William Edward Narleski (March 9, 1900 – July 20, 1964) was a

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 ...

. Primarily a

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

, Narleski played two seasons in the majors, and , for 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) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

. Listed at , 160 lb., Narleski batted and threw

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to and causing it to be stronger, faster or more Fine motor skill, dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dext ...

. He was born in

Perth Amboy, New Jersey Perth Amboy is a city (New Jersey), city in northeastern Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, within the New York metropolitan area, New York Metro Area. As of the 2020 United States census, the city' ...

. In a two-season career, Narleski, who was nicknamed "Cap", was a .265 hitter (95-for-358) with 41 runs and 32 RBI in 135 games, including 25 doubles, one

triple Triple is used in several contexts to mean "threefold" or a " treble": Sports * Triple (baseball), a three-base hit * A basketball three-point field goal * A figure skating jump with three rotations * In bowling terms, three strikes in a row * I ...

, four

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base unaided by other actions and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or out ...

s, and a .326

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batting (baseball), batter reaches base (baseball), base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA ...

without

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s. Narleski's

minor league baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

career spanned 25 years, starting in with the Rocky Mount Tar Heels. He retired for the first time in , but made a two-year comeback during World War II in and with the

Wilmington Blue Rocks The Wilmington Blue Rocks are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They are located in Wilmington, Delaware, and play their home games at Daniel S. Frawley Stadium. Fra ...

. Narleski died at the age of 64 in

Laurel Springs, New Jersey Laurel Springs is a borough in Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 1,978, an increase of 70 (+3.7%) from the 2010 census count of 1,908, which in turn reflected a d ...

. His son,

Ray Narleski Raymond Edmond Narleski (November 25, 1928 – March 29, 2012) was a relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who played with the Cleveland Indians (1954–58) and Detroit Tigers (1959). He batted and threw right-handed. His father, Bill Narleski ...

, also was a major leaguer.

External links

Retrosheet
1900 births 1964 deaths Albany Nuts players Baseball players from Middlesex County, New Jersey Boston Red Sox players Columbus Red Birds players Elmira Red Wings players Greenville Spinners players High Point-Thomasville Hi-Toms players Houston Buffaloes players Indianapolis Indians players Jacksonville Tars players Macon Peaches players Major League Baseball shortstops Mobile Bears players Raleigh Capitals players Rocky Mount Tar Heels players Sportspeople from Perth Amboy, New Jersey Wilmington Blue Rocks (1940–1952) players Burials at Beverly National Cemetery 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-baseball-shortstop-stub

See also

External links