he was born in wheaton, illinois, and after signing with the st. louis cardinals in 1942, served in the united states army during world war ii. he finally appeared in 10 games for the cardinals in the and 1951 seasons, but was traded in may 1951 to the new york yankees, and was named mvp of the american association in with the kansas city blues. he played 70 games for the 1953 yankees team which captured their fifth consecutive world series title. in the 1953 series against the brooklyn dodgers, he was used as a pinch hitter in games 3 and 4, striking out both times, and as a defensive replacement for johnny mize in the ninth inning of game 6 as the yankees took the title. in december 1953 he was traded to the philadelphia athletics in an 11-player deal, and he shared playing time at first base in 1954 with lou limmer. after the athletics relocated to kansas city, missouri in , he appeared in only 12 games, ending his major league career with a batting average of .243, 11 home runs and 53 runs batted in in 195 games.