John Ralph Warner (August 29, 1903 – March 13, 1986) was an American

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 ...

. He played professional baseball player from 1921 to 1946, including eight seasons 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 ...

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 ...

(1925–1928),

Brooklyn Robins 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 Brookl ...

(1929–1931), 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 ...

(1932).

Early years

Warner was born in

Evansville, Indiana Evansville is a city in Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 118,414 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is Indiana's List of cities in Indiana, third-most populous city after India ...

, in 1903.

Professional baseball

Minor leagues

Warner began playing professional baseball in 1921 for Waynesboro in the Blue Ridge League. From 1923 to 1925, he played for the

Vernon Tigers The Vernon Tigers were a Minor League Baseball team that represented Vernon, California in the Pacific Coast League (PCL) from 1909 to 1925. The team won back-to-back PCL pennants in 1919 and 1920. The Tigers, together with the Sacramento Solons, ...

in the

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 ...

. He compiled a .303 batting average in 159 games for Vernon in 1924 and .296 in 166 games in 1925.

Detroit Tigers

Warner made his major league debut with the

at age 22 on September 24, 1925. He became the Tigers' regular

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 ...

for the 1926 and 1927 seasons. His best year was 1927, when he appeared in 138 games at third base and finished among 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 ...

leaders in at bats (559), outs (431), and

hit by pitch In baseball, hit by pitch (HBP) is an event in which a batter or his clothing or equipment (other than his bat) is struck directly by a pitch from the pitcher; the batter is called a hit batsman (HB). A hit batsman is awarded first base, provide ...

(6). In the 1927 season, he also scored 78 runs and had 149 hits, including 32

extra base hit In baseball, an extra-base hit (EB, EBH or XBH), also known as a long hit, is any base hit on which the batter is able to advance past first base without the benefit of a fielder either committing an error or opting to make a throw to retire ano ...

s, 45 RBIs, and 14

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base unaided by other actions and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or out ...

s. Warner did not hit for high average (.250 career batting average), but he was adept at drawing walks and had

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batting (baseball), batter reaches base (baseball), base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA ...

s of .381, .342, and .330 in his first three major league seasons.

Brooklyn and Philadelphia

Warner spent most of the 1929 season with Toledo, compiling a .330 batting average in 145 games. He joined the Brooklyn Robins late in the 1929 season. In three seasons with the Robins, Warner became a

utility infielder In baseball, a utility player or utility man is a player who has the ability to play more than one position in the field and is primarily used as a substitute. The term super utility player may be used to refer to a player who can play all or mos ...

, playing in 47 games in three years. He finished his career with the Phillies in 1933, where he played in 107 games, mostly at

second base In baseball and softball, second baseman, abbreviated 2B, is a fielding position in the infield, between second and first base. The second baseman often possesses quick hands and feet, needs the ability to get rid of the ball quickly, and must ...

, but saw his

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 ...

drop to .224. Warner played his final major league game on September 30, 1933. Over his eight-year major league career, Warner appeared in 478 major games, including 334 games at

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 ...

, 71 at second base and 30 at shortstop. He had 949 assists, 582

putouts In baseball statistics, a putout (PO) is awarded to a defensive player who (generally while in secure possession of the ball) records an out (baseball), out by one of the following methods: * tag play, Tagging a runner with the ball when he is no ...

, 482 total bases, 387 hits, 199 runs, 120 RBIs, 73

s, and one

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 ( ...

Later years

Warner was married to Wave (Bruce) Warner in approximately 1925.Census entry for John R. Warner, age 37, pro baseball player. Census Place: San Francisco, San Francisco, California; Roll: T627_308; Page: 63A; Enumeration District: 38-280. Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census atabase on-line They lived in

Mt. Vernon, Illinois Mount Vernon is a city in Jefferson County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The population was 14,600 at the 2020 census. Mount Vernon is the principal city of the Mount Vernon, Illinois micropolitan area, which includes all of ...

, by the time of the 1930 U. S. Census.Census entry for Frank Bruce and family. Son-in-law Jack Warner, age 26, employed by the Brooklyn ball club. Census Place: Mount Vernon, Jefferson, Illinois; Roll: 521; Page: 10B; Enumeration District: 0017; Image: 732.0; FHL microfilm: 2340256. Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census atabase on-line After his playing career, Warner was a

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

for 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 ...

and managed and coached 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 ...

. He spent 12 seasons as a coach for the

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, ...

of the

, a longtime Cub farm team, and also scouted for other MLB organizations. Warner died in

, at age 82 in 1986.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Warner, Jack 1903 births 1986 deaths Brooklyn Robins players Chicago Cubs scouts Detroit Tigers players Galax Leafs players Jersey City Skeeters players Los Angeles Angels (minor league) managers Los Angeles Dodgers scouts Major League Baseball second basemen Major League Baseball third basemen Minor league baseball coaches Montreal Expos scouts New York Yankees scouts Oakland Oaks (baseball) players People from Mount Vernon, Illinois Philadelphia Phillies players St. Paul Saints (AA) players San Francisco Seals (baseball) players Baseball players from Evansville, Indiana Toledo Mud Hens players Vernon Tigers players Waynesboro Villagers players Zanesville Cubs players 20th-century American sportsmen