| Walt Judnich | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Center fielder | |
| Born:(1916-01-24)January 24, 1916 San Francisco, California, U.S. | |
| Died: July 10, 1971(1971-07-10) (aged 55) Glendale, California, U.S. | |
Batted: Left Threw: Left | |
| MLB debut | |
| April 16, 1940, for the St. Louis Browns | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| May 12, 1949, for the Pittsburgh Pirates | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .281 |
| Home runs | 90 |
| Runs batted in | 420 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
Walter Franklin Judnich (January 24, 1916 – July 10, 1971) was anAmerican professionalbaseball player. Acenter fielder, Judnich played inMajor League Baseball (MLB) for seven seasons with theSt. Louis Browns,Cleveland Indians, andPittsburgh Pirates. In 790 career games, Judnich recorded abatting average of .281 and accumulated 90home runs and 420runs batted in (RBI).
Born inSan Francisco, California, Judnich began his career with theNew York Yankees, spending five seasons in the organization. The St. Louis Browns acquired him in 1940 and he was plugged into the starting lineup. He was the starting center fielder for three seasons. After the 1942 season, he joined theUnited States Army Air Forces to serve inWorld War II. When he returned to baseball in 1946, he was no longer an everyday player, and in 1947 the Browns turned him into afirst baseman. He was traded to the Cleveland Indians in 1948, where he served as autility player and was a member of the1948 World Series champions. He was sent to the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1949, then spent the next six seasons in thePacific Coast League before retiring from the game in 1955.
Born and raised inSan Francisco,California, Judnich grew up wanting to be a baseball player, playing semi-pro baseball on a team sponsored by theMission Reds.[1] He graduated fromMission High School in 1935, and signed with theNew York Yankees organization by Yankees scoutJoe Devine after participating in a baseball training camp in Oakland, which included future MLB playersTiny Bonham andLen Gabrielson.[2] Judnich spent the 1935 season with theClass CAkron Yankees, where he had a .274batting average in 109 games. The following year, he played for the Class BNorfolk Tars, and hit .303 with 24home runs in 143 games. In 1937, he was again promoted to theOakland Oaks of thePacific Coast League (PCL), where he hit .316 with 14triples in 175 games. Judnich spent 1938 with theKansas City Blues of theAmerican Association, and hit .273 in 150 games. Judnich played for theNewark Bears of theInternational League in 1939, and had a .284 batting average.[3] Before the 1940 season began, Judnich was sold to theSt. Louis Browns after not being offered a major league contract; as the Yankees hadJoe DiMaggio as an everyday center fielder, Judnich was considered expendable.[4]
Judnich entered the major leagues in 1940 with the Browns, and after impressing the Browns inspring training, made his major league debut on April 16. By the halfway point of the season, he was being touted as a future star by managerFred Haney thanks to his ability to hit home runs as well as his hitting in theclutch.[5] In hisrookie season with the Browns, Judnich had 24 home runs, 89 RBIs, 7 triples, and 97runs scored, all of which would end up being career highs. He also had a .303 batting average in 137 games, which included a batting average of .360 after theAll-Star Game, and finished 18th inMost Valuable Player (MVP) voting with six votes.[6][7]
In 1941, Judnich started off the season in a slump, and partway through the season he had a batting average under .200.[8] He remained in the starting lineup for the Browns and rebounded by the end of the season, finishing with a .284 batting average, 14 homers, 40doubles, and 83 RBIs in a career-high 146 games.[6] Judnich remained as the starting center fielder for 1942. His performance for the season included hitting two home runs and five RBIs in a 9–0 win against the New York Yankees on September 10.[9] For the season, he hit 17 home runs, seventh in theAmerican League, with 82 RBIs and a .313 average, a career-high. He was one of only seven players in theAmerican League to reach the .300 mark in the season, and was the only Browns player to do so.[10] Judnich also finished 16th in MVP voting with 14 votes.[6]
In March 1943, Judnich was called to serve in the military forWorld War II. He was married in June 1941, but passed on deferment to enlist.[11] He served in theUnited States Army Air Forces and was stationed atMcClellan Field, where he was certified as amarksman and promoted tocorporal in October. He also took part in an Army-Navy baseball game and a benefit game against players from the Pacific Coast League, which raised $25,000 (equivalent to $454,279 in 2024) for the servicemen.[12] The following year, he was transferred alongside Joe DiMaggio toHickam Field in Hawaii, and also played for the Seventh Air Force baseball team. In one exhibition game, Judnich hit five consecutive home runs and 12 RBIs in a 30–2 victory for his team.[13] He spent 1945 stationed atCamp Beale in California before being discharged on November 30.[12]
Judnich returned to the starting lineup for the1946 St. Louis Browns season, but he did not have the same power as he did before military service. In July, managerLuke Sewell benched Judnich forAl Zarilla for a few games in an attempt to reverse Judnich's struggles.[14] He finished the season with a .262 batting average, 15 home runs and 72 RBIs in 132 games, but did perform better in night games, where he had a .309 batting average.[15] In 1947, new Browns managerMuddy Ruel converted Judnich's position tofirst baseman in an attempt to getPaul Lehner, the team's other center fielder, in the lineup every day.[16] Judnich played nearly every day as well, despite disliking playing first base and preferring to play in the outfield, only missing a few games to return home to witness the birth of his son.[1][17] He finished the season with a .258 batting average, 18 home runs, and 64 RBIs in 144 appearances.[6]
On November 20, 1947, the Browns traded Judnich andBob Muncrief to theCleveland Indians for $25,000,Joe Frazier,Dick Kokos, andBryan Stephens.[18] Originally projected to be the starting center fielder, the acquisition ofThurman Tucker later that offseason led to Judnich becoming a utility player. He split time between center field,right field, and first base, backing up Tucker,Allie Clark, andEddie Robinson, respectively, depending on the pitching matchup on a given day.[19] In 79 games, Judnich hit .257 with two home runs and 29 RBIs. In the1948 World Series, he hit .077 (1-for-13) with a run and one RBI in four games.[6] On February 9, 1949, thePittsburgh Pirates purchased Judnich's contract from the Indians to give them extra depth at first base, and he started the season on the major league roster as a result.[20] He only played in ten games for the Pirates, hitting .229, and in May his contract was sold to theSan Francisco Seals of the PCL, ending his major league career.[21]
Judnich spent the rest of 1949 with the Seals, and had a .269 batting average and 18 home runs in 116 games. In 1950, he joined theSeattle Rainiers. In 166 games, Judnich had a .285 batting average with 19 home runs and 84 RBIs.[3] Judnich got off to a hot start for Seattle in 1951, and after the first two months of the season he had a .381 batting average, which led the Pacific Coast League.[22] In 147 games, Judnich had a .329 batting average with 21 home runs and 102 RBIs, en route to Seattle winning the Pacific Coast League championship. While a member of the Rainiers, he spent the winter playing for theLeones de Ponce in Puerto Rico.[23] Judnich returned to the Rainiers in 1952, finishing the season with a .287 batting average, 15 home runs, and 105 RBIs in 177 games, and he followed that up in 1953 with a .298 average, 16 home runs, and 101 RBIs in 147 games.[3]
After the 1953 season, thePortland Beavers purchased Judnich's contract from Seattle, as Seattle was looking to keep their team young and replace the 37-year old.[24] In 156 games for Portland, he hit .272 with 18 home runs and 81 RBIs. Judnich began the following season with Portland, and played in 25 games before his contract was sold to the San Francisco Seals, where he had a .282 average in 112 games.[3] After the season, the Seals sent Judnich to theLouisville Colonels, but Judnich did not want to leave the west coast, and refused the move, retiring from baseball as a result.[25]
After retiring from professional baseball, Judnich moved toGlendale, California, where he lived with his wife and three children. He led a relatively quiet life; when asked of hobbies or interests, he stated during his career, "our fans here aren't interested in those things."[1] He died at the age of 55, and was interred atGrand View Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale. His ashes were later relocated to Bayou Meto Cemetery inJacksonville, Arkansas, which is his wife's hometown.[26]
