Joseph John Zapustas (July 25, 1907 – January 14, 2001) was a

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 ...

player. He appeared in two 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), ...

as 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 ...

for the

Philadelphia Athletics 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 Oaklan ...

during the

1933 Philadelphia Athletics season The 1933 Philadelphia Athletics season involved the A's finishing third in the American League with a record of 79 wins and 72 losses. Jimmie Foxx became the first player to win two American League MVP Awards. Regular season * August 14, 1933: ...

. He had one hit in five

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

s. He also played for the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

of the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

in 1933. After retiring from football and baseball in 1939, Zapustas taught science and mathematics at high school, along with coaching the Quincy Manets semi-professional football team. Zapustas also became a boxing referee, officiating in bouts featuring

Rocky Marciano Rocco Francis Marchegiano (September 1, 1923 – August 31, 1969; ), better known as Rocky Marciano (, ), was an American professional boxer who competed from 1947 to 1955, and held the world heavyweight title from 1952 to 1956. He is the only ...

Joe Louis Joseph Louis Barrow (May 13, 1914 – April 12, 1981) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1934 to 1951. Nicknamed the Brown Bomber, Louis is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential boxers of all time. He rei ...

and

Sugar Ray Robinson Walker Smith Jr. (May 3, 1921 – April 12, 1989), better known as Sugar Ray Robinson, was an American professional boxer who competed from 1940 to 1965. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990. He is often regarded ...

. Zapustas was the Director of Recreation for

Randolph, Massachusetts "To Say What One Feels" , pushpin_map = , pushpin_label_position = right , pushpin_label = , pushpin_map_caption = Location in Massachusetts , coordinates = , s ...

between 1951 and 1991, and was honoured in 1998 by the local

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

rink being renamed the Joseph J. Zapustas Arena.

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1907 births 2001 deaths Sportspeople from Liepāja People from Courland Governorate Baseball players from Boston Beckley Black Knights players Boston Shamrocks (AFL) players Fordham Rams baseball players Fordham Rams football players Latvian emigrants to the United States Latvian people of Lithuanian descent Latvian players of American football Major League Baseball players from Latvia Major League Baseball outfielders New York Giants players Philadelphia Athletics players Players of American football from Boston Toledo Mud Hens players Williamsport Grays players Zanesville Greys players {{US-baseball-outfielder-1900s-stub