Jack Lohrke
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Jack Wayne Lohrke (February 25, 1924 – April 29, 2009) was a third baseman 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 ...
. During his playing career, he stood 6' (183 cm) tall, weighed 180 pounds (81.7 kg) and threw and batted right-handed.


"Lucky Lohrke"

Lohrke earned the nickname "Lucky" not only because it sounded similar to his last name, but because he repeatedly escaped death by sheer good luck, in both war and peacetime. As a US soldier in
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 survived a troop train crash that killed three and injured dozens more, as well as the
Normandy landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and ...
, the
Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive or Unternehmen Die Wacht am Rhein, Wacht am Rhein, was the last major German Offensive (military), offensive Military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western ...
and extensive combat throughout Europe, including having the soldier next to him killed on four occasions.Weintraub, Robert (2013) ''The Victory Season: The End of World War II and the Birth of Baseball's Golden Age.'' New York: Little, Brown & Co, pages 218-220Nelson, Valerie J. "Jack Lohrke dies at 85; major league infielder known for cheating death", ''Los Angeles Times'', Friday, May 1, 2009.
/ref> Lohrke's good fortune continued when he returned from the war to the United States. Having to concede his plane seat to higher-ranked military personnel, he was bumped at the last moment from the passenger list of a military transport plane scheduled to fly from
Camp Kilmer Camp Kilmer is a former United States Army camp in Central New Jersey that was activated in June 1942 as a staging area and part of an installation of the New York Port of Embarkation. The camp was organized as part of the Army Service Forces Tra ...
,
New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
to his home in Los Angeles – the plane crashed, killing everyone on board. After the war and following his transition back to civilian life, Lohrke resumed his baseball career. The summer of 1946 found him playing for the Class B
Spokane Indians The Spokane Indians are a Minor League Baseball team located in Spokane Valley, the city immediately east of Spokane, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest. The Indians are members of the High-A Northwest League (NWL) as an affiliate of the Co ...
of the
Western International League The Western International League was a mid- to higher-level minor league baseball circuit in the Pacific Northwest United States and western Canada that operated in 1922, 1937 to 1942, and 1946 to 1954. In 1955, the Western International League ...
. On June 24, 1946, Lohrke was a passenger on the team bus carrying the team as it traveled toward
Bremerton, Washington Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington, Kitsap County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. The population was 43,505 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and an estimated 44,122 in 2021, making it the largest city ...
, to begin a road trip. At the time, Lohrke was the team's
third baseman 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 Baseball scorekeep ...
and was batting .345 in 229
at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, ...
s. His performance had earned him a promotion to the AAA
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 ...
's
San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...
but the team was unable to contact him as he was in transit between cities. The Indians’ business manager contacted the police along the route and asked that they relay the message to Lohrke, which they did when the team stopped for dinner. Lohrke, under orders to report immediately to the Padres, removed his gear from the bus, said goodbye to his teammates, and hitched rides back to
Spokane Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south ...
. Later that evening, the team bus broke through a guard rail on a mountain pass, plunged down a hill, and crashed. Of the 15 players on it, nine were killed, including player/manager Mel Cole. The six survivors were badly injured.Fimrite, Ron (November 14, 1994
"O Lucky Man: A twist of fate saved Jack Lohrke from the worst tragedy in minor league history"
''Sports Illustrated''. Retrieved June 13, 2013


Major league career

Lohrke reached the major leagues the following year. He appeared in 354 games over seven seasons (1947–53) for 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 ...
and
Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...
, primarily as a
third baseman 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 Baseball scorekeep ...
. He hit .242 in 914
at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, ...
s with 22
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 1947, Lohrke's rookie year in the majors, he met
Honus Wagner Johannes Peter "Honus" Wagner ( ; February 24, 1874 – December 6, 1955) was an American baseball shortstop who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1897 to 1917, mostly with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Nicknamed "the Flying Dutc ...
prior to the start of a game the Giants played against the Pirates at Forbes Field. Jack hit 12 homers in his rookie season with New York. One of his homers broke the major league team homerun record (186 homeruns which had been set previously by the Yankees "Murderers' Row" club of Ruth and Gehrig.) The Giants ended up hitting 221 round trippers in 1947, a record that stood for many years. After Leo Durocher took over the helm of the Giants in 1948, Lohrke was relegated to a utility role as the fiery manager wanted to bring in his own players. Durocher sent Jack down to Jersey City in 1949, but Lohrke played so well that he was brought back up shortly thereafter. Lucky Lohrke was moved to the mound from third base during spring training of 1950 as management tried to capitalize on his incredible arm, even though he never pitched for NY in a regular season game. (Jack later did pitch in relief roles upon his return to the Pacific Coast League in 1954.) In the famous "Shot Heard Round the World" game against the Dodgers on October 3, 1951, Lohrke was warming up and ready to come in to play infield if the game went extra innings, but Bobby Thomson crushed a fastball into the left field stands to dramatically end the game in the bottom of the ninth and send the New York club into the World Series with the Yanks. Jack was traded to the Whiz Kids in Philadelphia prior to the start of the 1952 season where he played sparingly for two seasons until the Phils traded him to Pittsburgh. The Pirates moved Jack to their minor league affiliate, the Hollywood Stars of the PCL, and Jack spent his last five years of pro ball in the Coast League.


Retirement and legacy

''From the time he joined the Padres after the accident, Lohrke was called, for obvious reasons, "Lucky"-Lucky Lohrke, the ballplayer who got off the bus in the nick of time, the soldier bumped from the plane that crashed. The name stuck. Who else, after all, had more right to be called Lucky? He's in the Baseball Encyclopedia that way: Lucky Lohrke. An amiable man, he lived with the nickname, but he never liked it, never wanted to be reminded of how close he had come to riding that bus into oblivion. But what could he do about it?''
In a 1994 interview with ''
Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...
'', Lohrke looked back on the tragic bus accident and said, "When you're the age I was back then, you haven't got a worry in the world. You're playing ball because you want to play-and they're giving you money to do it. And then...well, sometimes those names spring back at me. I'll tell you this: Nobody outside of baseball calls me Lucky Lohrke these days. I may have been lucky, but the name is Jack. Jack Lohrke." After Lohrke left baseball, he worked for the
Lockheed Corporation The Lockheed Corporation was an American aerospace manufacturer. Lockheed was founded in 1926 and merged in 1995 with Martin Marietta to form Lockheed Martin. Its founder, Allan Lockheed, had earlier founded the similarly named but otherwise-u ...
in California and eventually retired as the firm's head of security. Lohrke died at a hospital in
San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...
in 2009, two days after suffering a
stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...
.Walker, Ben. "Former MLB infielder 'Lucky' Lohrke dies at 85"
Associated Press, Wednesday, April 29, 2009
'Lucky Lohrke' is mentioned in
Paul Auster Paul Benjamin Auster (February 3, 1947 – April 30, 2024) was an American writer, novelist, memoirist, poet, and filmmaker. His notable works include '' The New York Trilogy'' (1987), '' Moon Palace'' (1989), '' The Music of Chance'' (1990), ' ...
's 2010 novel '' Sunset Park''.


References


Bibliography

* Spink, J. G. Taylor, ed., ''The 1952 Baseball Register''. St. Louis:
The Sporting News ''The Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a ...
, 1952.


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lohrke, Jack 1924 births 2009 deaths United States Army personnel of World War II Baltimore Orioles (International League) players 20th-century American sportsmen Baseball players from Los Angeles Hollywood Stars players Indios de Oriente players Jersey City Giants players Major League Baseball third basemen Navegantes del Magallanes players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Minor league baseball managers New York Giants (baseball) players Philadelphia Phillies players Portland Beavers players San Diego Padres (minor league) players Seattle Rainiers players Spokane Indians players Baseball players from San Jose, California Tri-City Braves players Twin Falls Cowboys players United States Army soldiers