Cornelius Francis Dempsey Jr. (September 16, 1922 – August 5, 2006) was an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player. A

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from the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

, he had a brief audition in

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 ...

in as a member of the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

. Most of his six-year pro career was spent in the top-level

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

, where the sidearmer was the

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...

champion in both 1948 and 1949. He stood tall and weighed . Born in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, Dempsey graduated from

Sequoia High School (Redwood City, California) Sequoia High School (established in 1895) is a high school in downtown Redwood City, California, United States. Today, it is one of the few schools to offer the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme within the San Francisco Bay Area ...

, then the

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit university in San Francisco, California, United States. Founded in 1855, it has nearly 9,000 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees ...

(USF), where he played baseball and

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. With the outbreak of

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 joined the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

, serving in the

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and

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theaters; he was awarded four medals for bravery. Dempsey began his professional baseball career during the postwar era at age 24, winning 16 games in 1947 in the Class C Pioneer League, then joining his hometown San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League in 1948. As a PCL

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience, a rookie is typically considered needing more tra ...

in 1948, he again won 16 games (losing 11), and led the league in strikeouts (171) and

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(2.10). Then, in 1949, he won 17 of 31 decisions for the Seals, and again led the PCL in strikeouts (164), although his ERA rose to 4.23. Dempsey moved to the Seals' bullpen in 1950, splitting 18 decisions. Although his ERA remained high (4.36) his contract was purchased on a conditional basis by the Pirates during the 1950–51 offseason. At spring training with the Pirates in 1951, Dempsey was convinced to change his delivery from sidearm to overhand by the Pirates'

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Branch Rickey Wesley Branch Rickey (December 20, 1881 – December 9, 1965) was an American baseball player and sports executive. Rickey was instrumental in breaking Major League Baseball's color barrier by signing black player Jackie Robinson. He also creat ...

. Dempsey, now 28, made Pittsburgh's opening-season, 28-man roster. But his new overhand delivery was not effective. Given two

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assignments, on April 28 against the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

and May 4 against the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

, he absorbed two losses and was able last only five total

innings pitched In baseball, the statistic innings pitched (IP) is the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of Batter (baseball), batters and baserunners that have been put out while the pitcher is on the Baseball field#Pitcher's mou ...

. In the latter game, he surrendered

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 to both

Bobby Thomson Robert Brown Thomson (October 25, 1923 – August 16, 2010) was an American professional baseball player, nicknamed "the Staten Island Scot". He was an outfielder and right-handed batter for the New York Giants (1946–53, 1957), Milwaukee Brave ...

and Hank Thompson.

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br>box score: 1951-05-04
/ref> After two innings of mop-up relief on May 5, in which he allowed no runs on two

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, Dempsey was returned to the Seals, where he finished the 1951 campaign. He sat out the 1952 season, then pitched one final year (1953) in the PCL with the cross-bay

Oakland Oaks Oakland Oaks may refer to one of the following sport teams, listed chronologically: *Oakland Oaks (PCL), a minor league baseball team that played in the Pacific Coast League from 1903 to 1955 *Oakland Oaks (ice hockey), a professional ice hockey te ...

before retiring from pro baseball. As a major leaguer, he allowed 11 hits and seven

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s in seven full innings pitched; he issued four bases on balls and struck out three. Dempsey returned to USF to earn a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in education, then began a 34-year career as a teacher and coach in San Francisco's public school system. He was the first baseball player elected to USF's Athletics Hall of Fame. He died in Redwood City from pneumonia at the age of 83.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dempsey, Con 1922 births 2006 deaths American men's basketball players Baseball coaches from California Baseball players from San Francisco Basketball players from San Francisco Deaths from pneumonia in California Major League Baseball pitchers Oakland Oaks (baseball) players Baseball players from Redwood City, California Pittsburgh Pirates players Salt Lake City Bees players San Francisco Dons baseball players San Francisco Dons men's basketball players San Francisco Seals (baseball) players United States Navy personnel of World War II University of San Francisco alumni 20th-century American sportsmen