Fabian Lorenz Kowalik (April 22, 1908 – August 14, 1954), was a professional baseball

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 ...

. He played in the

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), ...

from 1932 to 1936 for the Chicago Cubs,

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 ...

, Philadelphia Phillies, and

Boston Bees The Atlanta Braves, a current Major League Baseball franchise, originated in Boston, Massachusetts. This article details the history of the Boston Braves, from 1871 to 1952, after which they moved to Milwaukee, and then to Atlanta. During ...

. Kowalik pitched for the Cubs in the

1935 World Series The 1935 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1935 season. The 32nd edition of the World Series, it matched the Detroit Tigers and the Chicago Cubs. The Tigers won in six games for their first championship i ...

, despite only playing 20 regular season games. His sole appearance came in Game 2, pitching innings and giving up one unearned run, as well as scoring a single in the 7th inning. After getting married in February 1936, Kowalik arrived at spring training for the 1936 season out of shape. After recording an 0–2 record in six games, he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies on May 21. His season did not improve — Kowalik posted an 1–5 record and an ERA of 5.38 in twenty-two games. Placed on waivers, Kowalik was picked up by the

on September 6 and played his last MLB game against his old team, the Phillies, on September 27. Replacing Hal Lee in left field, Kowalik hit an RBI single in a 4–3 loss. Kowalik played in the minors from 1937 to 1940, retiring due to persistent arm injuries and lack of form. Born in

Falls City, Texas Falls City is a city in Karnes County, Texas, United States. The population was 514 at the 2020 census. Falls City is near the location of a uranium tailings disposal cell, completed in 1994 under the terms of the 1978 Uranium Mill Tailings Radi ...

, Kowalik died in

Karnes City, Texas Karnes City is a city in and county seat of Karnes County, Texas, United States. The population was 3,111 at the 2020 census, up from 3,042 at the 2010 census. The town was named after Henry Karnes of the Texas Revolution. Karnes is sou ...

, on August 14, 1954, aged 46.

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1908 births 1954 deaths Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from Texas Chicago Cubs players Chicago White Sox players Philadelphia Phillies players Boston Bees players People from Karnes County, Texas People from Karnes City, Texas {{US-baseball-pitcher-1900s-stub