Max Macon


Max Cullen Macon was an American Major League Baseball player, a minor league player-manager and pitching coach, and a professional baseball scout. Born in Pensacola, Florida, he threw and batted left-handed, stood tall and weighed. His professional playing career lasted for 19 seasons between 1934 and 1955.

Career

Macon was primarily a pitcher but also played first base and the outfield during his MLB career, which spanned 1938–1947. Of his 226 total big-league games played, he was a pitcher in 81 games, a first baseman in 75, and an outfielder in 23. He was a pinch hitter or pinch runner in the balance of his appearances.
Macon's most extensive playing time was with the Boston Braves, when he got into 106 games, hit all three of his MLB home runs and collected 36 of his 46 career runs batted in. He missed the 1945 season while serving in the United States Army during World War II; during his service, Macon was hospitalized for 29 days after being injured in a dynamite explosion at Fort McClellan in Alabama. He was out of baseball in 1946, then returned to Boston to finish his major league career in 1947.
As a pitcher, Macon posted a career 17–19 win–loss record and a 4.24 earned run average, with nine complete games, two shutouts, and three saves; in 297 innings pitched, he permitted 307 hits and 128 bases on balls, while registering 90 strikeouts. On offense, Macon collected 133 hits, which included 17 doubles and four triples, along with his three homers. He batted.265.
Starting in 1949, Macon managed in the minor leagues for 12 seasons, including six years at the Triple-A level in the Dodgers' organization. In 1961, he became a scout and minor league pitching coach for the Detroit Tigers, with whom he remained until 1968, when he was named Southeast regional scouting supervisor for the Pittsburgh Pirates. During these years, Macon supplemented his earnings as a college basketball referee, with both the SEC and MVC.
In 2001, Minor League Baseball published a list of its 100 greatest teams of all time, which included two managed by Macon: the 1951 Hazard Bombers and the 1952 Miami Sun Sox.

Articles

  • Levy, Sam. . The Milwaukee Journal. Thursday, September 30, 1937. p. 8.
  • Kirksey, George. . The Beaver County Times. Thursday, April 7, 1938, p. 9.
  • McNeil, Marc T. . The Montreal Gazette. Monday, June 22, 1942. p. 16.
  • French, Bob. . The Toledo Blade. Wednesday, July 15, 1942. p. 18.
  • Associated Press. . The Ottawa Citizen. Thursday, July 16, 1942. p. 15.
  • Associated Press. . The Ottawa Citizen. Tuesday, March 16, 1943. p. 10.
  • Moshier, Jeff. . The St. Petersburg Evening Independent. Friday, May 19, 1944. p. 12.
  • Associated Press. . The Christian Science Monitor. Wednesday, May 24, 1944. p. 16.
  • United Press. . The Tuscaloosa News. Monday, April 7, 1947. p. 7.
  • Thisted, Red. . The Milwaukee Sentinel. Sunday, January 25, 1948. p. B3
  • Beck, Bill. . The St Petersburg Times. Thursday, June 26, 1952. p. 22.
  • Associated Press. . The Reading Eagle. Friday, November 27, 1953. p. 22.
  • Holmes, Tommy. . The Brooklyn Eagle. November 30, 1953. p. 15.
  • Fitzgerald, Tommy. "Macon has the Makin's: New Montreal Pilot Destined For Bums". Baseball Digest. March 1954. pp. 83–84.
  • Associated Press. . The St. Petersburg Times. Sunday, May 23, 1954. p. 7-C
  • McGowan, Lloyd. . The Montreal Star. Wednesday, June 2, 1954. p. 36
  • McGowan, Lloyd. . The Montreal Star. Thursday, June 3, 1954. p. 36
  • McGowan, Lloyd. . The Montreal Star. Friday, June 4, 1954. p. 22
  • McGowan, Lloyd. . The Montreal Star. Saturday, June 5, 1954.
  • Carroll, Dink. . The Montreal Gazette. Saturday, August 7, 1954. p. 8.
  • Macon, Max. . The Reading Eagle. Saturday, January 22, 1955. p. 6.
  • Wolfe, Don. . The Toledo Blade. Monday, May 2, 1955. p. 18.
  • . The Kentucky High School Athlete. March 1961. p. 4.
  • Fitzgerald, Tommy. . The Miami News. Saturday, March 26, 1966. p. 1B.
  • Biederman, Lester J. . The Pittsburgh Press. Friday, August 19, 1966. p. 27.
  • Bloodworth, Bob. . The Palm Beach Post. Tuesday, August 19, 1969. p. 29.
  • Eck, Frank. . The Washington Observer-Reporter. Wednesday, December 15, 1971. p. D6
  • Christine, Bill. . The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Wednesday, April 18, 1973. p. 33.
  • Associated Press. . The Reading Eagle. Thursday, August 10, 1989. p. 45.
  • Zygner, Sam; Smith, Steve. . Baseball Research Journal. Volume 43, Issue 1. Spring 2014. pp. 54–67

Books

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