Wilbur "Biggs" Wehde (November 23, 1906 – September 21, 1970) was an American

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), ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

who played in and with the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

. He batted and threw right-handed.

Biography

Wehde was born November 23, 1906, and grew up on an eleven-acre dairy farm on the edge of Holstein, Iowa, where is father operated a small creamery. He was the eldest of five children born to Gus and Frieda Suiter Wehde. His half brothers, twins Ray and Roy Wehde, the youngest of four children born to Gus and Anna Christopherson Wehde, were basketball players at Holstein High School and

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the ...

. He played minor league baseball for the Sioux City Cowboys and the Dubuque Tigers of the Mississippi Valley League before joining the White Sox on September 15, 1930, at the age of 23. Wehde would go on to make twelve appearances for Chicago, all in relief, during 1930 and 1931. Biggs served as a specialist 3 in the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. He died on September 21, 1970, at the age of 63, in

Sioux Falls, South Dakota Sioux Falls () is the most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the 130th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha County and also extends into Lincoln County to the south, which continues up ...

, and is buried in Calvary Cemetery,

Sioux City Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury and Plymouth counties in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Iowa. The bulk of the city is in Woodbury County ...

, Iowa.

References

External links

1906 births 1970 deaths Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from Iowa Chicago White Sox players People from Ida County, Iowa {{US-baseball-pitcher-1900s-stub