"Buddy" Myer

Second-Sack Slicker 

 

In 1935, when Hank Greenberg was voted the most valuable player in the American League and led the league in nearly everything, the batting champion of the American circuit was another Jewish boy. His name was Charles Solomon "Buddy" Myer.

"Buddy" Myer was one of those under-rated, unpublicized baseball players whose talents are appreciated by the sports writers and the studious baseball fans. But he seldom won headlines, and the fans paid little attention to him. It was not until 1935, after ten years in the big time, that Myer was accepted as a star. That year he hit .349 and came in second in total hits, with 215. That winter Clark Griffith, wise owner of the Washington Senators, told reporters that he would not sell Myer for less than $500,000. Perhaps this was only talk, but it was a slight indication of the value of the silent keystone sacker of the Washington club.

Charles Myer was born in Ellisville, Mississippi, a small Southern town. If you ride through the Southland you will find there are more Jewish families in such towns than you think there are. "Buddy" was a quiet kid whose folks sent him to college, just as many Jewish families dream of sending their growing children to college. "Buddy" was graduated from Mississippi A and M in 1925. He played