Nicholas Joseph "Mickey" Witek (December 19, 1915 – August 24, 1990) was an American

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 ...

. He played all or part of seven seasons in

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), ...

during the 1940s for the New York Giants and

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 ...

, primarily as a second baseman. A native of

Luzerne, Pennsylvania Luzerne is a borough located north of Wilkes Barre in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,703 at the time of the 2020 census. History The community was first settled in 1807. It was later incorporated as a boroug ...

, he threw and batted right-handed and was listed as tall, and weighing .

Biography

Witek started and ended his career with the Yankee organization, but played all but two of his 581 MLB games as a member of 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 ...

Giants, as a second baseman,

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists wh ...

and

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

. In 1943, as the Giants' regular second baseman, he appeared in 153 games,

batting Batting may refer to: * Batting (baseball), the act of attempting to hit a ball thrown by the pitcher with a baseball bat, in order to score runs * Batting (cricket), the act of defending one's wicket with the cricket bat while attempting to score ...

.314 (fifth in the NL), and amassing 195 hits (second in the league). He led the Senior Circuit in singles (172) and finished 12th in the National League Most Valuable Player voting. Defensively, he led NL second basemen in fielding percentage in 1942, and although he topped the league's second basemen in errors with 31 in 1943, he also led the NL in putouts and assists that season. In 1944–45 Witek's career was interrupted while he served in the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mu ...

during World War II. His playing time diminished with the Giants in 1946 as

Buddy Blattner Robert Garnett "Buddy" Blattner (February 8, 1920 – September 4, 2009), was an American table tennis and professional baseball player. He played five seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily for the New York Giants. After his reti ...

claimed the regular second base job, and Witek finished his major league career with one at bat for the 1949 Yankees, as a pinch hitter, singling against

Mel Parnell Melvin Lloyd Parnell (June 13, 1922 – March 20, 2012) was a professional baseball pitcher who spent his entire Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the Boston Red Sox. Listed at and , he threw and batted left-handed. Playing career Parne ...

of the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

.Retrosheet
/ref> He played one more season in the minor leagues in 1950 before retiring.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Witek, Mickey Major League Baseball second basemen New York Giants (NL) players New York Yankees players Bassett Furnituremakers players Norfolk Tars players Binghamton Triplets players Newark Bears (International League) players Jersey City Giants players Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Kansas City Blues (baseball) players Seattle Rainiers players Baseball players from Luzerne County, Pennsylvania 1915 births 1990 deaths International League MVP award winners United States Coast Guard personnel of World War II