Merv Connors

Mervin James Connors

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 2", Weight 192 lb.
• High School Berkeley High School
• Debut September 4, 1937
• Final Game October 2, 1938
• Born January 23, 1914 in Berkeley, CA USA
• Died January 8, 2006 in Berkeley, CA USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Merv Connors was a star of the minor leagues. From 1934 to 1953, he played eighteen seasons and over 2,100 games with eighteen different clubs in fourteen different leagues. He is one of three American players to hit 400 career home runs in the minors (Buzz Arlett hit 432 and Nick Cullop 420). Connors finished his minor league career with 400 homers exactly and 1,629 RBI. In the majors, Connors hit 8 career home runs in 52 major league games. In 1938, he had a three-home run game for the Chicago White Sox. He has the fewest home runs of any player who had three in a single major league game; in contrast, Rafael Palmeiro hit 569 home runs without a three-homer game. Connors' major league main teammates included Mike Kreevich (94), Thornton Lee (93), Luke Appling (83) and Monty Stratton (83).

Connors was a decorated veteran of World War II, serving in the U.S. Army, 1st Battalion, 517th Parachute Infantry. He fought in battles in southern France, the Ardennes, the Rhineland, Central Europe and North Africa. The recipient of several medals and citations, including the Bronze Arrowhead and WWII Victory Medal, Merv received an honorable discharge in August 1945. He was a member of Teamsters Union local #70 and was retired from Vern's Trucking Service. He was a lifetime member of the Association of Professional Ball Players of America and St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Berkeley, CA and had graduated from Berkeley High School in 1931.

He died just a week before his 92nd birthday on January 8, 2006 in his hometown and is buried at St. Mary's Cemetery in Oakland. He was survived by his daughter, Judy Dildy, of Tyler, TX and two grandchildren. His wife, Leta Marjorie Bishop-Connors, predeceased him.

Career Highlights

• HR Titles
  • 1935 West Dixie League 29
  • 1936 East Texas League 24
  • 1941 Cotton States League 29
  • 1942 Texas League 27 - also led league with 101 RBI
  • 1950 East Texas League 26
  • 1952 West Texas-New Mexico League 47

Sources

Principal sources for Merv Connors include newspaper obituaries (OB), government Veteran records (VA,CM,CW), Stars & Stripes (S&S), Sporting Life (SL), The Sporting News (TSN), The Sports Encyclopedia:Baseball 2006 by David Neft & Richard Cohen (N&C), old Who's Who in Baseballs (none) (WW), old Baseball Registers (none) (BR) , old Daguerreotypes by TSN (none) (DAG), Stars&Stripes (S&S), The Baseball Necrology by Bill Lee (BN), Pat Doyle's Professional Ballplayer DataBase (PD), The Baseball Library (BL), Baseball in World War II Europe by Gary Bedingfield (GB) and The Pacific Coast League: A Statistical History, 1903-1957 by Dennis Snelling; SABR's Minor League Baseball Stars, Volume I; and The American Association Almanac, Volume 3, Number 2 and independent research by Walter Kephart (WK) and Frank Russo (FR) and others.

Related Sites

• Merv Connors at Historic Baseball
• Also see obituary at Merv Connors obituary
• and a full Bibliography from SABR's The Baseball Index (TBI)