Baseball

Decatur High School

Class of 1948

Inducted 9/29/23

Bauer was a high school baseball star at Decatur before becoming an MLB draftee with a 10-year minor league career who later became a minor league manager for the Yankees.

Bauer was part of the 1947 Decatur baseball team that made state under legendary basketball coach Gay Kintner, then the next year helped lead Decatur to a district upset of Mount Zion in 1948 as a senior.

After graduating, Bauer went to work at Staley and played for the baseball team. After two years in the Army, in 1953, he went to a St. Louis Cardinals spring tryouts. He was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1954. He played his first year of pro ball in Alexandria, La., then the second year went to Odessa, Texas, where he hit .320 with 20 home runs.

He played in the Cardinals’ minor league system until his contract was sold to the Yankees in 1957. He became a player/manager in the Yankees’ minor league system in 1959. Bauer played 10 minor league seasons in all, mostly at third base, but also right and left field. He finished with 121 home runs, a 393 on-base percentage and an .849 OPS, but never made the majors — he was stuck behind Ken Boyer in St. Louis, and Clete Boyer in New York.

As a manager, Bauer’s team won the Florida State League pennant in 1962 at Fort Lauderdale. He managed various Yankee minor league teams until 1968. Among his players were Jim Bouton of “Ball Four” fame, and he had a chance to sit on a bench next to Joe DiMaggio and have a conversation. After leaving baseball, Bauer had a 20-year career at D&R Welding. Bauer died in 2020 at age 92.