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Those Who Died That Others Might Be Free

Frank Faudem

Date and Place of Birth: July 9, 1921 Detroit, Michigan
Date and Place of Death: January 12, 1945 Leyte Gulf
Baseball Experience: Minor League
Position: Outfield
Rank: Private First Class
Military Unit: Company A, 305^th Infantry Regiment, 77^th Infantry Division US Army
Area Served: Pacific Theater of Operations

During an interview by the Central Student newspaper on April 25, 1940, Frank Faudem stated that his ambition was “to be a professional baseball player.”  He went on to achieve star status as a professional player in the minor leagues, however, he was called to battle in World War II where his life was ended by a Japanese sniper, short of fulfilling his dream in baseball’s major leagues.

David Otis

Faudem, a diminutive, stocky left-hander, was a hard-hitting pitcher and outfielder. During the summer months while still a high school student, he played ball in the leagues of the Detroit Amateur Baseball Federation. Faudem batted .538 in 1937 at Class E, and was runner up to Bob Collins (a former Central High pitcher) for the most valuable player award. He hit .400 in 1938 at Class C with the Registers, and produced a .348 batting average when he played with Central in 1939; and .478 in winning All-City honors at Central in 1940. When asked by the Central Student newspaper on April 25, 1940, what his biggest thrill was, Faudem replied, “Last season while playing against Mackenzie, I hit a homer in the fourth inning with bases loaded. It was one of the longest four baggers ever hit at Littlefield. The pitch was off a lefthander, and, before that, I was always afraid of southpaws.”

Throughout his high school athletic career Frank’s biggest fan was his father who did not miss a single game his son played. In the summer of 1940, Central High coach Johnny Madonna asked New York Yankees’ manager Joe McCarthy to let Faudem and fellow Central teammate Sheldon Harris work out with the Yankees while the Yankees were in Detroit. McCarthy agreed and even allowed the two youngsters to suit up in Yankees’ uniforms and hit a few in practice.

“To say merely that Faudem and Harris were pleased with wearing Yankee uniforms,” wrote an unidentified Detroit newspaper shortly after the event, “and working out with the American League champions at Briggs Stadium would be an understatement.”

Impressed with what he saw during their workouts, McCarthy told the two to come out again when the Yankees came back to Detroit in September. 

But it wasn’t to be a Yankees’ contract that Faudem would sign in October 1940. And despite offers from the St Louis Browns and Cleveland Indians, he chose to accept an offer from former major leaguer and Detroit Tigers’ scout Aloysius “Wish” Egan to sign with his hometown Tigers.

Faudem was assigned to the Muskegon Reds of the Class C Michigan State League for 1941. The league folded early in the season and the young outfielder found himself with the Fulton Tigers in the Class D Kitty League. Despite being one of the shortest players in the league, he hit .321 with 68 RBIs and 81 runs scored in 118 games. Faudem was a favorite with the Fulton fans, displaying some dazzling defensive work in centerfield. “Frank Faudem was the outstanding star in Saturday night’s victory over Mayfield,” announced the Fulton Sentinel on July 26, 1941, “with two catches which fans hardly believed possible, and also came through with a two run single when the tallies were badly needed.”

Frank Faudem (right) and Sheldon Harris during their workout with the Yankees in 1940.	Frank Faudem (right) with his father.

Faudem remained with Fulton in 1942, but the summer months of that year were very difficult for the youngster. His father was terminally ill back home in Detroit. “He has played just as hard and just as brilliantly,” noted the Fulton News, “but there has been lacking that sense of joy that he radiated last year. Last year he was always playing with his mates; always ready and eager for a jest; this year he has been strangely reserved and a little distant in his manner. I did not know the trouble for some time; then I learned of his father’s hopeless illness and knew this was the cause.”

Frank’s father passed away during the final days of the 1942 season before the youngster was able to get back home.

On September 4, 1942, moved up the organized baseball ladder and was assigned to the Winston-Salem Twins of the Class B Piedmont League. Alongside teammates that included Vic Wertz, Ted Gray and Joe Moceri, Faudem played 68 games and batted .260 with 18 RBIs.

On October 24, 1942, his contract was assigned to the Beaumont Exporters of the Class A1 Texas League. But he was unable to report to the team as military service beckoned on January 11, 1943.

Faudem was inducted in the Army at Fort Custer, Michigan, and while stationed at Fort Benning, Georgia, he married Lydia Kepes on December 23, 1943.

In March 1944, Faudem left Camp Stoneham, California with the 305^th Infantry Regiment, 77^th Infantry Division, bound for Hawaii, where they trained in amphibious landings and jungle warfare. While there, he played baseball for the Army team near Honolulu against future baseball hall of famers Joe DiMaggio, Johnny Mize and Pee Wee Reese, as well as against Walt Masterson, Al Brancato, Jerry Priddy, George Dickey, Hugh Casey, and Bob Harris, among others. 

Since September 1944, Faudem had been best of friends with Benno Levi, a fellow Detroiter and a private in Company A. Both boys were of the Jewish faith and enjoyed Jewish holidays together. Once they went in to combat that had less opportunities to meet up, but Levi recalled one occasion when Faudem eagerly told him the good news about the birth of his daughter, Sherry Beth.

A few days later Levi suffered a serious leg injury. He was recuperating when he heard that Faudem had been killed. “I hobbled up to the hill, where the dead were kept until they could be buried,” he told the Detroit Jewish News on September 26, 2003. Levi wanted to say goodbye to his friend. “But I didn’t want to uncover his face in death,” he said. “I wanted to remember him the way he was.”

News of his death was reported in the Detroit Free Press and The Sporting News. “He was a hustling outfielder,” Wish Egan told the Detroit Free Press on February 14, 1945, “and wanted to play baseball as few boys did. You never saw a boy who wanted to get into the majors as much as Frankie.”

Frank Faudem was survived by his wife, Lydia, and their nine-week old daughter, Sherry Beth, whom he had never seen.

Very special thanks to David Otis for supplying much of the information and photos contained in this biography. Thanks also to Davis O Barker and the Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles for help with this biography.

Added September 19, 2006. Updated June 20, 2008.

Copyright © 2008 Gary Bedingfield (Baseball in Wartime). All Rights Reserved.