Stephen Richard Sundra (March 27, 1910 – March 23, 1952) was a

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 ...

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), ...

who played during eight seasons for 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 ...

(1936; 1938–1940), Washington Senators (1941–1942) 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 ...

(1942–1944; 1946). He batted and threw right-handed.

Career

A native of

Luxor, Pennsylvania Luxor is an unincorporated community and coal town in Hempfield Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. History The town was established by the Jamison Coal and Coke Company to provide housing for employees of its nearby c ...

, Steve Sundra was the son of a Czech coal miner. The family moved to

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, when he was 16 and Sundra starred in

sandlot ball Sandlot ball or sandlot baseball is a competitive and athletic sports game that follows the basic rules and procedures of baseball. It is often less organized and structured, as the name alludes to a makeshift field or an empty lot. History and ...

there. He was signed by 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 ...

and made his pro debut in 1932, moving up to Toledo in 1934. Cleveland optioned Sundra to Minneapolis and Newark in 1935, and the Yankees obtained him in a three-pitcher deal in December, along with Monte Pearson, in exchange for Johnny Allen. His career in the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

ran from 1936 to early in 1946, with time out for 1944–1945

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 ...

service during World War II. In 1936, Sundra posted a 12–9 record for the

Newark Bears The Newark Bears were an American minor league professional baseball team based in Newark, New Jersey. They were a member of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball and, later, the Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball. T ...

, leading the

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ...

with a 2.84

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

. After one

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

appearance for the Yankees in April 1936, he was optioned back to Newark. The Bears won the IL championship with a 109–43 mark, and Sundra went 15–4, ranking eighth in the league in ERA (3.09), and was selected for the All-Star Game. Sundra was a member of the

World Champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

Yankees in

1938 Events January * January 1 ** The Constitution of Estonia#Third Constitution (de facto 1938–1940, de jure 1938–1992), new constitution of Estonia enters into force, which many consider to be the ending of the Era of Silence and the a ...

. He won his last four starts during the regular season, then ran off 11 straight victories (three in relief) for the 1939 AL pennant-winners before losing his last start of the season. He appeared in Game Four of the 1939 World Series, pitching 2.2 innings of relief, allowing 4 hits, 3 runs, all

unearned In baseball, an earned run is any run that was fully enabled by the offensive team's production in the face of competent play from the defensive team. Conversely, an unearned run is a run that would not have been scored without the aid of an err ...

, 1 walk and striking out 2. In 1940 Sundra faded, going 4–6, and the next year was sold to the Washington Senators, who in turn sent him to the St. Louis Browns in the 1942 midseason. He won 15 games in 1943, then in , began the year with two complete game victories for the pennant-bound Browns. But after his third start on May 2 he entered the Army, thus missing the 1944 World Series, the only fall classic in which the Browns would ever appear during their 52-year history in the

. Sundra rejoined the Browns for

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

in 1946 after his discharge, but was released on May 29, marking the end of his baseball career. Sundra was good with the bat for a pitcher, posting a .209

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 ...

(63-for-302) with 33 runs, 2

home runs 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 ...

, 22 RBI and 20

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...

in 168 games. Later, Sundra sued the Browns under the

G.I. Bill The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, commonly known as the G.I. Bill, was a law that provided a range of benefits for some of the returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as G.I.s). The original G.I. Bill expired in 1956, bu ...

, claiming that he should have been kept on the roster for one year. He asked for $5,413, the difference between what he had been paid and his 1946 salary, but lost in federal court in a decision rendered in 1949. He worked in construction until he fell ill in late 1950. Sundra died in Cleveland, four days before his 42nd birthday, a victim of cancer.Cancer strikes down ex-Tribe hurler Sundra
/ref> He is buried in Cleveland's Calvary Cemetery.

References

External links

Baseball AlmanacSteve Sundra
- Baseballbiography.com
1937 Newark Bears
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sundra, Steve 1910 births 1952 deaths American people of Serbian descent Baseball players from Pennsylvania Burlington Bees players Deaths from cancer in Ohio Major League Baseball pitchers Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players New Orleans Pelicans (baseball) players New York Yankees players Newark Bears (IL) players Sportspeople from Atlantic City, New Jersey People from Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania Quincy Indians players St. Louis Browns players Toledo Mud Hens players Washington Senators (1901–1960) players Zanesville Greys players United States Army personnel of World War II