John Barney Wyrostek (July 12, 1919 – December 12, 1986) 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 ...

player. He played all or part of eleven seasons in the

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 ...

between 1942 and 1954 primarily as an

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

, most often in

right Rights are law, legal, social, or ethics, ethical principles of freedom or Entitlement (fair division), entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal sy ...

center field A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball and softball fielding position between left field and right field. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the cen ...

. He batted left-handed, threw right-handed, and was listed as tall and . Wyrostek was signed by 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 ...

out of his East St. Louis high school. His contract was purchased by 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 ...

late in the 1941 season, and he played parts of the next two seasons with the Pirates as a reserve outfielder. On September 30, 1943, Wyrostek was traded back to the Cardinals. After a stint in the

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

, his contract was sold to the

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 ...

in 1946, at which point he became an everyday player. Wyrostek averaged eight homers a year in his career, and had only one season in which he hit over ten. In 1948, he had a total of 17 home runs with another career high, 76 RBIs, which he would tie later. His seven

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 on the year also tied a career-high. In 1950, Wyrostek hit .285 with 8 homers and 76 RBIs with the Reds. On September 4 of that year, Wyrostek drove in eight of the Reds' 13 runs in a doubleheader sweep of the visiting Cardinals. By 1951, Wyrostek was a good-hitting

who averaged about a .266 batting average. But that year, his batting average skyrocketed to .311. While his power numbers went down (2 HR, 61 RBIs), his batting average was good for sixth in the league and his 167

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...

was 10th. He made his second and final All-Star team. In an 11-season career played with the Pirates, Phillies and Reds, Wyrostek batted .271 with 58

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 and 481

RBIs A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

in 1221 games. He had 525

runs scored In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted bal ...

with 33 stolen bases and a solid .349

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 ...

. He had 1,149 hits with 209 doubles and 45

triples TripleS (; ; stylized as tripleS) is a South Korean 24-member multinational girl group formed by Modhaus. They aim to be the world's first decentralized idol group, where the members will rotate between the full group, sub-units, and solo activi ...

in his 4,240

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, ...

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wyrostek, Johnny 1919 births 1986 deaths Cincinnati Reds players Columbus Red Birds players Houston Buffaloes players Kinston Eagles players Major League Baseball center fielders Major League Baseball right fielders National League All-Stars New Orleans Pelicans (baseball) players People from Fairmont City, Illinois Philadelphia Phillies players Pittsburgh Pirates players Rochester Red Wings players Baseball players from East St. Louis, Illinois Springfield Cardinals players Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players United States Army personnel of World War II 20th-century American sportsmen