Earle Brucker, Jr.

Who was Earle Brucker, Jr.?

Earle Francis Brucker, Jr. was a professional baseball player. He played two games as a catcher in Major League Baseball for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1948. After playing several seasons in minor league baseball, including a brief stint in the Pacific Coast League in 1953, he retired from baseball in 1955. He spent most of his life as the owner and operator of the Cajon Speedway in El Cajon, California.

Brucker was the son of Earle Brucker, Sr., who played five seasons in the major leagues for the Athletics himself. When Earle Sr. joined the Athletics coaching staff in 1941, Earle Jr. was made the bullpen catcher at the age of 15.

Earle, Sr. had gotten a 50-year lease a property near Gillespie Airport, which he attempted to lease to the Detroit Tigers as a spring training facility. When they declined, he turned the property into a racetrack, fairgrounds and high school football stadium. He turned the property over to Earle, Jr. in 1958, and he continued to operate it until 2005, when San Diego County declined to renew the lease.

Brucker died at his home in El Cajon on March 28, 2009.