Damon Roswell "Dee" Phillips (June 8, 1919 – November 4, 2004) was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 professional baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

 player, manager

Manager (baseball)

In baseball, the field manager is an individual who is responsible for matters of team strategy on the field and team leadership. Managers are typically assisted by between one and six assistant coaches, whose responsibilities are specialized...

 and scout. A shortstop

Shortstop

Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball fielding position between second and third base. Shortstop is often regarded as the most dynamic defensive position in baseball, because there are more right-handed hitters in baseball than left-handed hitters, and most hitters have a tendency to pull the...

 and third baseman

Third baseman

A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run...

 born in Corsicana, Texas

Corsicana, Texas

Corsicana is a city in Navarro County, Texas, United States. It is located on Interstate 45 some fifty-five miles south of downtown Dallas. The population was 24,485 at the 2000 census...

, Phillips threw and batted right-handed, stood 6 feet (1.8 m) tall and weighed 176 pounds (80 kg). He played in Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

 for the Cincinnati Reds

Cincinnati Reds

The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the National League Central Division. The club was established in 1882 as a charter member of the American Association and joined the National League in 1890....

 (1942) and Boston Braves

Atlanta Braves

The Atlanta Braves are a professional baseball club based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Braves are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. The Braves have played in Turner Field since 1997....

 (1944; 1946).

Phillips' professional career began in 1938 when he was signed by the Detroit Tigers

Detroit Tigers

The Detroit Tigers are a Major League Baseball team located in Detroit, Michigan. One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in as part of the Western League. The Tigers have won four World Series championships and have won the American League pennant...

 after a tryout with the Tigers' Texas League

Texas League

The Texas League is a minor league baseball league which operates in the South Central United States. It is classified a Double-A league. The league was founded in 1888 and ran through 1892...

 farm club, the Beaumont Exporters

Beaumont Exporters

The Beaumont Exporters were a franchise in American minor league baseball that played in the Texas League from 1920-49 and 1953-55. The city of Beaumont, Texas, was also represented in the Texas League from 1912-17 and 1919 as the Oilers, from 1950-52 as the Roughnecks, and from 1983-86 as the...

. However, he was declared a free agent

Free agent

In professional sports, a free agent is a player whose contract with a team has expired and who is thus eligible to sign with another club or franchise....

 by Commissioner of Baseball

Commissioner of Baseball

The Commissioner of Baseball is the chief executive of Major League Baseball and its associated minor leagues. Under the direction of the Commissioner, the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball hires and maintains the sport's umpiring crews, and negotiates marketing, labor, and television contracts...

 Kenesaw Mountain Landis

Kenesaw Mountain Landis

Kenesaw Mountain Landis was an American jurist who served as a federal judge from 1905 to 1922 and as the first Commissioner of Baseball from 1920 until his death...

 after the season and was barred from re-signing with Detroit. He eventually joined the Reds' organization and was called to the majors in the middle of the 1942

1942 Cincinnati Reds season

The Cincinnati Reds season was a season in American baseball. The team finished fourth in the National League with a record of 76-76, 29 games behind the St. Louis Cardinals.- Offseason :...

 season. He appeared in 28 games for Cincinnati and batted

Batting average

Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...

 .202 in 84 at-bats. He eventually was acquired by the Boston Braves from the Reds' organization and spent the entire 1944

1944 Boston Braves season

- Roster :- Starters by position :Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in- Other batters :Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg...

 campaign in Boston, playing in 140 games and hitting .258 in 489 at-bats. He then served in the United States Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 and lost the 1945 season, and most of 1946, to military service. The Braves played Phillips in two games in September 1946

1946 Boston Braves season

- Roster :- Starters by position :Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in- Other batters :Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg...

, but the remainder of his playing career would be spent in minor league baseball

Minor league baseball

Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...

 and winter baseball. He played for ten years at the Triple-A level with the Milwaukee Brewers

Milwaukee Brewers (minor league baseball team)

The Milwaukee Brewers were a Minor League Baseball team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They played in the American Association from 1902 through 1952.-A Milwaukee Tradition:...

, Montreal Royals

Montreal Royals

The Montreal Royals were a minor league professional baseball team located in Montreal, Quebec, that existed from 1897–1917 and from 1928–60 as a member of the International League and its progenitor, the original Eastern League...

, Baltimore Orioles

Baltimore Orioles (minor league)

The city of Baltimore, Maryland has been home to two minor league baseball teams called the Baltimore Orioles.-Name history:"Orioles" is a traditional name for baseball clubs in Baltimore . It was used by major league teams from 1882 through 1899 in the American Association/National League and by...

 and Richmond Virginians

Richmond Virginians

The Richmond Virginians was the name of a minor league baseball Class AAA International League franchise that played in Richmond, Virginia, from 1954 through 1964....

.

Phillips managed in the farm systems of the New York Yankees

New York Yankees

The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...

 and the MLB Baltimore Orioles

Baltimore Orioles

The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. They are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. One of the American League's eight charter franchises in 1901, it spent its first year as a major league...

, then scouted for Baltimore and the Tigers in his native Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

. Among those he signed for the Orioles was future MLB second baseman

Second baseman

Second base, or 2B, is the second of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a base runner in order to score a run for that player's team. A second baseman is the baseball player guarding second base...

 and manager Davey Johnson

Davey Johnson

David Allen "Davey" Johnson is an American Major League Baseball player and current manager of the Washington Nationals. He was the starting second baseman for the Baltimore Orioles when they won four American League pennants and two World Series championships between 1965 and 1972...

. Dee Phillips died at age 85 in Fort Worth, Texas

Fort Worth, Texas

Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...

.

External links