Wilbur "Biggs" Wehde (November 23, 1906 – September 21, 1970) 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 ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

who played in and with the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

. He batted and threw right-handed.

Biography

Wehde was born November 23, 1906, and grew up on an eleven-acre dairy farm on the edge of

Holstein, Iowa Holstein is a city in Ida County, Iowa, United States. The population was 1,501 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, a 2% increase from 1,470 in 2000 United States Census, 2000. History Holstein was founded in 1882. A large share of th ...

, where is father operated a small creamery. He was the eldest of five children born to Gus and Frieda Suiter Wehde. His half brothers, twins Ray and Roy Wehde, the youngest of four children born to Gus and Anna Christopherson Wehde, were basketball players at Holstein High School and

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricult ...

. He played minor league baseball for the Sioux City Cowboys and the Dubuque Tigers of the Mississippi Valley League before joining the White Sox on September 15, 1930, at the age of 23. Wehde would go on to make twelve appearances for Chicago, all in relief, during 1930 and 1931. Biggs served as a specialist 3 in the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He died on September 21, 1970, at the age of 63, in

Sioux Falls, South Dakota Sioux Falls ( ) is the List of cities in South Dakota, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the List of United States cities by population, 117th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha Coun ...

, and is buried in Calvary Cemetery,

Sioux City Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury and Plymouth counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Iowa. The county seat of Woodbury County, Sioux City is the primar ...

, Iowa.

References

External links

1906 births 1970 deaths Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from Iowa Chicago White Sox players People from Ida County, Iowa 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-baseball-pitcher-1900s-stub