Dean went right from Duke University – where his coach was former Philadelphia hurler Jack Coombs – to the Athletics. He played first base and pinch-hit often his first two seasons before Connie Mack, desperate for pitchers, put him on the mound. He was an unspectacular but useful starter, reliever, and pinch hitter for the A’s and Indians. He went into the military in 1943 and never returned to ML baseball.
