Michael Edward Ulicny (September 28, 1917 – September 22, 2005), nicknamed "Slugs", 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 baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

. He played 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), ...

(MLB) for the

Boston Braves The Atlanta Braves, a current Major League Baseball franchise, originated in Boston, Massachusetts. This article details the history of the Boston Braves, from 1871 to 1952, after which they moved to Milwaukee, and then to Atlanta. During it ...

in 1945. Listed at and , he was a native of

Greenwald, Pennsylvania Greenwald is an unincorporated area, unincorporated community and coal town in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. References

Unincorporated communities in Westmoreland County, Pennsyl ...

Biography

Ulicny's professional baseball career spanned 1938 to 1950; he appeared in a total of 886

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

games. He is one of many ballplayers who only appeared in the major leagues during World War II. He hit well in the 11 games he played for the

, going 7-for-18, a .389

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 had one

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

, four

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 bat ...

(RBIs), four

runs scored In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted balls ...

, and a .611

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at bats for a given player, ...

. He was mainly used as a

pinch-hitter 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, America ...

, appearing in only four games as a catcher. His uncommon last name sometimes appeared in newspaper

box score A box score is a structured summary of the results from a sport competition. The box score lists the game score as well as individual and team achievements in the game. Among the sports in which box scores are common are baseball, basketball, ...

s of the era as "Ulisney". In 1950, he served as

player-manager A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

of the minor league

Niagara Falls Citizens The Niagara Falls Citizens were a minor league baseball club, based in Niagara Falls, New York. The franchise can be traced back to 1939 when the Niagara Falls Rainbows were established and played as a charter member of the Pennsylvania–Ontario ...

. Ulicny served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

during World War II, including in 1943 when he was stationed at

Fort Dix Fort Dix, the common name for the Army Support Activity (ASA) located at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, is a United States Army post. It is located south-southeast of Trenton, New Jersey. Fort Dix is under the jurisdiction of the Air Force A ...

(New Jersey) and

Camp Gordon Johnston Camp Gordon Johnston was a World War II United States Army training center located in Carrabelle, Florida, United States. The site's history is featured at the Camp Gordon Johnston Museum. History Camp Gordon Johnston opened in September 1942 as ...

(Florida) and did not play baseball professionally. He died at the age of 87 in

New Smyrna Beach, Florida New Smyrna Beach is a city in Volusia County, Florida, United States, located on the central east coast of the state, with the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Its population is 30,142 in 2020 by the United States Census Bureau. The downtown section of ...

. He is buried at Deltona Memorial Gardens in

Orange City, Florida Orange City is a city in Volusia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a population of 10,599. It is a part of the Deltona–Daytona Beach–Ormond Beach metropolitan area, which was home to 590,289 peop ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ulicny, Mike Major League Baseball catchers Baseball players from Pennsylvania United States Army personnel of World War II Boston Braves players Fulton Eagles players Thomasville Orioles players Trenton Packers players Montreal Royals players New Orleans Pelicans (baseball) players Milwaukee Brewers (minor league) players Atlanta Crackers players Chattanooga Lookouts players Fort Lauderdale Braves players Niagara Falls Citizens players Minor league baseball managers 1917 births 2005 deaths