Fredereric John "Lefty" Baczewski (May 15, 1926 – November 14, 1976) was an American left-handed

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("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, who attempts to e ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

for the

Cincinnati Redlegs Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

and

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

. After some time in the independent minor leagues, Baczewski was purchased from his Shreveport club in October 1949 by the Cubs for $30,000 and a player to be named. He worked his way up through the Cubs' minor league system and made his debut with the parent club on April 26, 1953. Baczewski appeared in nine games as a reliever, posting an

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Com ...

of 6.30 in ten innings, before he was traded with Bob Kelly to the Reds in exchange for

Bubba Church Emory Nicholas "Bubba" Church (September 12, 1924 – September 17, 2001) was an American professional baseball right-handed starting pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies (1950–52), Cincinnati Reds, Ci ...

. With the Reds, Baczewski was primarily a starter and had a very solid season, sporting an 11–4 record and completing 10 of his 18 starts while recording a solid 3.45 ERA. His winning percentage of .733 was good for sixth in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

, and his ten complete games also placed in the league's top ten. He had secured his spot in the Reds' starting rotation for the 1954 season. However, Baczewski's career would stall after his impressive rookie campaign. In 1954, he started 22 of his 29 games but was only able to break even with a 6–6 record as his ERA ballooned to 5.26. In 1955, Baczewski opened the season with the Reds but made just a single relief appearance, allowing 2 runs in one inning on April 16. He would never pitch in the majors again. He died at age 50 in Culver City, California.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Baczewski, Fred 1926 births 1976 deaths Chicago Cubs players Cincinnati Reds players Cincinnati Redlegs players Baseball players from Minnesota Major League Baseball pitchers Alexandria Aces players Anniston Rams players Shreveport Sports players Des Moines Bruins players Los Angeles Angels (minor league) players St. Paul Saints (AA) players Seattle Rainiers players Vancouver Mounties players Rochester Red Wings players Houston Buffaloes players Dallas Rangers players Burials at Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City