Robert Sterling "Ducky" Detweiler (February 15, 1919 – March 13, 2013) 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 ...

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 ...

and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

. Listed at tall and , he batted and threw right handed. Born in

Trumbauersville, Pennsylvania Trumbauersville is a borough that is located in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 974 at the time of the 2010 census. History Trumbauersville was incorporated in 1908 and celebrated its centennial on May 2, 2008. ...

, Detweiler was one of many promising young ballplayers whose careers were interrupted by military service during World War II. Following his graduation from Quakertown High School in 1938, Detweiler moved to

Federalsburg, Maryland Federalsburg is a town in Caroline County, Maryland, United States. The population was 2,739 at the 2010 United States Census. It has one high school, Colonel Richardson High School. History According to a contemporary source, the town was na ...

in 1939. He then became a well known sports figure in an area that involved baseball, basketball, and football, while serving as an official, umpire, and assignor of games. That year he signed a contract with 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, they became the Oakland ...

and played for their affiliate team, the

Federalsburg Athletics The Federalsburg A's were a minor league baseball team based in Federalsburg, Maryland. Federalsburg teams played as exclusively as members of the Class D level Eastern Shore League from 1937 to 1941 and 1946 to 1949, winning the 1939 league penn ...

of the

Eastern Shore League The Eastern Shore Baseball League was a class D minor league baseball league that operated on the Delmarva Peninsula for parts of three different decades. The league's first season was in 1922 and the last was in 1949, although the years were not ...

. The Federalsburg team paid him $75 a month during the 1939 ESL season. This class-D league contract was Detweiler's first of many in professional baseball, and he responded with a .292

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 ...

and 10

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 in 98 games as a

second baseman In baseball and softball, second baseman, abbreviated 2B, is a fielding position in the Infielder, infield, between Baseball field#Second base, second and Baseball field#First base, first base. The second baseman often possesses quick hands and f ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

, while helping the team clinch the league pennant. In 1940, Detweiler gained a promotion to the Wilmington Blue Rocks of the Class B

Interstate League The Interstate League was the name of five different American minor baseball leagues that played intermittently from 1896 through 1952. Early leagues Earlier versions of the Interstate League, with years active: *1896–1901: an unclassified ...

, where he switched to

third base 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 scoring system us ...

and batted .313 with a .472

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at-bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at-bats for a given player, an ...

in 93 games. In 1941 he was traded to the

Boston Bees The Boston Braves were a Major League Baseball club that originated in Boston, Massachusetts, and played from 1871 to 1952. Afterwards they moved to Milwaukee (and became the Milwaukee Braves). Then in 1966 they were relocated to Atlanta, whe ...

organization, opening the year in the PONY League with the Bradford Bees before joining the Bridgeport Bees of the Interstate League during the midseason, batting a combined .310 average and a slugging of .448 in 106 games. Detweiler opened 1942 with the Evansville Bees of the

Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League The Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League was a Class B level Minor League Baseball organization that operated for the better part of 60 seasons, with teams based in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymo ...

, a year after

Joe DiMaggio Joseph Paul DiMaggio (; born Giuseppe Paolo DiMaggio, ; November 25, 1914 – March 8, 1999), nicknamed "Joltin' Joe", "the Yankee Clipper" and "Joe D.", was an American professional baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career ...

's famous

56-game hitting streak During the 1941 Major League Baseball (MLB) season, New York Yankees center fielder Joe DiMaggio recorded at least one hit in 56 consecutive games, breaking the MLB record for the longest hitting streak. His run lasted from May 15 to July 16, du ...

. Detweiler then went on a hitting rampage of his own, as he hit safely during 40 consecutive games in the Three-I League to lead Evansville with a .341 average, also leading the team in hits (149), home runs (16),

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

(106), extra bases (46),

total bases In baseball statistics, total bases is the number of bases a player gains with hit (baseball), hits. It is a weighted sum with values of 1 for a single (baseball), single, 2 for a double (baseball), double, 3 for a triple (baseball), triple and 4 ...

(237), slugging (.520) and games played (120). He was called up to the renamed

Boston Braves The Boston Braves were a Major League Baseball club that originated in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, and played from 1871 to 1952. Afterwards they moved to History of the Atlanta Braves#Milwaukee, Milwaukee (and became the Milwaukee Braves). ...

and made his Major League debut in late September. He appeared in 12 games and batted .318 (14-for-44), including two doubles and 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 ...

, while driving in five runs and scoring three times. After being drafted to military service, he served as a Private First Class in the US Army from 1943 to 1945. Assigned to the 1301st Service Unit, he regularly played for the New Cumberland Reception Center baseball team with teammates Tommy Hughes, Pat Mullin,

Fred Caligiuri Frederick John Caligiuri (October 22, 1918 – November 30, 2018) was an American professional baseball pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played for the Philadelphia Athletics from 1941 to 1942. Listed at 6' 0", 190 lbs., he batted and ...

and Harry Marnie. He later was transferred to Camp Siebert in Alabama, a replacement training center for the

Chemical Warfare Service The Chemical Corps is the branch of the United States Army tasked with defending against and using chemical weapon, chemical, biological agent, biological, radiological weapon, radiological, and nuclear weapon, nuclear (Chemical, biological, r ...

. Then, along with Hughes, Mullin and

Steve Sundra Stephen Richard Sundra (March 27, 1910 – March 23, 1952) was a pitcher in Major League Baseball who played during eight seasons for the New York Yankees (1936; 1938–1940), Washington Senators (1941–1942) and St. Louis Browns (1942–1944; ...

, Detweiler helped make the ''Camp Siebert Gashouse Gang'' one of the most dominant forces in southern states military baseball between 1944 and 1945. Detweiler returned to the Braves in 1946, but went hitless in one pinch-hitting appearance before being assigned to Indianapolis of the American Association. In the midseason he was dealt to the

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

and finished the year with Rochester of the

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

, batting a combined .230 in 99 games. In 1947, Detweiler was released at his own request and returned to the Federalsburg A's of the Eastern Shore League, where he had started his professional career eight years earlier, and posted a .352 average with 29 home runs and 133 RBIs. In 1950, Detweiler served as player/manager of the Red Springs Red Robins of the

Tobacco State League The Tobacco State League was a Class D level American minor baseball league that played for five seasons (1946–1950) in Organized Baseball in the state of North Carolina. The Red Springs Red Robins won two league championships. History The ...

, a

farm club.Holaday, Chris (2016). . Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland. . He continued to play and manage in the minors until 1952, compiling a .316 average and a.502 of slugging percentage in 11 minor league seasons. In addition, he finished with a managing record of 207–290 (.416) in a span of four seasons between 1948 and 1952. After retiring from baseball, Detweiler ran a tavern called ''Ducky's Tavern'' from 1960 to 1969 which he took over from his father-in-law. He finished his employment days as a letter carrier for the

U.S. Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the federal governmen ...

, retiring in 1984 after 20 years of service. Detweiler married Jean Cahall in 1944. They raised a daughter, Gina, and had two granddaughters and two great-grandchildren. He was a long time resident of

Easton, Maryland Easton is an incorporated town in and the county seat of Talbot County, Maryland, United States. The population was 17,101 at the 2020 census, with an estimated population of 17,342 in 2022. The primary ZIP Code is 21601, and the secondary ...

, where he died in 2013 at the age of 94.

Sources

* Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles (1993). ''Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball''. Baseball America.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Detweiler, Ducky 1919 births 2013 deaths Baseball coaches from Pennsylvania Boston Braves players Bradford Bees players Bridgeport Bees players Cordele A's players Evansville Bees players Fayetteville A's players Federalsburg A's players Federalsburg Feds players Indianapolis Indians players Lexington Indians players Major League Baseball third basemen Minor league baseball managers Baseball players from Bucks County, Pennsylvania People from Easton, Maryland Red Springs Red Robins players Rochester Red Wings players Salisbury Reds players United States Army personnel of World War II United States Army soldiers Wilmington Blue Rocks (1940–1952) players 20th-century American sportsmen