Little League® International mourns the passing of Thomas “Tuck” Frazier, who was a player on the Lycoming Dairy team during the first Little League season in 1939, and a long-time benevolent supporter of the Little League program. He was 88.
A native of Williamsport, Pa., Mr. Frazier played in the first Little League game on June 6, 1939. Mr. Frazier remained a loyal friend of the program through the decades, serving as a member of a committee that selects honorees in the annual Carl E. Stotz Little League Scholarship Program. In 2014, he and several of the players from the first three teams gathered in Williamsport to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the founding of Little League.
“Tuck was a kind and giving man, who loved Little League, and all it stands for,” said Stephen D. Keener, Little League International President and CEO. “Like the other boys who played on the first three Little League teams, Tuck was a pioneer, and he was proud of his heritage. Throughout his life, he championed the mission and ideals of Little League, supported its initiatives, and in a variety of ways, gave of himself for the betterment of all Little Leaguers. He will be missed.”
In the World of Little League: Peter J. McGovern Museum & Official Store on the Little League International complex, an exhibit features Mr. Frazier’s photo and an audio clip from him. In the museum’s exhibit, Mr. Frazier speaks about what it was like before Little League came along, and after the first games were played:
“I played shortstop for Carl Stotz the first two years of Little League. We played baseball, before Carl, (in) pick-up games because that’s about all the only thing you could do when you were a kid in the summertime. I was lucky, just being in the right spot at the right time. That was really some opportunity. We all had a good time, we all knew one another, it was competitive, and we loved to play baseball.”
Mr. Frazier is survived by his wife, Marilyn, a daughter, and two sons.