John Stephen DeMerit (born January 8, 1936 in

West Bend, Wisconsin West Bend is the county seat of Washington County, Wisconsin, Washington County, Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 31,752. History Early history and settlement Northeastern Washington County's earliest known inhabitants wer ...

) is an American former

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 Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who ...

from

Port Washington, Wisconsin Port Washington is the county seat of Ozaukee County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on Lake Michigan's western shore east of Interstate 43, the community is a suburb in the Milwaukee metropolitan area 27 miles north of the City of Mil ...

. He was an

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

over parts or all of five seasons (1957–1959; 1961–1962) with the Milwaukee Braves and

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

. Nicknamed "Thumper", DeMerit threw and batted

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

and was listed as tall and . An alumnus of the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

, he signed a $100,000

bonus Bonus commonly means: * Bonus, a Commonwealth term for a distribution of profits to a with-profits insurance policy * Bonus payment, an extra payment received as a reward for doing one's job well or as an incentive Bonus may also refer to: Plac ...

contract with his hometown Braves in . Under the bonus rule then in force, the Braves were required to keep DeMerit on their big-league roster for all of 1957. DeMerit got into 33 games, six as a starting outfielder, but collected only five

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

in 34

at bats In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

. Still, Milwaukee won the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

pennant and drew the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

as their opponents in the

1957 World Series The 1957 World Series featured the defending champion New York Yankees of the American League playing against the Milwaukee Braves of the National League. After finishing just one game behind the N.L. Champion Brooklyn Dodgers in 1956, the Brave ...

. DeMerit appeared in one contest, as a pinch runner for veteran

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 ...

Del Rice Delbert Rice Jr. (October 27, 1922 – January 26, 1983) was an American professional baseball player, coach and manager. He played for 17 seasons as a catcher in Major League Baseball from 1945 to 1961, most notably for the St. Louis Cardinals ...

in the eighth inning of Game 3. He failed to score a run and the Braves fell, 12–3. But they outlasted the Yankees in seven games to become world champions. A change in the bonus rule allowed the Braves to send DeMerit to the

minor leagues Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in No ...

in , and DeMerit spent most of 1958 and 1959 and all of 1960 in the higher reaches of the Milwaukee farm system. Then in , he spent his only full year in the major leagues. He appeared in only 34 games and hit a poor .162 with 12 hits, but those dozen included his first two MLB home runs, hit off five-time All-Star

Larry Jackson Lawrence Curtis Jackson (June 2, 1931 – August 28, 1990) was an American right-handed professional baseball pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, and Philadelphia Phillies from to . In , ...

April 26 and future Baseball Hall of Famer

Sandy Koufax Sanford Koufax (; born Sanford Braun; December 30, 1935) is an American former left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played his entire career for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers from 1955 to 1966. He has been hailed as one of t ...

September 15. The Braves left him unprotected in the 1961 National League expansion draft, where he was selected by the Mets with their tenth pick, 20th overall, in the lottery's regular phase. He made the 1962 Mets early-season roster and appeared in 14 games during the season's first month. On May 15, he singled, walked and hit his third big-league home run (off Dick Ellsworth), scoring the winning run in a 6–5 New York triumph.

Retrosheet Retrosheet is a nonprofit organization whose website features box scores of Major League Baseball (MLB) games from 1906 to the present, and play-by-play narratives for almost every contest since the 1930s. It also includes scores from every major ...

br>box score: 1962-5-15
/ref> Such victories were rare, as the Mets won only 40 games all season. The two hits were the last of DeMerit's career: he retired at age 26, rather than report to Triple-A when the Mets attempted to farm him out a few days later. For his career, DeMerit

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

.174 with 23 hits, three doubles, three home runs and seven

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the ba ...

in 93 games played.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Demerit, John 1936 births Living people Atlanta Crackers players Baseball players from Wisconsin Jacksonville Braves players Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Major League Baseball outfielders Milwaukee Braves players New York Mets players People from West Bend, Wisconsin Sportspeople from the Milwaukee metropolitan area University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni Wisconsin Badgers baseball players People from Port Washington, Wisconsin