Kemp Caswell Wicker (born Kemp Caswell Whicker; August 13, 1906 – June 11, 1973) was an American left-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 ...

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), ...

who played for the

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 ...

from 1936 to 1938 and the

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association (19th century), American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the ...

in 1941. Wicker was born in

Kernersville, North Carolina Kernersville is a town in Forsyth County and the largest suburb of Winston-Salem. The town is located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. A small portion of the town is also in Guilford County. The population was 26,481 at the 2020 census, u ...

to Jasper Newton and Alice Crews Wicker. He played collegiately at

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The universit ...

. He is most known for pitching one inning in the

1937 World Series The 1937 World Series featured the defending champion New York Yankees and the New York Giants in a rematch of the 1936 Series. The Yankees won in five games, for their second championship in a row and their sixth in 15 years (1923, 1927–28, ...

for the Yankees. After retirement Wicker managed in the minor leagues. He died in Kernersville of

amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most comm ...

at age 66, the same disease that claimed his teammate

Lou Gehrig Henry Louis Gehrig (born Heinrich Ludwig Gehrig ; June 19, 1903June 2, 1941) was an American professional baseball first baseman who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees (1923–1939). Gehrig was renowned f ...

and

Catfish Hunter James Augustus Hunter (April 8, 1946 – September 9, 1999), nicknamed "Catfish", was a professional baseball player in Major League Baseball (MLB). From to , he was a pitcher for the Kansas City/Oakland Athletics and New York Yankees. Hunter wa ...

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1906 births 1973 deaths Baseball players from North Carolina Beckley Black Knights players Binghamton Triplets players Brooklyn Dodgers players Carrollton Frogs players Charleroi Governors players Columbus Cardinals players Cumberland Colts players Goldsboro Goldbugs players Hanover Raiders players Houston Buffaloes managers Jeannette Jays players Kansas City Blues (baseball) players Major League Baseball pitchers Montreal Royals players NC State Wolfpack baseball players New York Yankees players Newark Bears (IL) players People from Kernersville, North Carolina Rochester Red Wings players Sacramento Solons players St. Louis Cardinals scouts Wheeling Stogies players {{US-baseball-pitcher-1900s-stub