Ambler was discovered in 1933 by an amateur baseball umpire who introduced him to Connie Mack, the manager of the Philadelphia Athletics at the time. Mack later introduced him to his friend and manager of the Duke Blue Devils baseball team, Jack Coombs, who persuaded Ambler to play baseball at Duke University. While attending Duke, Ambler\'s tuition was paid for by Mack. He graduated from that institution in 1937 with a Bachelor\'s Degree in business administration. In 1989, he was inducted in the Duke Sports Hall of Fame. Ambler entered military service in 1941 after the attack on Pearl Harbor and later reached the rank of Lieutenant fighting in World War II. Ambler never returned to professional baseball after returning home from service.\n', '

Ambler was born on November 8, 1915 to Charles and Anne Ambler in Abington, Pennsylvania. Ambler was the youngest of three sisters and a brother. Graduating from Abington Senior High School in 1932, Ambler then enrolled at George School where he attended for a year and a half. From there, Ambler was discovered by amateur baseball umpire Jim Rumsey, a friend and unpaid scout for Connie Mack, the manager of the Philadelphia Athletics. Mack sent for Ambler to come to Shibe Park, the home baseball park of the Athletics, to take batting practice with the team. On Labor Day in 1933, Ambler was introduced to Jack Coombs, who was the Duke Blue Devils baseball manager at the time. When propositioned to join Coombs at Duke University, Ambler recalled that he told him that "[he] didn\'t know where the hell Duke was". Ambler stated that he had wanted to attend college, but was financially incapable.\n', '

Ambler accepted Coombs\'s invitation to go to Duke University with him. From there, Coombs set Ambler up with a job at the dining hall for meals and as a box office worker selling tickets and programs at football games. Mack stayed in contact with Ambler and even gave him money for tuition. After his first year, Ambler was asked by Mack if he wanted to return to Duke to continue his college education. Ambler said yes and Mack continued paying his tuition. During his senior season, Ambler batted .476. He was also the captain of the team that year, who were the conference champions with a 64–12 record. His batting average still stands as the second-highest in Blue Devil history. During the summers, Ambler earned US$25 a week playing baseball in the Coastal Plain League. He graduated from Duke in 1937 with a Bachelor\'s Degree in business administration.\n', '

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