Elden LeRoy "Submarine" Auker (September 21, 1910 – August 4, 2006) 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, ...

with the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

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 ...

and

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they ...

between 1933 and 1942. Auker batted and threw right-handed. Auker was noted for his

submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

pitching style.

Athletic career

Auker was born and raised in

Norcatur, Kansas Norcatur is a city in Decatur County, Kansas, Decatur County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 159. History Norcatur was founded in 1885 near the Nebraska border. Norcatur ...

, the son of Fred and Florence Auker. He attended college at

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant coll ...

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

, where he was a brother of

Phi Sigma Kappa Phi Sigma Kappa (), colloquially known as Phi Sig or PSK, is a men's social and academic Fraternities and sororities, fraternity with approximately 74 List of Phi Sigma Kappa chapters#Chapters, active chapters and provisional chapters in North Am ...

. Called by former Kansas State University President James McCain, "the greatest all-around athlete in Kansas State history," Auker won nine varsity letters – three each in baseball, basketball and football – during his college career, from 1929 to 1932. He was first-team

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

n in baseball and All- Big Six Conference in baseball,

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

, and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

. In football, Auker starred at

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

, was named second team All-American by

Grantland Rice Henry Grantland Rice (November 1, 1880 – July 13, 1954) was an American sportswriter and poet known as the "Dean of American Sports Writers". He coined the famous phrase that it was not important whether you “won or lost, but how you playe ...

and was offered a $6,000 contract by the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

. The Bears sent

Bronko Nagurski Bronislau "Bronko" Nagurski (November 3, 1908 – January 7, 1990) was a Canadian-American professional football player who was a fullback and defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL). Renowned for his strength and size, Nagurski ...

to Manhattan to try to convince him to join the team. Auker turned down the Bears, however, to pitch for the

. During his ten-year Major League career, Auker played with the Tigers,

and

. While with Detroit, Auker went to consecutive

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...

, in

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...

and

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * January 12 – Amelia Earhart ...

. In the 1934 Series against 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 ...

, Auker was the winning pitcher in Game 4, but the loser to

Dizzy Dean Jay Hanna "Dizzy" Dean (January 16, 1910 – July 17, 1974), also known as Jerome Herman Dean (both the 1910 and the 1920 Censuses show his name as "Jay"), was an American professional baseball pitcher. During his Major League Baseball (MLB) ca ...

in the decisive Game 7. The next season, Auker led the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

winning percentage In sports, a winning percentage or Copeland score is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the to ...

with an 18–7 record. In the 1935 Series against the

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

, Auker started Game 3, which Detroit won in extra innings, and the Tigers went on to win the Series four games to two. During the

1935 World Series The 1935 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1935 season. The 32nd edition of the World Series, it matched the Detroit Tigers and the Chicago Cubs. The Tigers won in six games for their first championship i ...

, Auker was interviewed by a young Cubs broadcaster,

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

. When they met after Reagan had been elected governor of California, Reagan told him, "You probably won't remember me, but I'll remember you as long as I live." The radio interview, Reagan said, "was my first big break." Before the 1939 season, Auker was traded by Detroit to the Red Sox for Pinky Higgins and

Archie McKain Archie Richard McKain (May 12, 1911 – May 21, 1985) was an American left-handed Major League Baseball pitcher with the Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers and the St. Louis Browns between 1937 and 1943. Early life McKain was born in Delphos, Kans ...

. That season was

Ted Williams Theodore Samuel Williams (August 30, 1918 – July 5, 2002) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, primarily as a left fielder, for the Boston Red Sox from 193 ...

's rookie year in Boston, and the two would develop what became a lifelong friendship during the season. However, Auker chafed playing under Red Sox manager

Joe Cronin Joseph Edward Cronin (October 12, 1906 – September 7, 1984) was an American professional baseball player, Manager (baseball), manager and executive. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a shortstop, most notably as a member of the Bost ...

, and his 9–10 record in the year was the lowest win total of any full season he played. Auker finished his career playing three seasons with the Browns (1940–1942). During the 1941 season, he gave up hits to

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 ...

during two games of DiMaggio's record 56-game hitting streak. As a hitter, Auker was a better than average hitting pitcher, posting a .187

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 ...

(131-for-700) with 73 runs, 6

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run ...

, 72 RBI and 41

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), better known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches during a plate appearance that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The bas ...

. Defensively, he was better than average, recording a .967

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a baseball positions, defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putout ...

which was 12 points higher than the league average at his position.

Post-playing career

Auker retired in 1943 so that he could contribute to the

war effort War effort is a coordinated mobilization of society's resources—both industrial and civilian—towards the support of a military force, particular during a state of war. Depending on the militarization of the culture, the relative si ...

. From 1943 to 1945, he worked on airplane and naval guns. From 1946 until 1975, Auker worked for Bay State Abrasives in Massachusetts, a company that made armaments and abrasive materials, retiring as the company president. He was inducted into the

Kansas Sports Hall of Fame The Kansas Sports Hall of Fame is a museum located in Wichita, dedicated to preserving the history of sports in the state of Kansas. The museum provides exhibits, archives, facilities, services, and activities to honor those individuals and t ...

in 1969. Auker appeared at the last game played at Tiger Stadium on September 27, 1999. Auker spoke at the ceremony and told the crowd: "Never forget us, for we live on by those that carry on the Tiger tradition and who so proudly wear the olde English D." In 2001, Auker published his memoirs, entitled ''Sleeper Cars and Flannel Uniforms'', written with Tom Keegan. He died due to congestive heart failure, at age 95, in his home in

Vero Beach, Florida Vero Beach is a city in and the county seat of Indian River County, Florida, United States. According to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 16,354. Nicknamed "The Hibiscus City", Vero is situated about south ...

. He was the last surviving member of the 1935 World Champion Detroit Tigers.

Works

References

External links

, o
Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Auker, Elden 1910 births 2006 deaths Baseball players from Kansas People from Norcatur, Kansas Major League Baseball pitchers Detroit Tigers players Boston Red Sox players St. Louis Browns players Kansas State Wildcats football players Kansas State Wildcats baseball players Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball players Decatur Commodores players Beaumont Exporters players Moline Plowboys players American men's basketball players 20th-century American sportsmen

Athletic career

Post-playing career

Works

References

Further reading

External links