Hamtramck’s ghost: the rise and fall of a baseball prodigy
Detroit – Deep in a forgotten cedar chest, a legend lay dormant. Art “Pinky” Deras, once a meteor streaking across the Little League firmament, had become a ghost in his own life. The boy from Hamtramck, Michigan, was a prodigy, a titan before his time. His numbers were otherworldly: 108 innings pitched, 298 strikeouts, an 18-0 record. He was a legend, a name whispered in reverent tones. Yet the man who emerged from the shadows was a quiet enigma, a police officer who seemed content to let his past fade into obscurity. Deras was a phenomenon. Observers flocked to see…
