Al Aber

Who was Al Aber?

Albert Julius Aber, nicknamed Lefty, was a left-handed Major League Baseball pitcher who played six years in the Major Leagues with the Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers, and Kansas City Athletics.

Born in Cleveland, Aber was signed as an amateur free agent by the Indians at age 19 in 1946. He made his major league debut on September 15, 1950, pitching a complete game victory, allowing two runs. He did not play another game in the big leagues until 1953, spending the 1951 and 1952 seasons in the minor leagues. He appeared in six games for the Indians in 1953, winning one and losing one, before being traded on June 15 to the Tigers with Ray Boone and Dick Weik for Art Houtteman, Owen Friend, Bill Wight, and Joe Ginsberg. Aber spent the next five years with the Tigers, where he went 22–24 in five years. His best statistical season was 1955, in which Aber appeared in 39 games and won six, lost three, and had an earned run average of 3.38. He was then waived by the Tigers, and was picked up by the Kansas City Athletics, for whom he pitched in three games, his final appearance coming on September 11, 1957.

In an interview in Sport magazine in June 1956, Tigers catcher Frank House complimented Aber for his "heavy" ball: "I could catch Hoeft with a fielder's glove. Although he's fast, he throws a 'light' ball that makes it easy on the catcher. Al Aber, another leftie [sic] on our staff, is tough to catch because he throws a 'heavy' ball." Aber died in 1993 at the age of 65 in Garfield Heights, Ohio.