3.74 earned run average in 26 games, 22 of them starts. He played for the Braves when the team moved to Milwaukee before the 1953 season; however, he suffered from bone spurs in his pitching arm. During the 1953 season, Bickford had a 2–5 win–loss record with a 5.28 earned run average. In 1954, Bickford was sold to the Baltimore Orioles for an undisclosed amount of cash and catcher Charlie White. The New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox were both interested in Bickford's services, but general manager John Quinn decided to go with Baltimore's offer. He only played one game, a start against the Chicago White Sox on April 24. He gave up five runs, four of them earned, in four innings before being credited with the 14–4 loss. A pinched nerve in his throwing arm and eventual elbow surgery shortened his career. In 1955, he unsuccessfully tried a brief comeback with the Triple-A Richmond Virginians in the International League. He pitched in nine games before retiring due to complications of his arm injuries. Personal life and death Following his playing career, Bickford worked an assortment of jobs, as an automobile dealer, a traveling salesman and a carpenter. He spent the last few months of his life hospitalized from cancer, dropping 65 pounds, and telling the media a few days before his death about beating the cancer in order to coach professional baseball. He died of cancer in Maguire Veterans Hospital in Richmond, Virginia, at the age of 39. He left behind a wife and three sons at the time of his death. He is buried at Mount Zion Baptist Church Cemetery in New Canton, Virginia. See also List of Major League Baseball no-hitters References External links Baseball Library National League All-Stars Baltimore Orioles players Boston Braves players Deaths from cancer in Virginia Deaths from stomach cancer Milwaukee Braves players Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from Kentucky People from Pike County, Kentucky People from McDowell County, West Virginia 1920 births 1960 deaths American military personnel of World War II