Vince Shupe

Vincent William Shupe (September 5, 1921 - April 5, 1962) was a Major League Baseball first baseman who played for the Boston Braves in 1945. The 23-year-old rookie was a native of East Canton, Ohio.

Shupe is one of many ballplayers who only appeared in the major leagues during World War II. He made his major league debut on July 7, 1945 and became Boston's regular first baseman for the rest of the year, taking over for Joe Mack, whose last game had been on July 4.

Season and career totals include 78 games played, a .269 batting average (76-for-283), 15 runs batted in, and 22 runs scored. He made 8 errors in 77 games at first base and had a fielding percentage of .989.

Vince later played for the San Diego Padres baseball team (circa 1948) and dated actress Jean Peters (noted for her roles in Apache, Viva Zapata, Niagara and Three Coins in the Fountain). Jean was born in his hometown (Canton, Ohio) in 1926, and years later (in 1957) married billionaire Howard Hughes; thus becoming "The Richest Girl in America", as Ladies' Home Journal baptized her.

Shupe died at the age of 40 in Canton, Ohio.