Ace Adams

Note: This page links to Ace Adams, former major league pitcher. For college and minor league pitching coach, see Ace Adams (coach).

Ace Townsend Adams

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10½", Weight 182 lb.

• Debut April 15, 1941
• Final Game April 24, 1946
• Born March 2, 1910 in Willows, CA USA
• Died February 26, 2006 in Albany, GA USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Ace Adams was a star reliever with the New York Giants during World War II before jumping to the then-outlaw Mexican League and being blacklisted.

Ace was the name he was given at birth, not a nickname. Prior to becoming a baseball player, he tried his hand at professional boxing. He entered baseball in 1934, spending the next three years in Class D ball before a fortuitous move into the Brooklyn Dodgers system in 1938 accelerated his progression through the minors. In 1941, he was to begin a third season with the Nashville Volunteers of the Southern Association (13-5, 4.06 in 1940) when he was noticed by the Giants. They put him on notice that they had noticed him by bringing him up for the season, a season he finished 4-1, 4.82 in 38 games.

In three of the next four seasons, Ace, primarily wearing number 27, led the National League in appearances, serving in the role of fireman (he also led each of the four seasons in games finished). Although saves were not an official statistic during his career, he is recognized as the retroactive leader in saves for the 1944 season (13 saves) and 1945, when he tied with Andy Karl of the Philadelphia Phillies (15 saves). He also earned 11 wins in a season twice, in 1943 (when he was an All-Star) and 1945. Ace's main teammates with the Giants included Mel Ott (1192), Mickey Witek (427), Harry Feldman (418), Billy Jurges (410), Ernie Lombardi (394), Johnny Mize (384), Dick Bartell (358), Bill Voiselle (355) and Cliff Melton (332).

For a while, after he retired as a player, he owned and operated the Fitzgerald Pioneers minor league team. After his baseball career, he lived and worked in Albany, GA for many decades. He lived to the ripe old age of 95, passing away in 2006.

Notable Achievements

• NL All-Star (1943)
• 3-times NL Games Pitched Leader (1942-1944)
• 2-times NL Saves Leader (1944 & 1945)

Year-by-Year Managerial Record

Year	Team	League	Record	Finish	Organization	Playoffs	Notes
1952	Fitzgerald Pioneers	Georgia State League		6th	none		replaced by Charles Ridgeway from July 11 to July 20

Further Reading

• Brent Kelley: "Ace Adams: His Name Says It All", in The Early All-Stars: Conversations with Standout Baseball Players of the 1930s and 1940s, McFarland & Company, Jefferson, NC, 1997, pp. 3-12. ISBN 978-0786402045
• G. Richard McKelvey: "Ace Adams and Harry Feldman: Two Giants Pitchers Go to Mexico", in Mexican Raiders in the Major Leagues: The Pasquel Brothers Vs Organized Baseball 1946, McFarland & Company, Jefferson, NC, 2006, pp. 149-154. ISBN 978-0786425631

Related Sites

• Ace Adams at the SABR Bio Project
• Find-A-Grave Memorial for Ace Adams