Frank James Wurm (April 27, 1924 – September 19, 1993) 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 ...

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, ...

. Wurm grew up in

Salem, New York Salem is a town in eastern Washington County, New York, United States. It is part of the Glens Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The town population was 2,612 at the 2020 census. The town of Salem contains a hamlet also named Salem, former ...

and attended Salem Central School. In September 1941, he signed a contract with the

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1883 as the Brooklyn Grays. In 1884, it became a member of the American Association as the Brooklyn Atlantics before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brook ...

and began pitching in their

farm system In sports, a farm team (also referred to as farm system, developmental system, feeder team, or nursery club) is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful pl ...

. At age 18 in 1942, he pitched for the

Olean Oilers The Olean Oilers are a collegiate summer baseball team located in Olean, New York playing in the New York Collegiate Baseball League since 2012. The Olean Oilers were a minor league baseball team which played primarily in the New York–Penn Lea ...

and tied the PONY League record for strikeouts in a game. The following February, he was inducted into the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

and was shipped out to

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

by the summer. According to the ''

Brooklyn Daily Eagle The ''Brooklyn Eagle'' (originally joint name ''The Brooklyn Eagle'' and ''Kings County Democrat'', later ''The Brooklyn Daily Eagle'' before shortening title further to ''Brooklyn Eagle'') was an afternoon daily newspaper published in the city ...

'', Wurm, then 19 years old, "was one of the first Americans to enter Cassino" but was medically discharged shortly thereafter due to " battle fatigue." He described a friend and fellow soldier dying in his arms after they were both hit by a German artillery shell. He appeared in one game 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 ...

for the Brooklyn Dodgers during the 1944 season. He started the game, giving up four runs while only getting one out, a

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 ...

. By 1945, he was a member of the men's

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 ...

team at

Middlebury College Middlebury College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont, United States. Founded in 1800 by Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalists, Middlebury w ...

in Vermont. He eventually captained that team. After a brief return to the minors in 1946, Wurm voluntarily retired from baseball due to arm injuries. In July 1967, Wurm, then living in Lake George, New York, was hired as an area scout for 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 ...

. Born in

Cambridge, New York Cambridge is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Washington County, New York, Washington County, New York, United States. It is part of the Glens Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The town population was 1,952 at the 2020 cen ...

, Wurm died in

Glens Falls, New York Glens Falls is a City (New York), city in Warren County, New York, Warren County, New York, United States and is the central city of the Glens Falls, New York metropolitan area, Glens Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 14,83 ...

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Major League Baseball pitchers Brooklyn Dodgers players Olean Oilers players Newport News Dodgers players Montreal Royals players Baseball players from Washington County, New York 1924 births 1993 deaths People from Cambridge, New York Burials in Warren County, New York United States Army personnel of World War II People from Salem, New York American expatriate baseball players in Canada Middlebury Panthers men's basketball players Pittsburgh Pirates scouts 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-baseball-pitcher-1920s-stub