Ralph Richard "Blackie" Schwamb (August 6, 1926 – December 21, 1989) was an American
professional baseball pitcher and convicted murderer. He played for the
St. Louis Browns of
Major League Baseball in 1948. Listed at and , he threw and batted right-handed.
Biography
Schwamb was nicknamed "Blackie" while in
grade school
A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...
, due to his habit of wearing black clothing, a practice he adopted after watching
Western movies and seeing the
"bad guys" wearing black.
[ He served in the United States Navy during World War II, receiving a bad conduct ]discharge
Discharge may refer to
Expel or let go
* Discharge, the act of firing a gun
* Discharge, or termination of employment, the end of an employee's duration with an employer
* Military discharge, the release of a member of the armed forces from serv ...
after hitting an officer.Northern League Northern League may refer to:
Sport
Baseball
* Northern League (baseball, 1902–71), a name used by several minor leagues that operated in the upper midwestern U.S. and Manitoba from 1902 to 1971
* Northern League (baseball, 1993–2010), an indep ...
(both Class C) and later the American Association ( Triple-A) and Southern Association ( Double-A).[ In 1948, Schwamb pitched in 12 major league games (five starts) for the St. Louis Browns, recording one win and one loss, while compiling an 8.53 earned run average (ERA).][ His lone win came in his second start, when he pitched innings at home against the Washington Senators while allowing six runs (five ]earned
Earning can refer to:
* Labour (economics)
*Earnings of a company
*Merit
Merit may refer to:
Religion
* Merit (Christianity)
* Merit (Buddhism)
* Punya (Hinduism)
* Imputed righteousness in Reformed Christianity
Companies and brands
* Merit ...
) on eight hits, benefitting from his team scoring seven runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Schwamb had three hits in 10 major league at bat
In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...
s and scored one run.
After the 1948 season, Schwamb killed a doctor in Long Beach, California, named Donald Buge. Schwamb did it to pay off a debt to a Los Angeles mobster, Mickey Cohen. Schwamb was sentenced to life in prison in 1949, but was granted parole in 1960.
In 1961, Schwamb played a final season of minor league baseball, for the Hawaii Islanders of the Pacific Coast League
The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...
.
References
Further reading
Introduction
of ''Wrong Side of the Wall: The Life of Blackie Schwamb, the Greatest Prison Baseball Player of All Time'' by Eric Stone (2005)
External links
1926 births
1989 deaths
American people of German descent
United States Navy personnel of World War II
Baseball players from Los Angeles
Major League Baseball pitchers
St. Louis Browns players
Globe-Miami Browns players
Aberdeen Pheasants players
Toledo Mud Hens players
Little Rock Travelers players
Sherbrooke Athletics players
Hawaii Islanders players
American sportspeople convicted of crimes
American people convicted of murder
People convicted of murder by California
Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by California
People paroled from life sentence
Sportspeople convicted of murder
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