s, died on July 29, 2003 in Waukesa, Wis. He was 85.

His professional baseball career lasted for 17 years and included stops with the minor league Milwaukee Brewers, Charleston, W.Va., Gainesville, Fla. and Birmingham, Ala.

According to a story on the Journal-Sentinel Online, Pruett's career in baseball led to his moving 42 times. When he retired from baseball in 1954, he moved to Wisconsin.

Later in his life, he worked for close to 20 years as an usher at County Stadium, the home of the Milwaukee Brewers until Miller Park opened.

His career began in 1937 when he passed on a football scholarship to play baseball, according to the Journal Sentinel story. He played for the Brewers of the American Association in 1943 and was re-signed by the team in 1944. According to a Milwaukee Journal story from the time, he included a letter in his contract that said, "I'll be your No. 1 catcher this year."

After the season, he ended up with Connie Mack's Philadelphia Athletics and his major league statistics include a start and 13 at-bats.

His career after baseball included owning a beverage mart and operating an eatery, among other pursuits until he retired in 1982.

His wife died in 1999.

His daughter said that Pruett still received requests for autographs.

"He still used to get a lot of people - baseball nuts - who would write to him and ask for pictures, after all these years," she said, in the Journal Sentinel article.

Sources: Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel Online ("Pruett's career spanned decades, despite just 9 major-league ball games," By Katharine Goodloe, Aug. 4, 2003); Total Baseball