finalyear bats death_date death_place birth_place debutyear finaldate statvalue position finalteam statlabel debutdate birth_date image article_title debutteam name throws
1954 right 25 may 1976 spartanburg , south carolina cincinnati , ohio 1942 may 23 .203 15 66 catcher detroit tigers batting average home runs runs batted in april 19 31 december 1918 al lakeman.jpg al lakeman
 cincinnati reds al lakeman right
al lakeman

albert wesley lakeman -lrb- december 31 , 1918 -- may 25 , 1976 -rrb- was a catcher in major league baseball who played for the cincinnati reds -lrb- 1942 -- 1947 -rrb- , philadelphia phillies -lrb- 1947 -- 1948 -rrb- , boston braves -lrb- 1949 -rrb- and detroit tigers -lrb- 1954 -rrb- .
lakeman batted and threw right-handed .
nicknamed `` moose '' , he was a native of cincinnati , ohio .
the light-hitting lakeman was a fine defensive catcher as he took responsibility for getting the most out of his pitchers .
the high point of his major league career was serving as an efficient , reliable backup for andy seminick -lrb- phillies -rrb- , del crandall -lrb- braves -rrb- and frank house -lrb- tigers -rrb- .
his most productive season came in 1945 with cincinnati , when he posted career-highs in games played -lrb- 76 -rrb- , batting average -lrb- .256 -rrb- , home runs -lrb- eight -rrb- , rbi -lrb- 31 -rrb- and runs -lrb- 22 -rrb- .
in a nine-season career , lakeman was a .203 hitter with 15 home runs and 66 rbi in 239 games .
after his playing career ended , he managed in the tigers ' farm system -lrb- 1956 -- 1962 ; 1965 -- 1966 ; 1970 -rrb- and served two terms as the bullpen coach at the major league level for the boston red sox -lrb- 1963 -- 1964 ; 1967 -- 1969 -rrb- .
he was on the coaching staff of boston 's american league champions .
lakeman died in spartanburg , south carolina , at age 57 .
