Ralph Lee Winegarner (October 29, 1909 – April 14, 1988) 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 ...

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who is ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

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 ...

. He played all or part of six seasons 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), ...

as a

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 ...

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 ...

and

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

for the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

(1930, 1932, 1934–1936) and

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 ...

(1949). Born in

Benton, Kansas Benton is a city in Butler County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 943. History Benton was founded in 1884. It was named for Thomas Benton Murdock, a state politician. Benton was incorporated as a ...

, he batted right-handed, stood tall and weighed .

Baseball career

Winegarner began his professional career in 1930 with the

El Dorado Lions EL, El or el may refer to: Religion * El (deity), a Semitic word for "God" People * EL (rapper) (born 1983), stage name of Elorm Adablah, a Ghanaian rapper and sound engineer * El DeBarge, music artist * El Franco Lee (1949–2016), American po ...

of the class-D

Cotton States League The Cotton States League''Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball: The Official Record of Minor League Baseball'' – Lloyd Johnson, Steve McDonald, Miles Wolff (editors). Publisher: Baseball America, 1997. Format: Paperback, 672pp. Language: Englis ...

as a

. At the tail-end of the season, he was acquired by the

, and he appeared in five games, getting 10 hits in 22

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 for a .455

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 ...

. After spending the 1931 season back in the minor leagues, he was converted to a

in 1932. After starting the year with the

Toledo Mud Hens The Toledo Mud Hens are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They are located in Toledo, Ohio, and play their home games at Fifth Third Field. A Mud Hens team has played in ...

, he was brought back up to the Indians in August. He appeared in seven games, two as a

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute Batting (baseball), batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the dead ball (baseball), ball is dead (not in active play); the manager (baseball), manager may use any player who has not yet ...

, four as a

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue (medical), fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection (sports), ejection, or for other strategic ...

, and one as a

starting pitcher In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pit ...

. His first major league start resulted in his first major league win, a 6-4 complete game victory over the

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 p ...

. Overall, he pitched 17.1 innings with a 1.04

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 ...

. After spending 1933 with Toledo, Winegarner returned to the Indians in 1934, which was his first full season in the majors. Used mostly in relief, he appeared in 22 games as a pitcher, one as a

right fielder A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the ...

, and nine as a pinch hitter. He posted a 5-4 record and batted .196, hitting his first major league

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 ...

on September 10 off

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oaklan ...

pitcher

George Caster George Jasper Caster (August 4, 1907 – December 18, 1955), nicknamed "Ug", was a right-handed professional baseball pitcher for 21 years from 1929 to 1948 and again in 1953. He played 12 years in Major League Baseball with the Philadelphia Ath ...

. In 1935, Winegarner was used more extensively as a hitter, as he pinch-hit 33 times, going 11-for-28 with five walks, including a pinch-hit home run on June 20 against the Washington Senators and

Earl Whitehill Earl Oliver Whitehill (February 7, 1899 – October 22, 1954) was a Major League Baseball pitcher. He played for the Detroit Tigers for the most significant portion of his career (1923–1932), and later with the Washington Senators (1933� ...

. He also played

left field In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering system ...

first base A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

and third base, while also appearing in 25 games as a pitcher, posting a 2-2 record with a 5.75 ERA. He batted .310 in 84 at bats with a career-high 3 home runs and 17 RBI. Winegarner began the 1936 season with the Indians, but was sent to the minor league

New Orleans Pelicans The New Orleans Pelicans are an American professional basketball team based in New Orleans. The Pelicans compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division and play their hom ...

in June after batting just .125 in his first 18 games while posting a 4.91 ERA in nine games as a pitcher. Winegarner remained in the minor leagues for the next five seasons, continuing to split his time between pitching and other positions, mostly first base. In 1942, he served as a

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 ...

for the

San Antonio Missions The San Antonio Missions are a Minor League Baseball team of the Texas League and the Double-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. They are located in San Antonio, Texas, and are named for the Spanish missions around which the city was founded. ...

of the

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

. After missing the 1943–45 seasons to World War II military service, he returned in 1946 to the

Elmira Pioneers The Elmira Pioneers are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Elmira, New York. They have been affiliated with many major league teams throughout their history. The current Elmira Pioneers play as members of the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseb ...

, a farm club of the

, where he served as player-manager. In 1949, he was hired as a coach by the Browns, and in July he was added to the active roster. He appeared in nine games for the Browns in July and August, his first major league action in over thirteen years. He was used exclusively as a pitcher, posting no record and an ERA of 7.56. He was released at the end of the season, and remained with the team as a coach through the 1951 season. He returned to the Indians organization in 1952, serving as manager of the class-A

Wichita Indians The Wichita people or Kitikiti'sh are a confederation of Southern Plains Native American tribes. Historically they spoke the Wichita language and Kichai language, both Caddoan languages. They are indigenous to Oklahoma, Texas, and Kansas. Tod ...

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Winegarner, Ralph 1909 births 1988 deaths Baseball players from Kansas Cleveland Indians players El Dorado Lions players Elmira Pioneers players Major League Baseball pitchers Milwaukee Brewers (minor league) players New Orleans Pelicans (baseball) players People from Butler County, Kansas St. Louis Browns coaches St. Louis Browns players San Antonio Missions managers San Antonio Missions players Shreveport Sports players Southwestern Moundbuilders baseball players Toledo Mud Hens players Wilkes-Barre Barons (baseball) players American military personnel of World War II