Rocky Krsnich (born Rocco Peter Krznić; August 5, 1927 – February 14, 2019) was a

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), ...

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 ...

Biography

He was born in

West Allis, Wisconsin West Allis is a city in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. A suburb of Milwaukee, it is part of the Milwaukee metropolitan area. The population was 60,325 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Histo ...

. Krsnich originally signed as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 1945 with the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

. The following year, he joined the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

organization. In 1948, Krsnich was selected in the Minor League Draft by 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 ...

. During his time with the White Sox, Krsnich played at the Major League level in 1949, as well as in 1952 and 1953. Later he was traded along with

Saul Rogovin Saul Walter Rogovin (March 24, 1922 – January 23, 1995) was an American professional baseball player. Rogovin was a pitcher over parts of 8 seasons (1949–57), with the Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox, Baltimore Orioles, and Philadelphia Ph ...

and Connie Ryan to the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

for

Willard Marshall Willard Warren Marshall (February 8, 1921 – November 5, 2000) was a right fielder in Major League Baseball. From 1942 through 1955, Marshall played for the New York Giants (1942, 1946–1949), Boston Braves (1952), Cincinnati Reds (1952-1953) an ...

. He is the brother of former MLB player

Mike Krsnich Michael Krsnich (''né'' Krznić; September 24, 1931 – April 30, 2011) was an American left fielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Milwaukee Braves during the 1960 and 1962 seasons. Listed at , 190 lb., he batted and threw righ ...

. Krsnich died February 14, 2019.

References

External links

1927 births 2019 deaths People from West Allis, Wisconsin Sportspeople from Milwaukee County, Wisconsin American people of Serbian descent Baseball players from Wisconsin Chicago White Sox players Major League Baseball third basemen Wilmington Blue Rocks (1940–1952) players Quincy Gems players Joplin Miners players Norfolk Tars players Memphis Chickasaws players Seattle Rainiers players Portland Beavers players Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players Oklahoma City Indians players {{US-baseball-third-baseman-stub