Richard James Wrona (born December 10, 1963) is a former

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 leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

player. He played parts 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), ...

, between 1988 and 1994, for the Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds,

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 ...

, and Milwaukee Brewers, primarily as a

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the ca ...

Baseball career

Wrona played high school baseball at

Bishop Kelley High School Bishop Kelley High School is an American Lasallian Catholic high school with 905 students, grades 9 to 12, located at 41st and Hudson Avenue, in the center of the Tulsa metropolitan area (in the Midtown area), on a campus spanning just over 47 ...

and college ball for

Wichita State University Wichita State University (WSU) is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 areas of study in ...

. After being drafted by the Cubs in the 5th round of the

1985 Major League Baseball Draft First round draft picks The following are the first round picks in the 1985 Major League Baseball draft. Supplemental First Round Selections Background Six of the first eight draft picks from the June regular phase had at least one full ...

, he spent several seasons in the minor leagues before making his major league debut on September 3, 1988, as a pinch hitter against the Reds. The next year, with

Joe Girardi Joseph Elliott Girardi (born October 14, 1964) is an American former professional baseball player and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). Girardi played the catcher position for the Chicago Cubs, Colorado Rockies, New York Yankees, and S ...

and Damon Berryhill, the Cubs two primary catchers, both spending time in the minor leagues, Wrona found himself spending a good part of the season in the majors as well. The Cubs carried all three catchers for the

National League Championship Series The National League Championship Series (NLCS) is a best-of-seven playoff and one of two League Championship Series comprising the penultimate round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) postseason. It is contested by the winners of the two Nation ...

against the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

. The Giants won the series 4 games to 1. Wrona enjoyed no success in the series, going 0-for-5 with 3 strikeouts while appearing in two games. Wrona never played a full season in the major leagues. A career backup, he played no more than 38 games, nor had more than 92 at bats, in any one season. Only in 1989 did Wrona play more than 16 games or log more than 29 at bats in the majors. He played his final major league game as a member of the Brewers on July 22, 1994, although he continued to play in the minor leagues until 1998.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wrona, Rick Major League Baseball catchers Chicago Cubs players Cincinnati Reds players Chicago White Sox players Milwaukee Brewers players Peoria Chiefs players Winston-Salem Spirits players Pittsfield Cubs players Iowa Cubs players Tulsa Drillers players Nashville Sounds players Indianapolis Indians players New Orleans Zephyrs players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Louisville Redbirds players Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons players Birmingham Barons players Oklahoma RedHawks players Wichita State Shockers baseball players Baseball players from Oklahoma Sportspeople from Tulsa, Oklahoma 1963 births Living people