Oscar Bielaski (March 21, 1847 – November 8, 1911) was an American

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 the first

Polish-American Polish Americans ( pl, Polonia amerykańska) are Americans who either have total or partial Poles, Polish ancestry, or are citizens of the Republic of Poland. There are an estimated 9.15 million self-identified Polish Americans, representing abou ...

to play

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), ...

, playing from 1872 until 1876. His father,

Alexander Bielaski Alexander Bielaski (August 1, 1811 – November 7, 1861) was an engineer and Union Army officer who was killed during the Battle of Belmont during the American Civil War. Born in the Minsk Governorate of the Russian Empire or elsewhere in the ...

, a captain in the Union army, died at the

Battle of Belmont The Battle of Belmont was fought on November 7, 1861 in Mississippi County, Missouri. It was the first combat test in the American Civil War for Brigadier general (United States), Brig. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, the future Union Army general in ch ...

. A. Bruce Bielaski, head of the

Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...

, and his sister,

Ruth Shipley Ruth Bielaski Shipley (April 20, 1885 – November 3, 1966) was an American government employee who served as the head of the Passport Division of the United States Department of State for 27 years, from 1928 to 1955. Her decisions to refuse pass ...

, head of the

State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...

's Passport Division, were first cousins of Oscar. Oscar learned to play baseball while enlisted in the Union Army as a drummer. Oscar Bielaski was inducted in the

National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame The National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame and Museum was founded in 1973. The mission of the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame is to recognize and preserve outstanding achievement by individuals of Polish heritage in the field of ...

in 2005. Oscar was born in Washington, D.C., and died there, at the age of 64. He is interred at

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county is ...

References

External links

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National Polish-American Sports HOF profile
American people of Polish descent 19th-century baseball players Baseball players from Washington, D.C. Washington Nationals (NA) players Washington Blue Legs players Baltimore Canaries players Chicago White Stockings players Major League Baseball right fielders Burials at Arlington National Cemetery 1847 births 1911 deaths Washington Nationals (minor league) players Nationals of Washington players Union Army soldiers {{Baseball-right-fielder-stub