Albie Pearson ✝

Pearson pitched for the baseball team and played halfback for the football team at El Monte High School. Following a year at Pomona Junior College, he was signed by the Boston Red Sox as an amateur free agent in 1953.\n', ' Following his signing, which amounted to little else besides two pair of cleats, a new suitcase, and a promise of making $225 a month if he made the team, Pearson was assigned to the San Jose Red Sox of the Class-C California League, where he hit .334 in 125 games. Although signed as a pitcher, Pearson was converted to the outfield, after filling in on an emergency capacity and getting 8 hits in his first two games, and did little pitching during his minor league career.\n', ' Promoted to single-A Albany Senators in the Eastern League in 1954, he hit .269 and earned a two-game promotion to play for the AAA Louisville Colonels. Person spent 1955 back at single-A, this time hitting .305 for the Montgomery Rebels in the South Atlantic League. He split 1956 between the San Francisco Seals in the open Pacific Coast League and the Oklahoma City Indians in the AA Texas League, hitting well throughout the season and finishing with a combined .358 batting average with 7 home runs, 46 RBI, 6 triples, and 36 doubles. He had 91 walks and only 41 strikeouts in 153 games, and won the Texas League batting championship. Pearson was back with the Seals in 1957 and continued to hit, hitting .297 with 5 HR, 50 RBI, 11 triples, and 22 doubles.\n', '