Roy Gleason

Roy William Gleason ("Roy the Rock") (born April 9, 1943 in Melrose Park, Illinois) was a Major League Baseball player. He played in eight games for the Los Angeles Dodgers late in the 1963 baseball season. He was used primarily as a pinch runner but he had one official at bat and hit a double. He won a World Series ring with the Dodgers. That ring was eventually lost in Vietnam.

In 1967 he was drafted by the military. He served in the United States Army during the Vietnam War and earned the Purple Heart.

After his return from Vietnam, he again played in the Dodgers' farm system, but his war injuries had impaired his baseball skills, and he never made it back to the major leagues. He became a car salesman, married twice, and had two sons.^[1]

Roy Gleason remains the only US Combat Veteran and former Major League Baseball player to receive "Special Congressional Recognition" for being awarded a "Purple Heart", a World Series Ring, and holding a "Perfect" Lifetime Major League Batting Average. He also remains the only professional baseball player who after first playing in the Major Leagues was later drafted into the US Army and sent to the front lines in the Vietnam War.^[2]

TV and movie career

Gleason also appeared in the TV series Branded, playing alongside Chuck Connors, and was considered for the lead role in the film Doubles Brigade.^[3]

References

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)