Former St. Louis Browns infielder and World War II veteran Bob Dillinger passed away November 7, 2009 at the age of 91 (1918-2009). Dillinger led the American League in hits in 1948 with 207, was an A.L. All-Star in 1949, and was the A.L. stolen base champion for three consecutive seasons (1947-1949). Dillinger played 6 seasons total in the Majors Leagues for the Browns, Athletics, Pirates and White Sox.
In a 2003 interview with Bob Kuenster in Baseball Digest, Dillinger reflected on his All-Star and wartime playing experiences. "We played hard and played to win. You wanted to do good," he said. "Even though it was my first and only All-Star game, I played in those types of games before. During the war, I played on the special service team with guys like Joe DiMaggio, Ferris Fain, Jerry Priddy and other big leaguers. I played center field for DiMaggio's club in Guam in front of 40,000 troops."
I never saw Bobby Dillinger play, but I bought a Rawlings "Bobby Dillinger" baseball glove in 1950 and it was the best baseball glove I ever had. I bought another one in early 1952 and when I wore the first one out, I started using the other one. I wore the second one out by the end of the 53 season. In 54 I tryed everywhere to find another one. No luck. I played the game untill 1968, whent thru a lot more gloves, but nrver found one I liked as much as those old Bob Dillinger ones. Ed Delaney
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