| Ray Jablonski | |
|---|---|
 Jablonski in 1961 | |
| Third baseman | |
| Born:(1926-12-17)December 17, 1926 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | |
| Died: November 25, 1985(1985-11-25) (aged 58) Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| April 14, 1953, for the St. Louis Cardinals | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 17, 1960, for the Kansas City Athletics | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .268 |
| Home runs | 83 |
| Runs batted in | 438 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
Raymond Leo Jablonski (December 17, 1926 – November 25, 1985) was an Americanthird baseman inMajor League Baseball who played for all or parts of eight MLB seasons between 1953 and 1960. A1954National LeagueAll-Star, Jablonski appeared in 812games for theSt. Louis Cardinals,Cincinnati Redlegs,New York / San Francisco Giants andKansas City Athletics. The native ofChicago, Illinois, threw and battedright-handed and was listed as 5 feet 10 inches (1.78 m) tall and 175 pounds (79 kg).
Jablonski's pro career began in theBoston Red Sox organization in 1947. After two seasons at the Class D level, the Cardinals acquired him in the 1948minor league draft. In 1951, he was the Most Valuable Player of the Class BCarolina League after he won the league'sTriple Crown. Then, after one season inTriple-A, Jablonski broke into the1953 Cardinals' starting lineup. He started all 157 games for the Redbirds at third base, and set career bests inhome runs (21) andruns batted in (112), finishing third in the National League'sRookie of the Year Award balloting (behindJim Gilliam and teammateHarvey Haddix). In1954, he drove in over 100runs for a second straight season andbatted a career-high .296. Selected to the1954 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, he started at third base for the National League and contributed afourth-inningsingle offSandy Consuegra to help the Senior Circuit overcome a four-run deficit and take a 5–4 lead. But the rivalAmerican League ended up winning the slugfest, 11–9, atCleveland Stadium.[1]
His 1953–54 seasons constituted the high-water marks of his big league career. Although he led NL third-basemen inassists in 1954, Jablonski committed 27 and 34errors in successive seasons, and with hard-hitting and slick-fieldingKen Boyer poised to break onto the varsity roster, the Cardinals traded Jablonski to the Redlegs along withpitcherGerry Staley for Cincinnatirelief aceFrank Smith after the 1954 campaign. Then Jablonski suffered through two sub-par seasons in Cincinnati, batting only .240 and .256 and spending part of1955 back in the minor leagues. The Reds traded him to the Chicago Cubs after1956, but Jablonski would never appear in a regular-season game for his hometown team. Chicago sent him to the New York Giants on the opening day of the1957 season. Jablonski was the Giants' regular third baseman during their final New York season and batted .289, but the following year he lost the starting job to rookieJim Davenport and hit only .230 in part-time duty.
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Sent back to the Cardinals just prior to opening day in1959, Jablonski backed up Boyer and served as apinch hitter through August 20, before being claimed offwaivers by the Kansas City Athletics. After he closed the 1959 campaign with Kansas City, the A's demoted him to the Triple-ADallas-Fort Worth Rangers for most of1960 before giving him one last MLB trial in the closing weeks of the season. In his final big-league game on September 17, he pinch hit againstJack Harshman of theCleveland Indians andflied out.[2] All told, Jablonski had 687hits as a big-leaguer, with 126doubles, 11triples and 83 home runs, batting .268 with 438 runs batted in.
His professional career continued through 1964 at the Triple-A level. Ray Jablonski died at age 58 in Chicago.[3] He was buried atResurrection Catholic Cemetery in Justice, Illinois.
· Baseball Almanac