05 May 2014

the lou boudreau memorial patch

hall of famer lou boudreau was the indians' shortstop from 1939 through 1950, winning the american league mvp award in 1948.  he was also their manager from 1942 (at age 24!) through 1950, leading the tribe to their most recent world championship in 1948.

after boudreau passed away in august of 2001, the team added a memorial patch with his number 5 to their sleeves.  it is visible on this 2002 leaf game used bat card of another al mvp, juan gonzalez
by the way, the rangers logo on the card is not an error - gonzalez returned to texas for the 2002 season.

as for boudreau, he was fired as the team's manager after the 1950 season and joined the red sox as a player for the 1951 campaign.  he took over the manager position for boston in 1952 and later managed the 1955-57 kansas city a's and the 1960 chicago cubs, for whom he ultimately served as a broadcaster for over 20 years.

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