Max Peterson (minors01)

Max R. Peterson

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 176 lb.

• High School Monmouth High School

• Born December 22, 1921 in Warren County, Illinois, USA
• Died October 2, 2010 in Galesburg, IL USA

BR minors page

Biographical Information

Max Peterson won over 100 minor league games and spent three seasons in AAA but did not make the majors. He led his league twice in wins and twice in ERA.

Peterson was in the Navy in World War II. After the War, he made his baseball debut with the Greenville Lions, going 20-12 with a 2.78 ERA in 1946. He tied James Atkins for the Alabama State League lead in wins and was third in ERA behind Carl Johnson and Atkins. In '47, he was even better for the Lions, with a 27-12, 2.02 record and 266 strikeouts in 299 innings. He won the pitching Triple Crown in the ASL.

With the 1948 Utica Blue Sox, he remained dominant at 18-9, 2.03. He was second in the Eastern League in wins, 3 behind leader Lou Kretlow, and led in ERA by .1 ahead of Orie Arntzen. From 1949-1951, the right-hander was in AAA. He was 6-4 with a 3.31 ERA for the 1949 Toronto Maple Leafs. Of the team's other hurlers (except for two with ERAs over 6), all played in the majors at some point. He had a 9-11, 4.14 record for the 1950 Maple Leafs.

The New York Yankees took him from the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1950 Rule V Draft. Assigned to the Kansas City Blues to open 1951, he was 1-1 with a 4.00 ERA in 10 games, walking 16 in 27 innings. He then moved to the St. Louis Browns chain and was sent back to Toronto, where he was 3-5 with a 3.64 ERA. He would spend his final three seasons in AA. In '52, the 30-year-old went 13-13 with a 4.39 ERA for the San Antonio Missions, walking only 36 in 158 innings. He tied Al Papai for 6th in the Texas League in losses. In 1953, Max fell to 5-11, 4.86 for the Missions. He was third in the TL with 47 games pitched, trailing Bill Tremel and Peter Mazar. He ended his career with the 1954 Oklahoma City Indians, going 1-0.

Overall, Peterson was 103-78 with an ERA around 3.19 in 308 minor league outings.

After baseball, Peterson was a mechanic, owned Olson Rug Cleaning Service, then was a maintenance engineer for the US Federal Building in Rock Island, IL and for St. Ahtony's Hospital in Rockford, IL.

Sources

• Obituary from The Hawkeye