A native of Marcus Hook, he attended Eddystone High but played only sandlot baseball because the school did not have a team. He played football and basketball in high school. After two years with the Marcus Hook American Legion team, he joined the Chester Legion team, where one of his teammates was Danny Murtaugh. His first professional experience came with the Easton, MD team, a farm team of the St. Louis Browns. 1939: Joins the Wash Senators of the Ame League in midseason, then he played minor league ball in Jersey City in 1940 before rejoining the Senators in 1941, batting .299. 1946: Returns to the Senators and hits .353 to win the American League batting title. 1953: Hits .337 to win his second AL batting championship and also leads league in doubles. 1956: Is part of nine-player trade with Boston Red Sox and hits fourth in the lineup, just behind Ted Williams. 1958: hits .293 with Clev Indians. 1959: Joins Mil Braves, his first National League team. 1960: Joins coaching staff of Pitts Pirates manager Danny Murtaugh, and is activated in Sept and gets his last eight major league at-bats. Pirates defeat New York Yankees in 7 games to win World Series. 1961: Manager of Wash Senators, a job he keeps for two-and-a-half years. His record of 2,409 games at first base wasn't broke until 1997 by Eddie Murray. Had 2,495 career hits and .286 career batting avg.