Frank John Ernaga (August 22, 1930 – April 30, 2018) 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 ...

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. An

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

, he played in 29

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during portions of the and seasons for the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

. The native of

Susanville, California Susanville (formerly known as Rooptown) is a town in and the county seat of Lassen County, California, United States. Susanville is located on the Susan River in the southern part of the county, at an elevation of . Its population is 16,728 a ...

, had a seven-season (1953–1959) pro career. Ernaga threw and batted right-handed, stood tall and weighed . He attended

Lassen Community College Lassen Community College is a Public college, public community college in Susanville, California. It is a part of the California Community Colleges System. The college is located in Susanville in the high mountain lake country of northeastern Ca ...

and the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

. In his MLB debut for the Cubs on May 24, 1957, Ernaga hit a

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against

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Warren Spahn Warren Edward Spahn (April 23, 1921 – November 24, 2003) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). A left-handed pitcher, Spahn played in 1942 and then from 1946 until 1965, most notabl ...

in his first Major League at-bat. Then, in his second

plate appearance In baseball statistics, a player is credited with a plate appearance (denoted by PA) each time he completes a turn batting. Under Rule 5.04(c) of the Official Baseball Rules, a player completes a turn batting when he is put out or becomes a runner ...

, he tripled off Spahn, as the Cubs won, 5–1, at

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a Major League Baseball (MLB) stadium on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charles Weeghman's Chicago Wh ...

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br>box score: 1957-05-24
/ref> In his first 11 at bats with the Cubs, through May 28, Ernaga had six

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( .545). However, he leveled off, and by June 11, his average had dropped to .320. He returned to the

minor leagues 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 ...

until after September 1. But he collected only four more hits in 18 at bats during the remainder of his career with the Cubs, from late-season 1957 through the early weeks of 1958. All told, as a major leaguer, Ernaga collected 12 hits (with three doubles, two triples and two homers) and seven

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

. He batted .279.

Sources

External links

, o
Baseball Almanac
1930 births 2018 deaths Baseball players from California Burlington Bees players Charlotte Hornets (baseball) players Chicago Cubs players Fort Worth Cats players Major League Baseball outfielders People from Susanville, California Portland Beavers players San Antonio Missions players Stockton Ports players Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players UCLA Bruins baseball players
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