Rube Melton Obituary

Rube Melton Obituary

Baseball Almanac presents the actual word-for-word transcript from the obituary of Rube Melton, taken from AP Wire transcripts.

"An independent, 6'5" country boy, Melton jumped the Cardinals organization and played two years of semi-pro ball before being reinstated in 1940. When St. Louis forgot to protect him in the draft, he was plucked by the Phillies." - Baseball Historian Jack Kavanagh on BaseballLibrary.com

Rube Melton Obituary

Rube Melton, Ex-Pitcher, Dies in Car Crash at 54

GREER, S.C., Sept. 13 (AP)-Rube Melton, 54-year-old former pitcher with the Philadelphia Phillies and Brooklyn Dodgers, was among three persons killed in a two-car automobile accident Saturday night.

Melton's wife, Hazel, and Mitchell Robertson, 30, of Taylors, S.C., were the other victims when cars driven by Melton and Robertson collided.

Melton, a native of Cramerton, N.C., pitched in the National League for six years, winning 30 games and losing 50. He was with the Phillies in 1941-42, then moved to the Dodgers for four seasons.

Rube Melton Obituary

On October 1, 1940, Rube Melton was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies from the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1940 Rule V Draft.

Two years later, on December 12, 1942, Melton was traded by the Philadelphia Phillies to the Brooklyn Dodgers for Johnny Allen and $30,000.

Did you know that Rube Melton led the league in bases on balls allowed (114) and wild pitches (8) during the 1942 season?

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