Buck remembered for contribution to baseball

Buck remembered for contribution to baseball
James "Fred" Buck, an engineer who made sure Major League Baseball players could see well at night games, has died. He was 72.
Buck, a resident of Seven Hills, a suburb of Cleveland, died Wednesday at the Hospice of the Western Reserve. He had cancer of the pancreas.
Buck's job with General Electric was to make sure baseball players would not lose the flight of ball in the stadium lights.
He began evaluating and recommending the proper lighting in major league parks in 1962 at the request of the American League.
Ralph Kaiser, a retired GE lighting engineer, said Buck examined lighting in major league parks every spring.
"He would check for the brightness, and the lighting fixtures would have to be aimed in certain ways to minimize glare for the ball players," Kaiser said.
Buck began working with GE in 1954. He retired in 1987 but continued his lighting work with the major leagues.
He trained several retired players to take light readings at minor league parks.