Michael John Blyzka (December 25, 1928 – October 13, 2004) was a

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 St. Louis Browns / Baltimore Orioles (–). Listed at , 190 lb., Blyzka batted and threw right-handed. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II. In a two-season-career, Blyzka posted a 3–11 record with 58

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s and a 5.58

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

in 70 appearances, including nine

start Start can refer to multiple topics: *Takeoff, the phase of flight where an aircraft transitions from moving along the ground to flying through the air * Starting lineup in sports *Standing start, and rolling start, in an auto race Acronyms *St ...

, one save, and 180⅓ innings of work. Before the 1955 season, in the largest transaction in major league history, Baltimore sent Blyzka along

Jim Fridley James Riley Fridley (September 6, 1924 – February 28, 2003) was an American professional baseball player. During his Major League Baseball career, he was a backup outfielder, playing mostly at left field for three different teams between 1952 an ...

, Billy Hunter,

Darrell Johnson Darrell Dean Johnson (August 25, 1928 – May 3, 2004) was an American Major League Baseball catcher, coach, manager and scout. As a manager, he led the 1975 Boston Red Sox to the American League pennant, and was named "Manager of the Year" b ...

Dick Kryhoski Richard David Kryhoski (March 24, 1925 – April 10, 2007) was an American professional baseball first baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for four different franchises between 1949 and 1955. Listed at and , he batted and threw lef ...

Don Larsen Don James Larsen (August 7, 1929 – January 1, 2020) was an American professional baseball pitcher. During a 15-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, he pitched from 1953 to 1967 for seven different teams: the St. Louis Browns / Baltimore O ...

and

Bob Turley Robert Lee Turley (September 19, 1930 – March 30, 2013), known as Bullet Bob, was an American professional baseball player and financial planner. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a pitcher from 1951 through 1963. After his retir ...

to the Yankees, in exchange for Harry Byrd,

Don Leppert Donald George Leppert (born October 19, 1931) is an American former professional baseball player and coach. A catcher, he appeared in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1961 to 1964 for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Washington Senators. Leppert ...

, Jim McDonald, Bill Miller,

Willy Miranda Guillermo "Willy" Miranda Perez (May 24, 1926 — September 7, 1996) was a Cuban-born professional baseball player who played shortstop in the Major Leagues from 1951–1959. Though he was often dazzling in the field, he was a notoriously light ...

Kal Segrist Kal Hill Segrist (April 14, 1931 – June 26, 2015) was a utility infielder in Major League Baseball who played for the New York Yankees (1952) and Baltimore Orioles (1955). Listed at 6' 0", 180 lb., Segrist batted and threw right-handed. He ...

, Hal Smith,

Gus Triandos Gus Triandos (July 30, 1930 – March 28, 2013) was a Greek American professional baseball player and scout (sport), scout. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher and a first baseman for the New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles, and the D ...

Gene Woodling Eugene Richard Woodling (August 16, 1922 – June 2, 2001) was an American professional baseball player, coach and scout. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder between and , most prominently as a member of the New York Yankees dynas ...

and Ted Del Guercio.

External links

Retrosheet

Mike Blyzka
at

SABR 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 ...

(Baseball BioProject)

References

1928 births 2004 deaths Baseball players from Michigan Major League Baseball pitchers St. Louis Browns players Baltimore Orioles players United States Army personnel of World War II Denver Bears players Springfield Giants (Ohio) players Belleville Stags players Wichita Indians players Madisonville Miners players Marshall Browns players Lima Terriers players Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players {{US-baseball-pitcher-1920s-stub