Frederick Alfred Moncewicz (September 1, 1903 – April 23, 1969) was an American professional

baseball 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 ...

player. He played three games 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), ...

for the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

in . Listed at . 175 lb., Moncewicz batted and threw

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

Biography

A native of

Brockton, Massachusetts Brockton is a city in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States; the population is 105,643 as of the 2020 United States Census. Along with Plymouth, Massachusetts, Plymouth, it is one of the two county seats of ...

, Moncewicz was the son of Polish immigrants, and was a standout student and athlete at

Brockton High School Brockton High School, established in 1870, is a high school located in Brockton, Massachusetts. It is a part of Brockton Public Schools. As of 2016 Brockton High School, with 4,029 students, is one of the largest high schools in the United States ...

and

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

. He played

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists who ...

for Boston College from 1925 to 1928, where his manager was former major leaguer Jack Slattery. While at B.C., he also played varsity

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

. From 1923 to 1927, he played summer baseball in the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...

for the Hyannis town team, leading the team to league titles as player/manager in 1926 and 1927. After his brief major league stint, Moncewicz returned to the league to play for the Hyannis/Barnstable team for several seasons through 1933, and for the Bourne team in 1934 and 1935. Moncewicz also played basketball on

Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of mainland Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer mont ...

, and in December of 1923, his team, the Mill Hill Five, played a game in Yarmouth against the Brockton OKO's before a throng of fans that included

Baseball Hall of Famer 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-re ...

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Su ...

. After graduating from Boston College in 1928, Moncewicz was signed to a contract with the Boston Red Sox, and appeared in three games for the Red Sox during their 1928 season. His major league debut came on June 19 as Boston faced the Washington Senators in the second game of a doubleheader at

Griffith Stadium Griffith Stadium stood in Washington, D.C., from 1911 to 1965, between Georgia Avenue and 5th Street (left field), and between W Street and Florida Avenue NW. The site was once home to a wooden baseball park. Built in 1891, it was called Bounda ...

. Moncewicz was inserted as a late-inning replacement for shortstop

Wally Gerber Walter Gerber (August 18, 1891 – June 19, 1951) was a professional baseball player. He played all or part of fifteen seasons in Major League Baseball, playing for the Pittsburgh Pirates (1914–15), St. Louis Browns (1917–28) and Boston Red S ...

, and was struck out by Washington hurler Firpo Marberry in his only at-bat. Red Sox

Hall of Famer A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...

Red Ruffing Charles Herbert "Red" Ruffing (May 3, 1905 – February 17, 1986) was an American professional baseball player. A pitcher, he played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1924 through 1947. He played for the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, ...

took the loss in Boston's 16-7 defeat. The following day, Moncewicz was again brought in late for Gerber, but did not come to bat. Moncewicz's third and final major league appearance came on July 2 in the opener of a doubleheader at

Shibe Park Shibe Park, known later as Connie Mack Stadium, was a ballpark located in Philadelphia. It was the home of the Philadelphia Athletics of the American League (AL) and the Philadelphia Phillies of the National League (NL). When it opened April 12, 1 ...

against

Connie Mack Cornelius McGillicuddy (December 22, 1862 – February 8, 1956), better known as Connie Mack, was an American professional baseball catcher, manager, and team owner. The longest-serving manager in Major League Baseball history, he holds untoucha ...

Philadelphia A's The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oakl ...

, a team that boasted several future Hall of Famers in the day's lineup, including

Ty Cobb Tyrus Raymond Cobb (December 18, 1886 – July 17, 1961), nicknamed "the Georgia Peach", was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) center fielder. He was born in rural Narrows, Georgia. Cobb spent 22 seasons with the Detroit Tigers, the las ...

Jimmie Foxx James Emory Foxx (October 22, 1907 – July 21, 1967), nicknamed "Double X" and "The Beast", was an American professional baseball first baseman who played 20 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Red Sox, ...

and

Lefty Grove Robert Moses "Lefty" Grove (March 6, 1900 – May 22, 1975) was an American professional baseball pitcher. After having success in the minor leagues during the early 1920s, Grove became a star in Major League Baseball with the American League's P ...

. Ruffing, though a pitcher, had been brought in to

pinch-hit In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute Batting (baseball), batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the dead ball (baseball), ball is dead (not in active play); the manager (baseball), manager may use any player who has not yet ...

for Boston's starter, Merle Settlemire. Ruffing knocked a single, and Moncewicz was brought in to pinch-run, but did not score and did not remain in the game, which Boston lost, 9-2. In the fall of 1928, Moncewicz married fellow Brockton native Margaret Chalitco. In 1929, Moncewicz played for the

Pittsfield Hillies The Pittsfield Hillies were an Eastern League (baseball, 1916-32), Eastern League (Class A) baseball team from 1919 to 1930. They were League Champions in 1919 and 1921. Their home field was at Wahconah Park, Pittsfield, Massachusetts. 1905 The P ...

of the Eastern League. He returned to his alma mater in 1931 to serve as Boston College's freshman baseball coach, and in 1932 was assistant varsity coach under Frank McCrehan. Moncewicz later graduated from

Boston College Law School Boston College Law School (BC Law) is the law school of Boston College. It is situated on a wooded campus in Newton, Massachusetts, about 1.5 miles from the university's main campus in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. With approximately 800 studen ...

. 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 opposin ...

, Moncewicz was a

lieutenant commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank i ...

in the

United States 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 ...

, and served aboard the aircraft carrier USS ''Antietam'' in the South Pacific. Following his service, Moncewicz was named to the post of state

comptroller A comptroller (pronounced either the same as ''controller'' or as ) is a management-level position responsible for supervising the quality of accounting and financial reporting of an organization. A financial comptroller is a senior-level executi ...

Massachusetts Governor The governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the chief executive officer of the government of Massachusetts. The governor is the head of the state cabinet and the commander-in-chief of the commonwealth's military forces. Massachuset ...

Maurice J. Tobin in 1946, serving continuously until 1958, when he retired for health reasons. Moncewicz died in 1969 at the age of 65 in his hometown of Brockton.

References

External links

Baseball Reference
*Freddie Moncewicz biography fro
Society for American Baseball Research (SABR)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moncewicz, Freddie 1903 births 1969 deaths Boston Red Sox players Major League Baseball shortstops Baseball players from Massachusetts Boston College Eagles baseball players Sportspeople from Brockton, Massachusetts Bourne Braves players Hyannis Harbor Hawks players Cape Cod Baseball League players (pre-modern era) Cape Cod Baseball League coaches

Biography

See also

References

External links