Albert Joseph Cihocki (May 7, 1924 – March 27, 2014) was an American

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field, between first base and third base. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns pla ...

who played for one season. He played for the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

from April 17, 1945, to September 22, 1945. Cihocki was born in

Nanticoke, Pennsylvania Nanticoke is a city in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 10,628, making it the third largest city in Luzerne County. It occupies of land. Nanticoke is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. The ...

, where he played

sandlot ball Sandlot ball or sandlot baseball is a competitive and athletic sports game that follows the basic rules and procedures of baseball. It is less organized and structured, as the name alludes to a makeshift field or an empty lot. In the 20th centu ...

with

Steve Bilko Stephen Thomas Bilko (November 13, 1928 – March 7, 1978) was an American professional baseball player known for his home run hitting as a minor leaguer during the 1950s. He was 20 years old when he broke into Major League Baseball on Septemb ...

, his cousin who also went on to play in the major leagues, as well as

Pete Gray Peter James Gray (''Birth name, né'' Wyshner; March 6, 1915 – June 30, 2002) was an American professional baseball outfielder who played for the St. Louis Browns of Major League Baseball for one season in 1945. He was notable for playing ...

. He originally tried out for the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

organization in 1941 and

Wilkes-Barre Barons The Wilkes-Barre Barons were a basketball team from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. The Barons played between 1933 and 1980 in different United States, American sports league, leagues. The team won 11 titles during this time, including while playin ...

in 1942 but failed to make the cut for either team. Cihocki then joined the Batavia Clippers as a

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 Baseball scorekeep ...

, where he had a

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

of .342 and was named to the

New York–Penn League The New York–Penn League (NYPL) was a Minor League Baseball league that operated in the northeastern United States from 1939 to 2020. Classified as a Class A Short Season league, its season started in June, after major-league teams signed th ...

's All-Star team. After finishing the season, he joined the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...

, and served for two years at the

United States Coast Guard Yard The United States Coast Guard Yard or just Coast Guard Yard is a United States Coast Guard operated shipyard located on Curtis Bay in northern Anne Arundel County, Maryland, just south of the Baltimore city limits. It is the Department of Homela ...

Curtis Bay, Baltimore Curtis Bay is a residential / commercial / industrial neighborhood in the southern portion of the City of Baltimore, Maryland, United States. The neighborhood is on steep sloping heights, about four city blocks wide (west to east) and fifteen ...

. Early in 1945, he received a medical discharge from the Coast Guard, and resumed his professional baseball career with the

organization. Due to a lack of players available as a result of the war, Cihocki made the major league squad and remained there throughout the season. In 92 career games, Cihocki had a .212 batting average. After one season with the Indians, he joined the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

, where he spent the next seven years. During his time with the Orioles, he played 850 total games, and was considered the team's "Iron Man". He also spent one year with the

Sabios de Vargas The Sabios de Vargas baseball club became a founding member of the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League in its inaugural season of 1946. The team represented the city of La Guaira, Vargas and played its home games at the now-extinct Estadio Cerv ...

of the

Venezuelan Professional Baseball League The Venezuelan Professional Baseball League (, or LVBP) is the top-level professional baseball league in Venezuela. The league's champion takes part in the Caribbean Series each year. History Background and predecessors Baseball had been play ...

, playing in 14 games for them. The Orioles released Cihocki after the 1952 season, and he continued to play on and off until 1958, where he spent his final year in professional baseball with the Allentown Red Sox. After retiring from baseball, he coached various minor league teams and served as a corrections officer at the Dallas Correctional Institution. He died on March 27, 2014.

References

External links

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Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cihocki, Al 1924 births 2014 deaths Allentown Red Sox players United States Coast Guard personnel of World War II Baltimore Orioles (International League) players 20th-century American sportsmen Batavia Clippers players Bismarck Barons players Cleveland Indians players Major League Baseball infielders People from Nanticoke, Pennsylvania Baseball players from Luzerne County, Pennsylvania Sabios de Vargas players San Antonio Missions players Wilkes-Barre Barons (baseball) players Military personnel from Pennsylvania American prison officers American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela