George Buickel was born on
August 27, 1921 in Boonville, Indiana. He attended Boonville High
School, where he was a four-sport athlete in baseball, football,
basketball, and track and earned 11 letters. He
played for the Mayfield Browns and the Owensboro Oilers in the Kitty
League in 1940 before entering the Army Air Corps, servicing combat
aircraft during World War II. While pitching for the Air Corps
baseball team, he struck out Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox. When
Buickel returned home, he was signed by Harry Jenkins with the
Boston Braves organization. He was signed to the Indianapolis club,
but they optioned him to the Braves' Class D farm club in Owensboro
for the 1946 season. There he led the Kitty League in earned-run
average (2.58) and won 18 games for the pennant-winning Oilers under
manager Earl Browne. He
went on to play for Fort Lauderdale and Hartford in the Braves farm
system. While pitching for Fort Lauderdale, he beat the Cuban
National team in exhibition games in Fort Lauderdale and Havana,
Cuba. His professional baseball career ended in 1951.
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