The youngest of nine children, Bauer's Austrian immigrant father was a bartender who had earlier lost his leg in an aluminum mill. With little money coming into the home, Bauer was forced to wear clothes made out of old feed sacks, helping shape his hard-nosed approach to life.

Playing baseball and basketball at East St. Louis Central Catholic High School, Bauer's nose was permanently damaged after an errant elbow from an opponent. Upon graduation in 1941, he was repairing furnaces in a beer-bottling plant when his brother Herman, a minor league player in the Chicago White Sox system, was able to get him a tryout that resulted in a contract with Oshkosh of the Class D Wisconsin State League.

One month after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Bauer enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps. While in the South Pacific, Bauer contracted malaria, but recovered enough to earn 11 campaign ribbons, two Bronze Stars and a pair of Purple Hearts in 32 months of combat. His second injury had come at Okinawa, when he commanded a platoon of 64 men. Only six survived the brutal siege, with shrapnel hitting Bauer in the thigh and sending him home.

Returning to East St. Louis, he joined the local pipe fitter's union and stopped by a local bar where his brother Joe worked. Danny Menendez, a New York Yankees scout, signed him for a tryout with the team's farm club in Quincy, IL. The terms: $175 a month (a $25 increase if he made the team) and a $250 bonus.

Batting .300 at Quincy and with the team's top minor league unit, the Kansas City Blues, Bauer eventually made his debut with the Bronx Bombers in September 1948.

One of Casey Stengel's favorite player, Bauer was a smart player who didn't give away runs or make mental mistakes, and he had a fierce determination to win. He collected nine WS checks while with the Yankees and would bark "Don't mess with my money!" to teammates who didn't hustle. This ex-Marine exuded authority; his face was likened to a clenched fist. A platoon player much of his Yankee career, he still emerged as a solid hitter with both power and speed.

He started three straight All-Star games (1952-54) and hit 26 HR in 1956 and 18 first-inning leadoff HR in his career. He hit a three-run triple in the finale of the 1951 WS, and secured the 4-3 win over the Giants with a sliding catch in right field as the would-be tying run was streaking home. He played with the New York Yankees (1948-1959) and Kansas City Athletics (1960-61); he batted and threw right-handed. He served as manager for the Athletics (KC in 1961-62 and Oakland in 1969) and Baltimore Orioles (1964-68).

Bauer was traded by the Yankees to the A's in the deal that brought Roger Maris to New York. He managed the Orioles to the 1966 World Championship. (MG)