Michael Andreas Kreevich (June 10, 1908 – April 25, 1994) was an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

player. He played as a center fielder 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), ...

from to . He batted and threw right-handed.

Early life

Kreevich was born in

Mount Olive, Illinois Mount Olive is a city in Macoupin County, Illinois, United States. The population was 2,015 at the 2020 census. The city is part of the Metro East region within the St. Louis metropolitan area. Geography Mount Olive is located in southeastern Ma ...

. He started working in coal mines in late 1924 at the age of 16. Although short of stature (five feet and seven and a half inches tall), he developed a muscular physique while coal mining for almost five years. With the Great Depression, the coal mines closed in 1930. It was about this time that he was invited to play for a team in McCook, Nebraska. Kreevich soon went from that small town team to the National League's Chicago Cubs, thanks to a scout who recognized the talent in him.

Career

Kreevich began his career in with the Chicago Cubs, but only played five games for them. In , he joined the cross-town

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

, but did not become a regular until . In he led the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

in triples and

sacrifice flies In baseball, a sacrifice fly (sometimes abbreviated to sac fly) is defined by Rule 9.08(d): "Score a sacrifice fly when, before two are out, the batter hits a ball in flight handled by an outfielder or an infielder running in the outfield in fair o ...

while batting .302, and finishing 10th in the American League MVP Award voting. In , he again finished 10th in the American League MVP Award voting, while batting .323. He was also named to the American League All-Star team in . After the season, Kreevich was traded to the Philadelphia Athletics. He was released after only one season, and signed with the

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they p ...

before the campaign. While with the Browns he played in the all-

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

1944 World Series World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

against the

Cardinals Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

. In the middle of the season, he was purchased by the Washington Senators; he finished his career after that season in the nation's capital. In 1,241 games played over 12 seasons, Kreevich compiled a .283

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 ...

(1321-4676) with 676 runs, 221 doubles, 75 triples, 45 home runs, 514

RBIs 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 bat ...

, 115 stolen bases, 446 bases on balls, .346 on-base percentage and a .391 slugging percentage. His career fielding percentage was .981.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kreevich, Mike 1908 births 1994 deaths American League All-Stars Major League Baseball outfielders Baseball players from Illinois Chicago Cubs players Chicago White Sox players Philadelphia Athletics players St. Louis Browns players Washington Senators (1901–1960) players People from Mount Olive, Illinois McCook Generals players Des Moines Demons players Kansas City Blues (baseball) players Los Angeles Angels (minor league) players

Early life

Career

See also

References