Jake Jacobs
Lamar Gary "Jake" Jacobs was a professional baseball outfielder. He played parts of two seasons in Major League Baseball, and, Washington Senators and Minnesota Twins. Listed at, 175 lb., he batted and threw right-handed.
A native of Youngstown, Ohio, Jacobs attended Boardman High School and graduated from Ohio University. He was signed as a bonus baby non-drafted free agent by the Washington Senators in 1959, being immediately allocated to Class-D Sanford Greyhounds. In his professional debut, Jacobs led his team with a.313 batting average and a 448 slugging percentage, gaining a promotion to the Class-A Charlotte Hornets the next year.
Jacobs spent most of 1960 with Charlotte before joining the Senators in late September, appearing in two games as a pinch hitter and four as a pinch runner. He ascended to Triple-A in 1961, and split the season between the Syracuse Chiefs and Indianapolis Indians before returning to the majors in September for four games with the Minnesota Twins. He played two more years in the minors, for the Vancouver Mounties in 1962 and Charlotte again in 1963.
In his brief majors career, Jacobs was a.200 hitter and scored two runs in 10 games. In five minor league seasons, he posted a.277 average in 545 games.
Following his baseball career, Jacobs spent the next 25 years as an insurance salesman for Ohio National Life and attained numerous awards such as a recurrent member of the Million Dollar Round Table. While playing at Indianapolis, he met Janice Oliver, a former Miss Indiana. They were married in 1962 and had four children and eight grandchildren. He was also heavily involved with the YMCA in his native Youngstown, and was a big supporter and trainer for Sports World Ministries.
Jacobs died in Palmetto, Florida where he lived, at the age of 73 from dementia.
