Astroth was born in East Alton, Illinois and attended Wood River High School in Wood River, Illinois. After graduating from high school in 1940, he attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he competed in baseball, football and basketball. Astroth joined the United States Coast Guard in 1942 where, he served during World War II until his Honorable Discharge in 1945. \n', '

Immediately after his discharge from the Coast Guard, Astroth signed a contract with the Philadelphia Athletics as an amateur free agent and, made his major league debut with the team on August 13, 1945 at the age of 22 without ever having played in the minor leagues. He played the majority of the 1946 season with the Lancaster Red Roses of the Interstate League before being promoted back to the Athletics for four games in September.\n', '

After two more seasons spent in the minor leagues, Astroth rejoined the Athletics in 1949 where he served as reserve catcher behind Mike Guerra. On September 23, 1950 Astroth had 6 runs batted in during the 6th inning of a game against the Washington Senators when, he hit a grand slam home run then followed with a two-run single later in the inning. \n', '

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