Born on September 4, 1919 in Cambridge, Massachusetts to Lithuanian immigrants, Edward Stephen Waitkus gravitated toward baseball at an early age. His father, who knew precious little about the game, presented his 8-year-old son with a first baseman's glove. The young Waitkus didn't have the heart to tell his father that he was a pitcher and the glove was for the wrong hand. Instead, he learned to play the new position and throw left-handed. At a neighborhood park known as Cambridge Field, Waitkus studied under Jack Burns, a former big league first baseman who played for the St. Louis Browns and Detroit Tigers.

Waitkus excelled on the diamond first at Cambridge High and Latin School and later in New England semi-pro ball. Ralph Wheeler, the Boston Herald  prep sports editor, steered the 19-year-old phenom to the Chicago Cubs. Wheeler was a good friend of Clarence "Pants" Rowland, the former Three-I League player-manager, Chicago White Sox skipper, and A.L. umpire now acting as a Cubs scout. In the ensuing bidding war, the Cubs outmaneuvered the mighty New York Yankees. In December 1938, Waitkus received a $2,500 signing bonus by inking a $300-a-month contract with the Moline Plowboys, the Cubs affiliate in the Class B Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League.

Playing for the first time under lights, Waitkus struggled during his first two months of professional ball, batting a meager .189. Once he grew accustomed to the substandard lighting schemes of most Three Eye ballparks, he went on a tear, finishing the season with a solid .326 average. He led first baseman in games played (122), putouts (1,093), assists (69), and double plays (96). Managed by Mike Gazella, the Plowboys (49-73) finished the season seventh in the eight-team circuit. Gazella, a utility infielder for the Yankees during the 1920s, led Moline from 1937 through 1940. 

Delbert Jones of the pennant-winning Cedar Rapids Raiders led the Class B loop in average (.362), hits (168), and stolen bases (39), and teammate George Binks finished first in runs batted in (116). Barney Olsen of Cedar Rapids (like Waitkus, a Wheeler protégé from the Boston area) led the league in total bases (248). In 1941, Olsen appeared in 24 games for the Chicago Cubs, batting .288 in 73 plate appearances. Waitkus and Olsen were named to the league's 1937 all-star squad. 

In 1940, Waitkus played for the Tulsa Oilers of the Class A Texas League. During road trips, Waitkus roomed with Dizzy Dean, who was nearing the end of his famed career. Waitkus batted above .300 and led the league in stolen bases. He then spent the following spring on Catalina Island, the site of the Cubs spring training camp. The still-raw Waitkus impressed the organization and he was one of three rookies to earn a spot on the opening day roster. Appearing in 12 big league games (9 at first base), the 21-year-old batted .179 with 0 RBI in 28 plate appearances. By the middle of May, Waitkus was back in Tulsa where he finished a second season in the hot and dusty Texas League.

In 1942, Waitkus earned promotion to the Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League. In 175 games, he tallied a league-leading 235 hits, as well as 40 doubles, 81 RBI, and a .336 average. With the nation at war, Waitkus spent the next three years in the Marine Corps. He participated in several key Pacific Theater campaigns, including Bougainville and Luzon, earning four Bronze Stars.

After the war, Waitkus jumpstarted his delayed big league career. In 1946, he appeared in 113 games (106 at first base) for the third-place Chicago Cubs. He earned a reputation as a solid line-drive hitter with a dependable glove. He batted .304 with 134 hits, 24 doubles, and 55 RBI. Although Waitkus merited a spot on the 1948 All-Star team, he was traded in December to the Philadelphia Phillies. According to biographer John Theodore, Waitkus' intelligence and sophistication set him apart from the average big leaguer. "He read Latin, spoke four languages, and went to the opera," Theodore noted in Baseball's Natural: The Story of Eddie Waitkus (2002). "He also enjoyed nightclubbing and fine restaurants--Coconut Grove in Boston, Bookbinder's in Philadelphia, and the Chez Paree in Chicago." 

On June 15, 1949, Waitkus and the Phillies were at Chicago's Edgewater Hotel for a series with the Cubs. That evening, he received a request from a woman to come to her room. Though he did not recognize her name, he mistakenly thought it might be a "friend of a friend." Ruth Steinhagen answered the door and shot Waitkus once in the chest with a .22 caliber rifle. A mentally unstable 19-year-old, Steinhagen had fallen in love with the first baseman when he played for the Cubs, though the two had never met. Waitkus underwent a series of operations to remove the bullet, which had ripped through a lung and lodged near his spine. 

Waitkus missed the remainder of the season, and many baseball observers believed he would never play again. Yet after several months of rehabilitation, the former All-Star readied for a comeback. In 1950, the Phillies captured the N.L. pennant for the first time in 35 seasons. The Whiz Kids finished with 91 wins, 2 games ahead of the second-place Brooklyn Dodgers. As leadoff hitter, Waitkus played a key role in the club's success. Although one season removed from the shooting, he appeared in 154 games. In 641 at-bats (second highest total in the N.L.), he tallied 102 runs, 182 hits, 32 doubles, and a .284 average. The roster included third baseman Willie "Puddin' Head" Jones, another Three Eye veteran. In the World Series, the overmatched Phils were swept by the Yankees. Philadelphia managed only 5 runs in 4 games and batted a combined .203. For his part, Waitkus tallied 4 hits, including a double, in 15 at-bats. 

Waitkus remained with the Phillies through the 1953 season. In 1954, he appeared in 95 games for the seventh-place Baltimore Orioles. He then split the following season (his last) between the Orioles and Phillies, batting a combined .271 in 71 games. He retired with 1,214 hits, 373 RBI, and a .285 batting average. In 1,049 games at first base, he finished with a .993 fielding percentage. Waitkus died on September 15, 1972 at a Veterans Administration hospital in Boston. He was 53 years old. 

Born in North Canton, Ohio in 1904, Warstler earned a roster spot on the local high school team as a seventh grader. He then played semi-pro ball in Eastern Ohio. At Coshocton, Ohio, Warstler's manager was former American Association twirler Jack Robertson. In 1927, Warstler signed a contract with the Indianapolis Hoosiers. Apparently, Indianapolis believed their new infielder lacked the requisite seasoning, so they dispatched him to Quincy of the Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League.

In 1927, Warstler appeared in 128 Three Eye contests. In 498 at-bats, he scored 121 runs, connected for 175 hits and 8 home runs, and stole 31 bases (tied for the league lead with Dan Walker of Danville). He hit .351, the highest batting average of his 14-year career. He also led Three Eye shortstops in putouts (325) and double plays (88) while finishing with 422 assists and 71 errors. Near the end of the season, Bill Smith, Jr., scion of the Indianapolis Hoosiers owner, traveled to Illinois to catch a Danville-Quincy twin bill. He was there to gauge whether his father's promising shortstop was ready for the "high" minors. In the first game of a doubleheader, Warstler smacked 5 hits in 5 plate appearances. Although he enjoyed a successful year, Quincy struggled throughout much of the season. The Redbirds won 63 and lost 75, finishing the 1927 campaign in sixth place as the Danville Veterans (86-50) and Peoria Tractors (87-51) battled for the pennant.

Warstler then spent 1928, 1929, and the first half of 1930 in Indianapolis. In his first season in the American Association, he appeared in 167 games, batting .283 with 99 runs, 178 hits, 7 home runs, and 7 stolen bases. He struggled in the field, though, ending the campaign with 66 miscues and a fielding percentage of .927. His statistics remained remarkably similar the following year (153 games, .286 batting average, 86 runs, 164 hits, 6 homers, and 11 stolen bases). He finished with 57 errors, for a slight improvement in his fielding percentage.

He split the 1930 season between Indianapolis and the Boston Red Sox. In his inaugural season in the big leagues, Warstler appeared in 54 games at shortstop. He batted a trifling .185 in 162 plate appearances. On the field, he tallied 100 putouts, 149 assists, and 14 errors, for a fielding percentage of .947. In 1931, he appeared in 66 games (42 at second and 19 at short), compiling a .243 batting average. During the next two years he played exclusively at shortstop (107 games in 1932 and 87 in 1933). He batted .211 and .217 respectively. 

On December 12, 1933, the Red Sox sent Warstler, pitcher Bob Kline, and $125,000 to the Athletics for Lefty Grove, Rube Walberg, and Max Bishop. In 1934 and 1935, Connie Mack employed Warstler as his everyday second baseman. His finest season was 1935 when he batted .250 with 124 hits and 59 RBI. At second base, he finished with 308 putouts, 482 assists, and 34 errors (.959). In the middle of the following season, the Athletics shipped Warstler to the Boston Bees. He split the 1940 season--his last in the big leagues--between the Bees and the Cubs. He ended his career with 935 hits and 332 RBI and a lifetime batting average of .229.

In 1941, he played for Los Angeles of the Pacific Coast League and the following year he appeared in 9 games for the Minneapolis Millers of the American Association. Rabbit Warstler, suffering from cancer, died on May 31, 1964, in his hometown of North Canton. He was 59.

Whitney, who had eight brothers and three sisters, played high school and semi-pro ball in San Antonio. Cleveland scout Cy Slapnicka signed the prospect to a $2,500 contract, and he spent nearly a full season with the Indians, though he did not play. The next year, manager Tris Speaker moved Whitney to Decatur. In 1925, his first season in professional baseball, he appeared in 124 games, batting .326 with 83 runs, 143 hits, and 9 homeruns. Though impressive, those numbers fell far short of league leader John Jenkins of Danville (.360 average and 192 hits). The following season, Whitney appeared in 131 games, though his batting average declined 40 points to .286. Decatur struggled both years, finishing fifth (63-73) and sixth (69-67) respectively. In 1925, the Peoria Tractors (89-48) ran roughshod over the league, and the following season the Springfield Senators (77-59) bested the Tractors (75-62) in a close pennant chance. 

The Indians then dealt Whitney to Class A New Orleans for first baseman Ed Morgan, who would appear in 771 big leagues games (mostly with Cleveland) from 1928 to 1934. Whitney's 1927 season in New Orleans proved quite successful. In 143 games, he batted .336 with 84 runs and 174 hits. He displayed solid glove work, committing only 21 errors for a fielding percentage of .953. He then spent the entire 1928 season with the Philadelphia Phillies. In a June 1988 article in Baseball Digest, Whitney recalled his first big league game. "We were at the Polo Grounds and Burt Shotton was managing our club. Before the game he said to me, 'Son, they've got 56,000 people in this ball park. Do you realize that?' And I told him, 'Yeah, and they're not bothering me one damn bit.' So the game started and I went two for four against Carl Hubbell, which wasn't too bad." All told, the 23-year old rookie appeared in 151 games, batting .301 with 73 runs, 176 hits, and 103 RBI. 

With the Phillies, Whitney played more than 1,000 games at third base, and is generally regarded as the first in a formidable line of third basemen (this list includes fellow Three Eye veteran Willie "Puddin' Head" Jones, Mike Schmidt, and Scott Rolen). In 1929, Whitney finished with exactly 200 hits, making him one of four Phillies that year to reach the 200-hit plateau. The other three were Lefty O'Doul (254), Three-I veteran Chuck Klein (219), and Fresco Thompson (202). This statistical feat remains unmatched in baseball history. Whitney also drove in more than 100 runs four of his first five seasons in Philadelphia. Traded to the Boston Braves during the 1933 season, he returned to the Phillies early in the 1936 season. He enjoyed success with both clubs. For instance, in 1932 with Philadelphia he finished third among N.L. batters with 124 runs batted in, and in 1936 with Boston he earned a spot on the All-Star team. He was also an accomplished fielder, leading National League third basemen in fielding for much of his career.

Whitney ended his career with 927 RBI, and his 734 RBI with Philadelphia places him tenth on the club's all-time list. After leaving the big leagues during the 1939 season, he played briefly for Toledo of the American Association and Tulsa of the Texas League. Whitney then returned to San Antonio to manage a bowling alley and work for the Lone Star Brewing Company. He died on September 1, 1987 in Center, Texas at the age of 82. 

Born in Kensington, Georgia in 1907, Wyatt excelled on the baseball diamond, and while in high school, he struck out 23 Oglethorpe University batters in an exhibition game. He then attended Georgia Tech, though he did not play baseball. Still, his reputation was such that the Detroit Tigers signed the righthander, and he spent his first two years of professional ball in Evansville of the Three Eye. In 1928, Wyatt appeared in 36 games, going 14-12. In 223 innings of work, he surrendered 196 hits and 70 earned runs for a 3.22 ERA. He also recorded a league-best 138 strikeouts. The Evansville Hubs, under the direction of the legendary Bob Coleman, finished league play 62-68. The next season, Wyatt won a league-leading 22 (tied with Quincy's Elmer Ambrose), including 16 succession, while losing only 6. His ERA dropped to 3.03 (86 earned runs in 255 innings), and again he led the circuit in strikeouts (177). Coleman's Hubs spent much of the season in a tight pennant race, but finished third (79-57) behind Quincy (82-56) and Decatur (81-57). The 1928 Evansville club also included future big leaguers Chief Hogsett and Gee Walker. 

At the end of the 1929 season, Wyatt was brought to Detroit, where he started 4 games, earning 1 decision (a loss) in 25 and one-third innings. In 1930, he appeared in 21 games, primarily in relief, and then spent most of 1931 in Beaumont of the Class A Texas League, winning 11 and losing 3. Wyatt and Dizzy Dean of Houston shared the league's ERA title (1.53). In 1932, Wyatt returned to Detroit, and for a much of the season he demonstrated his considerable potential, winning 9 and losing 13 in 22 starts. Unfortunately, injuries overwhelmed the righthander, and he managed only 13 wins in the following 5 seasons. Still, there were occasional flashes of brilliance. For instance, on June 13, 1933, Wyatt, then pitching for the White Sox, came within a hairsbreadth of recording a no-hitter. With two outs in the ninth, Ted Gullic of the St. Louis Browns ended the no-hit bid with a broken-bat single. 

In 1938, Wyatt was back in the minors, winning 23 games for Milwaukee of the American Association and earning the league's MVP award. Meanwhile, Larry MacPhail was in the midst of rebuilding the Brooklyn franchise. The Dodger general manager, cobbling together a team with inexpensive veterans, signed Wyatt for three players and $40,000. At first, MacPhail's gamble proved wise, and Wyatt won his first four games as a Dodger. Yet his streak of misfortune continued, and a collision at first base left the righthander with torn knee cartilage. He continued playing, finishing the year 8-3 before having surgery. The following season, Wyatt, newly equipped with a slider, finished 15-14 and earned a roster spot on the N.L. All-Star team.

From 1940 to 1943, Wyatt won 70 games for the Leo Durocher-managed Bums. In 1941, his 22 wins (equaled by teammate, fellow Georgian, and Three Eye veteran Kirby Higbe) and 7 shutouts were N.L. bests. That season, he finished third in N.L. MVP balloting, with teammates Dolph Camilli and Pete Reiser finishing first and second respectively. Wyatt is most remembered as a linchpin in the 1941 N.L. champions, Brooklyn's first pennant since 1920. The Dodgers' storybook season ended with the hated Yankees capturing the World Series title in five games. Wyatt pitched two complete outings: The Dodger's lone victory in the second game, and the deciding fifth game, a 3-1 loss wherein Brooklyn scratched together only 4 hits against Tiny Bonham.

Wyatt made few friends in the opposing dugout. Earning the well-deserved reputation as a headhunter, Wyatt claimed that Durocher would leave "two or three hundred dollars on top of my locker after knocking somebody down." Joe DiMaggio purportedly referred to Wyatt as "the meanest guy I ever saw." Reiser recalled an incident between Wyatt and Marty Marion, a shortstop with the St. Louis Cardinals. "Marion was in the box, smoothing out the dirt, taking his time," Reiser recalled. "Wyatt's standing there, watching him with those big green eyes. When Marion's finally set, Whit yells, 'You ready?' Wyatt winds up, fires it in, and down Marion goes. I guess he was expecting it, because he got up laughing. Next pitch--wham!--right in his ribs. 'Don't laugh when I'm on the mound,' Wyatt says." The righthander never apologized for his nastiness. "I think you ought to play it mean like Durocher did," Wyatt declared. "They ought to hate you on the field. If it was my own brother, I'd knock him down."

Wyatt's playing days came to a close after the 1945 season (he went 0-7 with the Philadelphia Phillies). Afterward, he served as the pitching coach for the Phillies and Braves. Old age failed to soften Wyatt, and he encouraged those under his charge to throw at batters when the occasion suited. He even clashed with Robin Roberts when the future hall of famer objected to Wyatt's bean ball strategy.