Earl Rapp - OF
1948-51, 1953-57
Seattle, Oakland, San Diego, Portland

Born Earl Wellington Rapp on May 20, 1921 in Corunna, Missouri, Rapp was a dominating left-handed batter for his nine years in the Pacific Coast League.

He played ball for Swedesboro High before beginning his professional career.

Rapp was an impressive figure at the plate, all 6'2" and 185 lbs. of him.

His career rollercoastered through the majors and minors over a twelve year period. His numbers were not major league, but in the minors he played the game at a dominant level.

Rapp's PCL lifetime stats sport a .318 lifetime average, hitting for .300 or better in seven of nine years. He never delivered less than .278 in any season. Earl hit 20 or more home runs and drove in 100 RBIs for four of his nine years. Why he did not perform better in the majors remains the question mark of his career that neither scouts nor skippers ever successfully resolved.

He began his career in 1946 with Williamsport. In 1947 he played with the Oneonta Indians of the Canadian-American League.

He was picked up by Seattle in 1948 where he delivered an impressive .298 average on 564 at-bats in 168 games with 17 home runs and 96 RBIs.

April 28, 1949 Rapp made his major league debut with Detroit for one game with no average. He was assigned to Oakland where he delivered a successful .349 average on 357 at-bats in 97 games. Some of his Oaks good karma paid off: He was traded to the Chicago White Sox where he played 19 games with 54 at-bats for a .259 average, his best major league average.

Rapp returned to Oakland the following spring, and hit for a career minor league high of .347 in 1950 with the Oaks in what would become their last championship year. He also belted 24 home runs and drove in 145 RBIs. A performance that the scouts for the New York Giants felt merited an invitation to their spring camp.

Earl began 1951 with the New York Giants for 13 games. He had 11 at-bats with a dismal .091 average. Down he went to PCL Oakland, where once again, he began performing. Rapp rapped out a .322 average in 97 games and 357 appearances at the plate. Rapp was traded by the New York Giants to the St. Louis Browns. He appeared in 26 games for the Browns with 98 at-bats for a .327 average and a .394 on-base percentage and a .500 slugging percentage.

In 1952 Rapp started the season with the Browns and ended it with the Senators. The Browns dealt seven players to the Senators for a draft pick and cash. With St. Louis Earl played 30 games with 49 at-bats for a.143 average. With Washington he played 46 games, and, with 67 at-bats, delivered a respectable .284 average.

On teams deep with talent, however, Rapp's contact hitting and mounting scouting reports that cast doubt on whether he could hack it in the bigs put an end to his major league aspirations.

He returned to the Pacific Coast League in 1953 to play with San Diego, where he would stay until he was traded to Portland in 1957. Once again back in the AAA, the Rapp magic, and a stellar average, returned. He hit over .300 four of the five years in San Diego; .278 for his 1957 with San Diego/Portland.

In his PCL career, Rapp played in 1,259 games with a .318 lifetime average on 4,297 at-bats. He racked up 156 home runs and 837 RBIs.

Earl died February 13, 1992 in Swedesboro, NJ.