Al Widmar

Albert Joseph Widmar (March 20, 1925 – October 15, 2005) was an American pitcher, pitching coach, scout and front-office executive in Major League Baseball (MLB). In addition to forging a 59-year career in professional baseball, he also played professional basketball for three seasons.

Widmar appeared in 114 games over all or part of five MLB seasons (–, –) for the Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Browns and Chicago White Sox. A decade later, he returned to the majors as a pitching coach, serving in that role for 17 seasons between and for the Philadelphia Phillies, Milwaukee Brewers and Toronto Blue Jays. He attended Cathedral Latin High School. He batted and threw right-handed, stood tall and weighed .

He was originally signed by the Boston Red Sox in 1942, Widmar made his MLB debut with Boston at Fenway Park on April 25, 1947, Widmar posted six saves in 72 relief appearances.

Beginning in the late-1940s, Widmar began to play professional basketball in the off-season — in order to keep himself in shape. He played for the Binghamton Triplets of the Eastern Professional Basketball League (EPBL), and the Scranton Miners and Allentown / Carbondale Aces of the American Basketball League (ABL).