Les Moss

John Lester Moss (May 14, 1925 – August 29, 2012) was an American professional baseball player, coach, scout and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the St. Louis Browns for the most significant portion of his career, and was a backup catcher almost all his career. In he moved up to the Class A Elmira Pioneers of the Eastern League where he posted a .308 batting average in 96 games. He would play for the Toledo Mud Hens in , hitting .297 in 121 games before, being called up late in the season to make his major league debut at the age of 21 with the St. Louis Browns on September 10. He held the franchise record as the youngest catcher to hit a home run until he was surpassed by Samuel Basallo on August 30, 2025. He caught the majority of the games for the Browns in 1948 while his hitting improved substantially, with a .257 average along with 14 home runs and 46 runs batted in. In 1949, the Browns acquired 24-year-old Sherm Lollar from the New York Yankees and Moss became the second-string catcher. Moss' hitting continued to improve with a .291 average and an impressive .399 on-base percentage. After producing a .198 batting average in 71 games for the Red Sox, he was shipped back to the Browns on November 28, 1951. In 1954, the Browns relocated to Baltimore and were renamed the Orioles. Moss played one full season in Baltimore before being traded to the Chicago White Sox on June 6, 1955, where he once again served as a backup to Sherm Lollar. He was the White Sox pitching coach in 1970. After the 1978 season, Moss was voted Manager of the Year in the American Association, and The Sporting News named him Minor League Manager of the Year.

Managerial record Team Year Regular season PostseasonGamesWonLostWin %Finish Won Lost Win % Result CWS 2 interim – – – –34 interimCWS total 36 DET 53 fired – – – –DET total 53 Total 89