Francis Joseph "Bots" Nekola (December 10, 1906 – March 11, 1987) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

professional baseball player and

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement **Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom **Scouts BSA, sectio ...

. The native of New York City was a left-handed pitcher who appeared in 11

games A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (such ...

in Major League Baseball for the New York Yankees () and

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

(). He stood tall and weighed . Nekola attended

Evander Childs High School Evander is a masculine given name. It is an anglicization of the Greek name Εὔανδρος (lit. "good man", Latinized ''Evandrus''). It has also been adopted as an anglicization of the Gaelic name Iomhar (the Gaelic variant of the name Ivor ...

and the

College of the Holy Cross The College of the Holy Cross is a private, Jesuit liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts, about 40 miles (64 km) west of Boston. Founded in 1843, Holy Cross is the oldest Catholic college in New England and one of the oldest ...

. He went from the Holy Cross campus to the Majors, appearing with the Yankees in nine games during their 1929 season, all in relief. In his big league debut July 19, he pitched 2⅔ scoreless, one-hit

innings An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). Innings, in cricket, and rounders, is bot ...

against the Cleveland Indians. Nekola made his first

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

appearance the following season, and his career would continue in the minors through 1938, interrupted only by a two-game trial with the 1933 Tigers. Over eleven major league games, Nekola had a 0–0

record A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, ...

with a 5.85 earned run average. In 20 total innings pitched, he surrendered 25 hits and 16

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...

. He struck out two. Following his playing career, he was the Boston Red Sox' longtime amateur scout in the

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and New Jersey regions. In that capacity, in 1959, Nekola scouted and signed future

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...

outfielder

Carl Yastrzemski Carl Michael Yastrzemski ( ; nicknamed "Yaz"; born August 22, 1939) is an American former Major League Baseball player. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1989. Yastrzemski played his entire 23-year Major League career with the Bost ...

.The Baseball Library
He also would sign future All-Star shortstop

Rico Petrocelli Americo Peter "Rico" Petrocelli (born June 27, 1943) is an American former baseball shortstop and third baseman who played his entire Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the Boston Red Sox. Listed at and , he both threw and batted right-hand ...

as well as

Chuck Schilling Charles Thomas Schilling (October 25, 1937 – March 30, 2021) was an American professional baseball player who appeared in Major League Baseball as a second baseman for the Boston Red Sox from 1961 to 1965. A 1955 graduate of St. Mary's High Sc ...

, a promising second baseman whose career was derailed by injury. He died in

Rockville Centre, New York Rockville Centre, commonly abbreviated as RVC, is an incorporated village located in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, on the South Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 24,023 at the 2010 census. Histo ...

References

External links

1906 births 1987 deaths Boston Red Sox scouts Detroit Tigers players Holy Cross Crusaders baseball players Jersey City Skeeters players Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Major League Baseball pitchers New York Yankees players Newark Bears (International League) players St. Paul Saints (AA) players Baseball players from New York City Toledo Mud Hens players Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players Wilkes-Barre Barons players Burials at Gate of Heaven Cemetery (Hawthorne, New York) {{US-baseball-pitcher-1900s-stub