Duane Frederick "Duke" Maas (January 31, 1929 – December 7, 1976) was an American

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 baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

baseball player Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

and right-handed

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 spent all or parts of seven seasons (1955–1961) 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), ...

with the

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 ...

Kansas City Athletics The history of the Athletics Major League Baseball franchise spans the period from 1901 to the present day, having begun as a charter member franchise in the new American League in Philadelphia before moving to Kansas City in 1955 for 13 seas ...

and

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

. Born in

Utica, Michigan Utica is a city in Macomb County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 4,757 at the 2010 census. History The city now known as Utica was platted by Joseph Stead in 1817, who preferred to call it "Harlow." Others referred to the cit ...

, he was listed as tall and . Maas was a member of the 1958 World Series champion Yankees. He saw action in one game, relieving

Bob Turley Robert Lee Turley (September 19, 1930 – March 30, 2013), known as Bullet Bob, was an American professional baseball player and financial planner. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a pitcher from 1951 through 1963. After his retir ...

during the first inning of Game 2 when the

Milwaukee Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bost ...

scored seven runs. After making his big-league debut in 1955 with Detroit and then struggling through an 0–7 campaign in 1956, Maas put together a 10-win season in 1957. In a midseason transaction the following June, he and fellow pitcher

Virgil Trucks Virgil Oliver "Fire" Trucks (April 26, 1917 – March 23, 2013) was an American Major League Baseball pitcher with the Detroit Tigers, St. Louis Browns, Chicago White Sox, Kansas City Athletics and New York Yankees between 1941 and 1958. He batted ...

were traded to the Yankees for outfielder Harry "Suitcase" Simpson and pitcher Bob Grim. Maas got seven wins for New York in the second half of that pennant-winning season, then went 14–8 for them in 1959. He also pitched two innings of relief for the Yankees in the

1960 World Series The 1960 World Series was played between the 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates season, Pittsburgh Pirates of the National League (NL) and the 1960 New York Yankees season, New York Yankees of the American League (AL) from October 5–13, 1960. In Game 7, ...

against the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

. He was chosen by the Los Angeles Angels in the American League expansion draft prior to the 1961 season, but never played for them in a regular season game before being traded back to the Yankees, with whom he concluded his career. For his career, he compiled a 45–44 record with a 4.19

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

and 356

strikeouts In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

in 195 appearances. Maas died in

Mount Clemens, Michigan Mount Clemens is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 16,314 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. It is the county seat, seat of government of Macomb County, Michigan, Macomb County. History Mount Clemens was first s ...

, at the age of 47 from complications due to arthritis.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maas, Duke 1929 births 1976 deaths Baseball players from Michigan Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Charleston Senators players Deaths from arthritis Detroit Tigers players Durham Bulls players Jamestown Falcons players Kansas City Athletics players Major League Baseball pitchers New York Yankees players People from Utica, Michigan Richmond Virginians (minor league) players Roanoke Rapids Jays players Sportspeople from Metro Detroit