Theodore John Pawelek (August 15, 1919 – February 12, 1964) nicknamed "Porky", 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 leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

player, who played in four games 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

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 ...

and pinch hitter for the Chicago Cubs. Pawelek batted left-handed, threw right-handed, and was listed as tall and . He was born in

Chicago Heights, Illinois Chicago Heights is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 27,480 at the 2020 census. In earlier years, Chicago Heights was nicknamed "The Crossroads of the Nation". Currently, it is nicknamed "The Heights". Geogra ...

. For his brief

MLB 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), ...

career, he compiled a .250

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 ...

in four at-bats. Pawelek had spent 1946 with the

Nashville Vols The Nashville Vols were a Minor League Baseball team that played in Nashville, Tennessee, from 1901 to 1963. Known only as the Nashville Baseball Club during their first seven seasons, they were officially named the Nashville Volunteers (often sh ...

of the Double-A

Southern Association The Southern Association was a higher-level minor league in American organized baseball from 1901 through 1961. For most of its existence, the Southern Association was two steps below the Major Leagues; it was graded Class A (1902–1935), Cla ...

, batting .335 with 107 hits and 15 home runs playing his home games in the Vols' hitter-friendly ballpark, Sulphur Dell. In his September trial, he was hitless in his first three appearances for the Cubs, but on September 26, 1946, in what would be his last big-league at bat, he doubled off the Pittsburgh Pirates' Jack Hallett in a 5–3 Chicago victory. During his 11-season minor league career (1939–1941 and 1946–1953), he played for the

Anniston Rams The Anniston Rams were a minor league baseball team based in Anniston, Alabama that operated in the Southeastern League from 1938–1942 and again from 1946–1950. They had affiliation deals with the Chicago White Sox The Chicago W ...

Hot Springs Bathers The Hot Springs Bathers were a Cotton States League baseball team based in Hot Springs, Arkansas, United States, that played from 1938 to 1941 and from 1947 to 1955. In 1938, they were affiliated with the Chicago Cubs. In 1939 and 1940, they were a ...

Tulsa Oilers The Tulsa Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and play in the ECHL. The Oilers played their home games at the Tulsa Convention Center until 2008 when they moved into the new BOK Center. For many years, the Tuls ...

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team h ...

Portsmouth Cubs Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dense ...

Reidsville Luckies The Reidsville Luckies were a minor league baseball team based in Reidsville, North Carolina, USA. They played in the Bi-State League from 1935–1940 and returned in 1947 as part of the Tri-State League in 1947. They switched to the Carolina Leag ...

Lakeland Pilots The Lakeland Pilots were a Florida International League (1946–1950, 1952) and Florida State League (1953-1955) baseball team based in Lakeland, Florida, United States. They played their home games at Henley Field Ball Park, Henley Field. In ...

Oklahoma City Indians The Oklahoma City Indians was the primary name of an American professional baseball team representing Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, from 1904 though 1957, except for 1913 and three seasons during World War II. The team played in several different minor ...

, and

Pampa Oilers The Pampa Oilers were a West Texas–New Mexico League (1940–1942, 1946–1955) and Southwestern League (1956–1957) minor league baseball team based in Pampa, Texas, USA. They were affiliated with the Oklahoma City Indians in 1953 an ...

. His career was interrupted from 1942 to 1945 when Pawelek served with the

United States Marines The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through com ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

.Baseball Reference
/ref> He died in Chicago Heights in an automobile accident at the age of 44. Pawelek was a Detroit Tigers scout at the time of his death.

References

External links

1919 births 1964 deaths Anniston Rams players Chicago Cubs players Detroit Tigers scouts Fulton Tigers players Hot Springs Bathers players Lakeland Pilots players Los Angeles Angels (minor league) players Major League Baseball catchers Minor league baseball managers Nashville Vols players Oklahoma City Indians players Pampa Oilers players Sportspeople from Chicago Heights, Illinois Portsmouth Cubs players Reidsville Luckies players Road incident deaths in Illinois Baseball players from Cook County, Illinois Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players United States Marines {{US-baseball-catcher-1910s-stub