Benedict Joseph Zientara (February 14, 1918 – April 16, 1985) was a

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

infielder. He played all or part of four seasons in

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), ...

(1941, 1946–48), playing mainly as a second baseman for the Cincinnati Reds. Listed at , 165 lb., he batted and threw right-handed. A native of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, Zientara was one of many major leaguers who saw his baseball career interrupted by a military stint during World War II. In parts of four seasons, he was a .254 hitter (230-for-906) with two

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s and 49 RBI in 278 games, including 106 runs, 29 doubles, five triples, and five stolen bases. Zientara died in 1985 in Lake Elsinore, California, at the age of 67. He was buried at the

Riverside National Cemetery Riverside National Cemetery (RNC) is a cemetery located in Riverside, California, dedicated to the interment of United States military personnel. The cemetery covers , making it the largest cemetery managed by the National Cemetery Administratio ...

Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States, in the Inland Empire metropolitan area. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. It is the most populous city in the Inland Empire an ...

References

Retrosheet

Baseball in Wartime

External links

*
Olean, New York Encyclopedia

"Benny" Zientara-stats and picture
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zientara, Benny 1918 births 1985 deaths American military personnel of World War II Baseball players from Riverside County, California Bassett Furnituremakers players Burials at Riverside National Cemetery Chicago Cubs scouts Cincinnati Reds players Cleveland Indians scouts Dothan Browns players Indianapolis Indians players Major League Baseball second basemen Mattoon Phillies players Moultrie/Brunswick Phillies players Olean Oilers managers Syracuse Chiefs players Baseball players from Chicago