Buff Biographies: Jack Angle

Excerpt from "Your 1948 Houston Buffs, Dixie Champions: Brief Biographies By Morris Frank and Adie Marks (1948).

Excerpt from “Your 1948 Houston Buffs, Dixie Champions: Brief Biographies By Morris Frank and Adie Marks (1948).

Jack-of-all-trades utility man Jack Angle (BR/TR) (5’11”, 167 lbs.) was born on March 25, 1916 in St. Louis, Missouri. He passed away at age 79 on October 21, 1996 in Claremore, Oklahoma and was buried there in the Woodlawn Cemetery.

As a Houston Buff for four seasons (1940, 1941, 1947 and 1948), Angle’s teams each finished first with the best winning percentage in the league over the first thee years of his local tenure. His 1948 tout with the Buffs also proved be the last of his 12 seasons (1936-44, 1946-48) as a minor leaguer in the Cardinals system. Jack batted .270 with 40 HR over the course of his career. His .251 mark with the 1947 Dixie Series champion Buffs was his best local mark, but it wasn’t his bat that made him valuable to Houston. The guy could, and did, play all eight field positions with some degree of competence, confidence, and reliability. That versatility was a tremendous asset to any minor league club back in the days of limited rosters of 19 players.

Jack married a Houston girl that he met in 1940 and also developed an off-season occupational skill as a draftsman that helped him support the children that he and Marie Angle raised together. Those utility guys are always thinking. They are the wizened ones that understand one of life’s most basic truths: The more things I do well, the more my chances of keeping my job or finding new work go up to the max.

Thank you for making Houston one of your career stops, “Jumping Jack” Angle. It’s always easier to jump when you’ve got something in your pocket or in your mind that helps you bounce and rebound.

Right, Jack?

 

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