1943-1945

Emmett O'Neill was born in San Mateo, California on January 13, 1918. He attended San Mateo High, and went to St. Mary’s College in Moraga, California. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree and also played basketball, football, and tennis.

He had envisioned a career teaching and coaching high school sports. He played some semipro ball in 1939, but while he was still in college, he signed to play professionally. He was the first bonus pitcher from California signed by the Red Sox.

The Red Sox assigned him to Scranton on option. He pitched briefly in May and June for Scranton, then was passed on to the Class-B Piedmont League Rocky Mount Red Sox. He pitched both for the Class-B Greensboro Red Sox and the Class-C Oneonta Indians (Canadian-American League) in 1941. 

In 1942 he pitched for two Double-A teams, Louisville and Toronto. He started the 1943 season for Louisville and his debut came in August and he beat the Cleveland Indians. It was his only win for the 1943 Red Sox. By season’s end, he was 1-4, with an ERA of 4.53.

Emmett was 6-11 with a 4.63 ERA in 1944, a year in which the Red Sox were true contenders for the pennant until the very last few weeks of the season. He was always plagued with control problems and his losses mounted up at the end of the 1945 season. He was 8-11 on the season, despite an ERA that deteriorated to 5.15. 

Come 1946, with so many Red Sox players coming back from military service, the team placed him on waivers and he was selected by the Chicago Cubs. Less than a week later, the Cubs put him on waivers and the White Sox brought him down to Chicago’s South Side in April. In his last appearance in a big-league game, he pitched 3 2/3 innings against New York at Yankee Stadium, didn’t allow a hit, but did walk four. 

Later in June, the San Francisco Seals acquired Emmett on option from the White Sox. He started the 1947 season with the Seals, appeared in three games, giving up nine hits and 13 walks in 12 innings, and was released in late May. In 1948 the Sacramento Solons decided to give him a try. He was released by Sacramento before the 1949 season began, and did not pitch that year. In 1950, he pitched for Shreveport in the Texas League and Danville in the Carolina League.

Emmett retired from baseball in 1951. A Nevada resident by then, he became a gaming executive, managing the Stateline Country Club at Lake Tahoe, co-owning and managing the Silver Club in Sparks, Nevada, and the River Inn in Reno. In 1992 he retired after 12 years at the Regency Casino in Laughlin, Nevada.

Emmett O'Neill died in Sparks, Nevada after a lengthy illness, on October 11, 1993, at age 75.