Les Peden

Who was Les Peden?

Leslie Earl Peden nicknamed "Gooch", was an American professional baseball player and manager. A catcher, he appeared in nine Major League games for the 1953 Washington Senators. He threw and batted right-handed, stood 6 feet 1 inch tall and weighed 212 pounds.

The native of Azle, Texas, attended Texas A&M University and served in the United States Army in the European Theater of Operations during World War II. His minor league playing career lasted all or parts of 18 seasons, largely in the organizations of the Chicago Cubs and Kansas City Athletics. He was selected by Washington in the 1952 Rule 5 Draft after he batted .279 with 18 home runs in 153 games for the Open-Classification Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League.

For the first month of the 1953 MLB season, Peden was a member of the Senators' 28-man roster. Of his nine games, eight were as Washington's starting catcher. On April 29, he hit his only Major League home run, a solo shot off Saul Rogovin of the Chicago White Sox, in a 3–0 Washington victory at Comiskey Park. Peden caught Bob Porterfield's complete game, five-hit shutout that day.