Kenneth Wayne Trinkle (December 15, 1919 – May 10, 1976) 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 leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

player, a

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as inclement weat ...

, 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), ...

. He played with the New York Giants from 1943–48, and the Philadelphia Phillies in 1949. As a relief specialist in Major League Baseball, he led the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

in appearances in 1946 and 1947. He threw and batted right-handed during his baseball career.

Career

Baseball

Ken Trinkle signed a professional contract to play with the Thomasville Dodgers Minor League Baseball team in 1939 after playing baseball as a pitcher in high-school. As a Minor League Baseball player, Trinkle played baseball in the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

organization of the International League from 1940 to 1942, and was 15–11 during his last year with the Orioles before being purchased by the New York Giants. Trinkle made his major league debut with the New York Giants on April 25, 1943, at age 23. He made 11 appearances with the Giants. Despite a respectable 3.74

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA), he went 1–5 when he got farmed out to Jersey City, New Jersey.

Military service

On September 18, 1943, Trinkle entered military service with the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

during World War II. In 1944, he was stationed at

Fort Riley, Kansas Fort Riley is a United States Army installation located in North Central Kansas, on the Kansas River, also known as the Kaw, between Junction City and Manhattan. The Fort Riley Military Reservation covers 101,733 acres (41,170 ha) in Gea ...

, where he played with the Fort Riley baseball team. He played alongside

Pete Reiser Harold Patrick Reiser (March 17, 1919 – October 25, 1981), nicknamed "Pistol Pete", was an American professional baseball outfielder and coach, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB), during the 1940s and early 1950s. While known primarily f ...

Harry Walker Harry William Walker (October 22, 1918 – August 8, 1999) was an American professional baseball player, coach and manager. Known by the nickname "Harry the Hat", he played as a center fielder in Major League Baseball between 1940 and 1955, ...

Joe Gantenbein Joseph Steven Gantenbein (August 25, 1915 – April 20, 1993) was an American Major League Baseball infielder in Major League Baseball who played from 1939 to 1940 for the Philadelphia Athletics. Listed at 5' 9", 168 lb., Gantenbein batted and ...

Al Brazle Alpha Eugene Brazle (October 19, 1913 – October 24, 1973) was a Major League Baseball pitcher. The left-hander was signed by the Boston Red Sox as an amateur free agent in 1936, and later traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for pitcher Mike Ryba ...

Murry Dickson Murry Monroe Dickson (August 21, 1916 – September 21, 1989) was an American professional baseball right-handed pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) during the 1940s and 1950s. He was known for his vast array of pitches and del ...

and

Joe Garagiola Joseph Henry Garagiola Sr. (February 12, 1926 – March 23, 2016) was an American professional baseball catcher, later an announcer and television host, popular for his colorful personality. Garagiola played nine seasons in Major League Basebal ...

. Trinkle, Dickson and Gantenbein were later shipped to France. They eventually had been separated upon arrival. Trinkle went to the replacement center and served for the 9th Armored Division military unit. He fought during the

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted from 16 December 1944 to 28 January 1945, towards the end of the war in ...

and was awarded a

Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

for his service. "I was a scout in a reconnaissance outfit", he told ''

The Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

'' on June 4, 1947. "We would go out in front of the infantry to report if anything was there. If you didn’t come back, they knew there was something out there." After the German surrender in May 1945, Trinkle teamed up with

Ralph Houk Ralph George Houk (; August 9, 1919 – July 21, 2010), nicknamed The Major, was an American catcher, coach, manager, and front office executive in Major League Baseball. He is best known as the successor of Casey Stengel as manager of the New Y ...

for the 9th Armored Division baseball team. They made it to the play-offs of the 1945 ETO

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

. Another teammate was a Minor League Baseball player, Ed Musial, who was Stan's younger brother. After the cease of hostilities in Europe, Trinkle played for the 71st

Infantry Division A division is a large military unit or formation, usually consisting of between 6,000 and 25,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades; in turn, several divisions typically make up a corps. Histo ...

Red Circlers baseball team. The team featured players such as

Ewell Blackwell Ewell Blackwell (October 23, 1922 – October 29, 1996) was an American right-handed starting pitcher in Major League Baseball. Nicknamed "The Whip" for his sidearm, snap-delivery, Blackwell played for the Cincinnati Reds for most of his career ...

, Ancil Moore,

Johnny Wyrostek John Barney Wyrostek (July 12, 1919 – December 12, 1986) was an American professional baseball player. He played all or part of eleven seasons in the Major League Baseball between 1942 and 1954 primarily as an outfielder, most often in right or ...

Garland Lawing Garland Frederick Lawing (August 29, 1918 – September 27, 1996) was an American professional baseball player. He appeared in Major League Baseball as an outfielder and pinch hitter in ten games during the season for the Cincinnati Reds and Ne ...

, Russ Kern, Milt Ticco, Herb Bremer and Bill Ayers. The team eventually lost the World Series.

Post-military service

By November 1945, Trinkle was back playing with the New York Giants. He made a league-leading 48 appearances for the Giants in 1946, and in 1947, he again led the National League in appearances with 62, finishing 38 of those games. On June 11, 1947, future

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 ...

Mel Ott Melvin Thomas Ott (March 2, 1909 – November 21, 1958), nicknamed "Master Melvin", was an American professional baseball right fielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Giants, from through . He batted left-handed an ...

made his last appearance as a player when he

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

for Trinkle in the New York Giants' 8–7 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates when he popped the ball to

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 wh ...

. He made a further 53 appearances in 1948, but Trinkle was purchased by the Philadelphia Phillies on December 14. In 1949, his only season with Philadelphia and his last in Major League Baseball, Trinkle pitched in 42 games and recorded his highest major league

(ERA) at 4.00. Trinkle pitched for the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

of the International League in 1950, and was back with Baltimore for the 1951 and 1952 baseball seasons. Trinkle died on May 10, 1976, in his hometown of Paoli, Indiana at age 56.

References

External links

Ken Trinkle
at Baseball-Almanac
Ken Trinkle
at Sportspool.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Trinkle, Ken 1919 births 1976 deaths Baseball players from Indiana Major League Baseball pitchers Philadelphia Phillies players New York Giants (NL) players People from Paoli, Indiana United States Army personnel of World War II