Robert John Rinker (April 21, 1921 – December 19, 2002) was an American professional baseball player who appeared in three Major League

games A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (such ...

as a

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute Batting (baseball), batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the dead ball (baseball), ball is dead (not in active play); the manager (baseball), manager may use any player who has not yet ...

and catcher for the

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oaklan ...

. The native of

Audenried, Pennsylvania Audenried is a village in the northwest corner of Carbon County, Pennsylvania located on Route 309. It is located in Banks Township between Hazleton and McAdoo. It is served by the Hazleton Area School District. The Catawissa Creek starts in Au ...

, batted and threw right-handed, stood tall and weighed . Rinker's professional career lasted three seasons, beginning in 1948 and ending immediately after his September 1950 audition with the Athletics in the waning days of Connie Mack's 50-year tenure as the team's

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

. Rinker was called up to the majors directly from the Class C Middle Atlantic League, where he had batted .381 in 126

at bat 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 ...

s. In his debut game, on September 6, 1950 at Griffith Stadium, he pinch hit for A's pitcher Bobby Shantz in the eighth

inning In baseball, softball, and similar games, an inning is the basic unit of play, consisting of two halves or frames, the "top" (first half) and the "bottom" (second half). In each half, one team bats until three outs are made, with the other team ...

and singled off Sandy Consuegra of the Washington Senators. However, he was erased on a

double play In baseball and softball, a double play (denoted as DP in baseball statistics) is the act of making two outs during the same continuous play. Double plays can occur any time there is at least one baserunner and fewer than two outs. In Major Leag ...

by Philadelphia's next batter, Eddie Joost. He would appear in two more games, one as a pinch hitter on September 8 and the other as a late-inning replacement for starting catcher

Joe Tipton Joe Hicks Tipton (February 18, 1922 – March 1, 1994) was an American professional baseball player. He played as a catcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1948 through 1954 with the Cleveland Indians, Chicago White Sox, Philadelphia Athletic ...

,1950-9-16 box score from Retrosheet
/ref> and go hitless in two at bats, to finish with a Major League average of .333. He had no runs batted in.

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1921 births 2002 deaths Griffin Pimientos players Mahanoy City Brewers players Major League Baseball catchers Sportspeople from Carbon County, Pennsylvania Sportspeople from Hazleton, Pennsylvania Baseball players from Luzerne County, Pennsylvania Philadelphia Athletics players Youngstown A's players {{US-baseball-catcher-1920s-stub