Albert Joseph Cihocki (May 7, 1924 – March 27, 2014) was a

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

who played for one season. He played for the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

from April 17, 1945, to September 22, 1945. Cihocki was born in Nanticoke, Pennsylvania, where he played sandlot ball with

Steve Bilko Stephen Thomas Bilko (November 13, 1928 – March 7, 1978) was an American professional baseball player known for his home run hitting as a minor leaguer during the 1950s. He was 20 years old when he broke into Major League Baseball on Septemb ...

, his cousin who also went on to play in the major leagues, as well as

Pete Gray Pete or Petes or ''variation'', may refer to: People * Pete (given name) * Pete (nickname) * Pete (surname) Fictional characters * Pete (Disney), a cartoon character in the ''Mickey Mouse'' universe * Pete the Pup (a.k.a. 'Petey'), a character ...

. He originally tried out for the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

organization in 1941 and

Wilkes-Barre Barons The Wilkes-Barre Barons were a basketball team from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. The Barons played between 1933 and 1980 in different American leagues. The team won 11 titles during this time, including while playing in the American Basketball ...

in 1942 but failed to make the cut for either team. Cihocki then joined the

Batavia Clippers Batavia may refer to: Historical places * Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands * Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...

as a

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

, where he had a batting average of .342 and was named to the New York–Penn League's All-Star team. After finishing the season, he joined the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...

, and served for two years at the United States Coast Guard Yard in Curtis Bay, Baltimore. Early in 1945, he received a medical discharge from the Coast Guard, and resumed his professional baseball career with the

organization. Due to a lack of players available as a result of the war, Cihocki made the major league squad and remained there throughout the season. In 92 career games, Cihocki had a .212 batting average. After one season with the Indians, he joined the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

, where he spent the next seven years. During his time with the Orioles, he played 850 total games, and was considered the team's "Iron Man". He also spent one year with the

Sabios de Vargas The Sabios de Vargas baseball club became a founding member of the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League in its inaugural season of 1946. The team represented the city of La Guaira, Vargas and played its home games at the now-extinct Estadio Cer ...

of the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League, playing in 14 games for them. The Orioles released Cihocki after the 1952 season, and he continued to play on and off until 1958, where he spent his final year in professional baseball with the

Allentown Red Sox The Allentown Red Sox (''A-Sox'') were a minor league baseball team, affiliated with the Boston Red Sox and based in Allentown, Pennsylvania, that played from 1958 through 1960 in the Eastern League. At that time, the Eastern League was officia ...

. After retiring from baseball, he coached various minor league teams and served as a corrections officer at the Dallas Correctional Institution. He died on March 27, 2014.

References

External links

*
Retrosheet
1924 births 2014 deaths Allentown Red Sox players United States Coast Guard personnel of World War II Baltimore Orioles (IL) players Batavia Clippers players Bismarck Barons players Cleveland Indians players Major League Baseball infielders People from Nanticoke, Pennsylvania Sabios de Vargas players San Antonio Missions players Wilkes-Barre Barons players Military personnel from Pennsylvania American prison officers {{US-baseball-second-baseman-stub