| Jack Kralick | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Pitcher | |
| Born:(1935-06-01)June 1, 1935 Youngstown, Ohio, U.S. | |
| Died: September 18, 2012(2012-09-18) (aged 77) San Blas,Mexico | |
Batted: Left Threw: Left | |
| MLB debut | |
| April 15, 1959, for the Washington Senators | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| April 23, 1967, for the Cleveland Indians | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Win–loss record | 67–65 |
| Earned run average | 3.56 |
| Strikeouts | 668 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
John Francis Kralick (/ˈkreɪlɪk/KRAY-lik[1]) (June 1, 1935 – September 18, 2012)[2] was an American professional baseball player who pitched in the Major Leagues from 1959 to 1967.[3] He participated in 235 games in the course of an eight-year career that included stints with theWashington Senators / Minnesota Twins andCleveland Indians. During that time, he earned 67 wins and 65 losses, accumulating a record of 668 strikeouts, with an ERA of 3.56 in 125games and 1,218innings pitched.[3]
Kralick was born inYoungstown, Ohio, an industrial town with a strong amateur baseball tradition, and attendedMichigan State University.[3] Early in his professional career, he gained recognition as apitcher for afarm team connected to theNorthern League.[4] On August 8, 1956, Kralick pitched a 5–0 seven-inning no-hitter for theDuluth–Superior White Sox in a match against theFargo–Moorhead Twins.[4]
But the parentChicago White Sox released Kralick during the middle of the 1958 minor-league season, and he was signed as afree agent by the Washington Senators' organization.
Kralick made his Major League debut with the Senators on April 15, 1959.[3] But he appeared in only five MLB games before being sent to theDouble-AChattanooga Lookouts for the bulk of the 1959 season. There he compiled a 3.53earned-run average in 26starts and 176innings pitched. He got into one further Major League contest when the rosters expanded in September 1959 and pitched twohitless innings in relief against theBoston Red Sox on September 27.[5]
He made the Senator staff for the entire1960 season, posting a winningmark (8–6) and a (3.04) ERA in 35 games during the club's final year before its transfer toMinneapolis–St. Paul.
On August 20, 1961, he participated in the most recent of the six major league games in which two pitchers hit a home run for the same team, with the other pitcher beingAl Schroll. Then, on August 26, 1962, heno-hit[6] theKansas City Athletics 1–0 atMetropolitan Stadium, the first no-hitter in the history of the Twins franchise subsequent to its relocation to Minnesota. He retired the first 25 batters before a walk toGeorge Alusik spoiled his bid for aperfect game.
Kralick was traded by theMinnesota Twins to theCleveland Indians forJim Perry on May 2, 1963.[7] The transaction was made out of necessity for both teams. Kralick, along withJim Kaat andDick Stigman, had been one of three left-handers on the Twins' four-manstarting rotation, while the Indians' only southpaw starter wasSam McDowell.[8] Kralick was an All-Star in 1964. He played the final game of his major league career on April 23, 1967.[3]
His contract was sold by the Indians eight days later on May 1 to theNew York Mets, who were set to assign him to theJacksonville Suns in preparation for a May 11 promotion to the majors.[9] Instead, he was sidelined for the remainder of the campaign after he sustained acerebral contusion and temporarydiplopia when he lost control of hisautomobile which crashed into aretaining wall on theMemorial Shoreway nearCleveland Stadium in the early hours of May 2.[9][10][11] The Mets offered him an invitation to itsspring training camp prior to the1968 season, but he chose to officially retire as an active player and begin working as aninsurancesalesman forThe North American Life Assurance Company of Toronto.[10][12]
In 1973, he moved to Alaska, eventually settling inSoldotna with his family, where he served as a pitching coach for theAnchorage Glacier Pilots. In 1988, he moved toSan Blas, Mexico.[13]
| Preceded by | No-hitter pitcher August 26, 1962 | Succeeded by |