Marv Throneberry is one of the greatest athletes ever to come out of West Tennessee. The Fisherville native was All-Memphis and all-state in football and baseball while playing at South Side High School. His senior year, 1951-1952, Throneberry led the state in scoring as a single-wing back, and in baseball led the Memphis Prep League in hitting and home runs. The night after his final game, Throneberry celebrated by signing a contract with the New York Yankees. “Marvelous Marv” spent the next fourteen years playing professional baseball – eight with the Yankees, one and a half each with Baltimore and Kansas City, and finishing up his career with the New York Mets. As a professional player, he came to bat 4,246 times, collecting 1,132 hits and a .267 lifetime batting average. 238 of those hits were home runs. In 1956 while playing for the Yankee AAA farm team in Denver, Throneberry hit forty-two home runs and batted .315. That home run mark was second only to Ted Williams in the history of the league. A left-handed hitter and thrower, Throneberry was mainly a first baseman, but played some outfield. His lifetime major league fielding percentage was an outstanding .994, with only nine errors. After his playing days were finished, Throneberry worked for Miller Brewing Co., making Emmy Award-winning television commercials and speaking at major functions. With his famous baseball career, Marv Throneberry brought distinction and pride to his home state of Tennessee.
