Russ Meers was born in Tilton, Illinois, in 1918. A left-handed pitcher, after one season in professional baseball in 1939, he joined Nashville for two seasons, going 6-6 in 1940 and 16-5 in 1941. He led the Southern Association in walks with 167 in 1941 but also in strikeouts with 101, and on August 1, 1941, the Chicago Cubs acquired him and catcher Marvin Felderman to report at the end of the current Nashville season.
Four days after pitching in Game 3 of the Dixie Series against the Dallas Rebels, Meers started one game for the Cubs on September 28 and held the St. Louis Cardinals to five hits and one earned run in eight innings yet lost 3-1. Meers reported to the Cubs for spring training at Catalina Island in 1942 for spring training but was sent to Milwaukee. After ten games, he joined the Navy, serving for three years.
In 1942, he served at Great Lakes Naval Training Centre where he played on a baseball team managed by Mickey Cochrane. The “Blue Jackets” won 63 of the 77 games they played. For the next two years, Meers was stationed at Norfolk Naval Training Station until spending the latter part of 1945 in Hawaii at Kaneohe Bay Naval Air Station.
He returned to baseball in 1946, first with the Cubs, where he was 1-2 in seven games, then to Nashville once again. Having developed arm trouble with the major league club, he was ineffective and finished 1-3 for the Vols. After the 1951 season, Meers retired. He passed away in 1994 at the age of 75. (Photo: 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑁𝑒𝑤𝑠)
Sources
baseball-reference.com
Nashville Banner
Nashville Tennessean
Newspapers.com
https://www.baseballinwartime.com/player_biographies/meers_russ.htm, retrieved December 15, 2023
