Was there ever a major league baseball player to come out of prison?

Answer 1

The 1974 Detroit Tigers had not one but TWO convicted felons on their roster.

Gates Brown was a convicted burglar, who was scouted while in prison. He was paroled only because the Detroit Tigers agreed to his employment, and they told him VERY clearly that he was getting only ONCE chance to turn his life around. He eventually set an AL record with 18 pinch hits in one season -- including two walk-off pinch hits in one day.

Ron LeFlore first played Baseball while in jail for armed robbery. Again, the Tigers signed a convict and helped arrange his parole. LeFlore eventually became the only player to lead both the AL and the NL in steals for a season.