Grand Ledge High School 1941-1945

Obituary: Age 87, passed away April 1, 2014 in Lansing, MI.  He was born February 4, 1927 in Mount Pleasant, MI to the late Bayard and Esther (Alderman) Struble and was raised in Grand Ledge by the late Herbert and Lila Carrow.  He graduated from Grand Ledge H.S. in 1945. A gifted athlete, he starred and lettered in four sports, earning a total of 13 varsity letters, which is still a record that stands today. He also was selected as a member of the Eastern U.S. High School All-American baseball team in 1945 and was All-State as well in football and basketball, which only a few athletes have ever accomplished in Michigan high school sports history. Later he was inducted into the Grand Ledge Sports Hall of Fame and the Greater Lansing Sports Hall of Fame. Rex also played baseball and basketball at Michigan State, played on the European Baseball Championship winning team while in the military beating the Mediterranean Champions in Leg Horn, Italy, and went on to play professionally as a third baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies and Cleveland Indians for a total of seven seasons. He was a non-rostered player on the 1948 Cleveland Indians World Series team. 

Rex served in the U.S. Army during WWII in the 1st Infantry Division (Big Red One) and as an MP, personally guarding infamous Nazi war criminals, Hermann Goering (Commander of the German Air Force) and Ernst Kaltenbruner (Commander of the German Gestapo) during the historic Nuremburg Trials in 1945-46.  Rex graduated from Michigan State University, where he co-founded the College of Human Medicine, the Gross Anatomy Dissection Lab and the Willed Body Donor Program, retiring from MSU's Departments of Anatomy and Surgery as Professor Emeritus. He was also selected in numerous years by his students as the Outstanding Teaching Professor in the MSU School of Human Medicine. He also attended the College of Charleston (South Carolina) and UCLA for post-graduate studies.  He authored several medical books, groundbreaking research articles, and book chapters during his career. He was an avid MSU and Grand Ledge sports supporter/booster and enjoyed hunting and fishing.

Pro baseball career: 3rd baseman Rex Carrow played in the minor leagues from 1947 to 1951. He began his career in the Philadelphia Phillies system, hitting .339 with 38 hits in 33 games for the Appleton Papermakers in 1947. In 1948, he hit .274 with career highs in home runs (8), doubles (39), hits (128) and total bases (195) for Appleton. Joining the Cleveland Indians system in 1949, he batted in the .250s with the Harrisburg Senators in 1949 and 1950. In 1951, his final season, he hit .279 in 108 games between the Cedar Rapids Indians and Harrisburg. Overall, he hit .270 with 524 hits in 534 games over five seasons. He later became a college professor who authored numerous books, book chapters and papers.

Professional Baseball: Philadelphia Phillies, Cleveland Indians – 1947-1951, Appleton Papermakers (1947-1948) [PHI], Harrisburg Senators (1949-1951) [CLE], Cedar Rapids Indians (1951) [CLE]

CAREER: 534 Games Played, 524 Hits, 84 RBIs, 16 Home Runs, .270 Batting Average

Link: Greater Lansing Sports Hall of Fame Page