Gus Niarhos

Constantine Gregory "Gus" Niarhos (December 6, 1920 – December 29, 2004) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the New York Yankees (1946, 1948–50), Chicago White Sox (1950–51), Boston Red Sox (1952–53) and Philadelphia Phillies (1954–55). Niarhos batted and threw right-handed, stood tall and weighed .

Baseball playing career A native of Birmingham, Alabama, Niarhos attended West End High School and signed a contract with the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent in . Niarhos posted a .306 batting average in 112 games, to help Akron win the 1941 Middle Atlantic League pennant. In he moved up to the Binghamton Triplets of the Eastern League where he hit for a .278 average.

After the Second World War ended, Niarhos returned to the Yankees organisation in , playing for Kansas City Blues of the American Association. This was high praise in an organisation that included future catching standouts such as Yogi Berra, Sherm Lollar and Aaron Robinson.

Niarhos returned to the major leagues in 1948, when he caught the majority of the Yankees games while Berra split time between playing the outfield and catching. On September 26, he suffered a fractured bone in his right hand which ended his season. Niarhos began the 1949 season as the Yankees starting catcher however, by the end of the year, Berra had taken over the job as, the Yankees went on to win the American League pennant. In what would be the only post-season appearance of his career, Niarhos played in only one game of the 1949 World Series as a late-inning defensive replacement.

On June 27, 1950, the Chicago White Sox claimed Niarhos for the waiver price of $10,000 ($ in current dollar terms). He had a .324 batting average with a .408 on-base percentage in 41 games with the White Sox. One day later, the Browns traded him to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for catcher Les Moss. As a manager in the Athletics minor league system, he coached future stars such as Reggie Jackson, Vida Blue, Rollie Fingers, Tony La Russa, Gene Tenace and Catfish Hunter. He later returned to his hometown of Birmingham to manage the Birmingham A's.

Niarhos died in Harrisonburg, Virginia at the age of 84.