Leonard Joseph Okrie (July 16, 1923 – April 12, 2018) was an American

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the ca ...

and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

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), ...

. Born in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

, Okrie stood 6'2" (188 cm) tall, weighed 185 pounds (84 kg), and 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 ...

Career as player and MLB coach

Okrie's playing career stretched from 1942 through 1957, with three seasons (1943–45) missed due to World War II service 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 ...

. Drafted by the Washington Senators out of the Chicago Cubs farm system in November 1947, Okrie would spend only one full season (

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 crashes in a snowstorm. All 19 ...

) in the Major Leagues as Washington's third-string catcher (behind

Al Evans Alfred Hubert Evans (September 28, 1916 – April 6, 1979) was an American Major League Baseball catcher and a Minor League manager. Listed at tall and , Evans batted and threw right-handed. He was born in Kenly, North Carolina. Basically a co ...

and Mickey Grasso). He spent parts of the 1948 and

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

campaigns with Washington, and appeared in one game for the

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

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 eigh ...

. Overall, Okrie appeared in 42 games, with 78 at bats, 17 hits, no home runs, three

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 ba ...

, and a .218

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

. He managed in the Boston farm system from 1954 to 1960 and in 1963, and was the Red Sox' Major League bullpen coach in 1961–62 and 1965–66. He then joined his hometown Detroit Tigers as a minor league manager (1967–69, 1971–74) and MLB bullpen coach (1970). His career record as a minor league manager was 912 wins, and 1,013 defeats (.474). Okrie won one league pennant, in the Appalachian League during his maiden season as a skipper. His father,

Frank Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Curr ...

, a 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 ...

, appeared in 21 games for the 1920 Tigers and two brothers played minor league baseball. Okrie died in April 2018 at the age of 94.Joseph Okrie Obituary
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References

*Johnson, Lloyd and Wolff, Miles, ed., ''The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball'', 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007. *Spink, C.C. Johnson, ed., ''The 1965 Baseball Register, The 1966 Baseball Register, The 1970 Baseball Register.'' St. Louis:

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 ...

External links

Nowlin, Bill, "Len Okrie."

Society for American Baseball Research The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) is a membership organization dedicated to fostering the research and dissemination of the history and record of baseball primarily through the use of statistics. Established in Cooperstown, New ...

Biography Project :
{{DEFAULTSORT:Okrie, Len 1923 births 2018 deaths Albany Senators players American people of Polish descent Baseball players from Detroit Bluefield Blue-Grays players Boston Red Sox coaches Boston Red Sox players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Charlotte Hornets (baseball) players Des Moines Bruins players Detroit Tigers coaches Fayetteville Cubs players Greensboro Patriots players Lakeland Flying Tigers managers Lockport Cubs players Lockport White Sox players Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Major League Baseball bullpen coaches Major League Baseball catchers San Diego Padres (minor league) players Shelby Cubs players Statesville Cubs players Superior Blues players Syracuse Chiefs players United States Navy personnel of World War II Washington Senators (1901–1960) players

Career as player and MLB coach

See also

References

External links