Morris Savransky (January 13, 1929 – October 13, 2022) was an American professional baseball player.Moe Savransky Baseball Stats by Baseball Almanac
/ref> A left-handed

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, ...

listed at , , he pitched 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 Cincinnati Redlegs in 1954.

Early and personal life

Savransky was born in

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, and was

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

.''The Big Book of Jewish Baseball'' – Peter S. Horvitz, Joachim Horvitz
/ref> His son Al became a baseball and wrestling coach at Pope High School in

Marietta, Georgia Marietta is a city in and the county seat of Cobb County, Georgia, United States. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 60,972. The 2019 estimate was 60,867, making it one of Atlanta's largest suburbs. Marietta is the fourth largest ...

.''Baseball Players of the 1950s: A Biographical Dictionary of All 1,560 Major Leaguers'' – Rich Marazzi, Len Fiorito
/ref>

High school and college

Savransky attended Cleveland Heights High School ('48), where he pitched the school baseball team to the 1947 Ohio Class A high school baseball title after a regular season in which he was 10–0. He won two games in the finals on consecutive days.''Wilmington News-Journal'' from Wilmington, Ohio on January 16, 1954 · Page 6
/ref> He attended

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

in its College of Commerce on a basketball scholarship during the off-season.'Matzoh Balls and Baseballs,' a hit about baseball players , Les Levine , ''Cleveland Jewish News''
/ref> Savransky also played baseball for the university, competing in the 1951 College World Series.

Minor leagues

Savransky was signed by the Cincinnati Redlegs in June 1948. He played in the minors from 1948 up until 1955 at various stops, missing the 1952 and 1953 seasons for military service. In 1950, pitching 245 innings combined for two minor league teams of Cincinnati, Savransky went 17–9 with a 1.98 ERA.Moe Savransky Stats , Baseball-Reference.com
/ref> In October 1950, he was purchased by the Buffalo Bisons (

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major ...

) from Cincinnati. On October 14, 1951, Savransky was traded by Buffalo with pitcher Tom Acker to Cincinnati for outfielder Jim Bolger.

Major leagues and thereafter

Savransky made his Major League debut for the Redlegs at age 25 on April 23,

1954 Events January * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown–IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head ...

, when he came on in the top of the ninth

inning In baseball, softball, and similar games, an inning is the basic unit of play, consisting of two halves or frames, the "top" (first half) and the "bottom" (second half). In each half, one team bats until three outs are made, with the other tea ...

in a 10–3 loss to 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 ...

. He gave up one hit, but escaped without allowing a run. Savransky appeared in 16

games A game is a Structure, structured type of play (activity), play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an Educational game, educational tool. Many games are also considered to be Work (human activity), work (such as p ...

for the Redlegs during the 1954 season. In 24 innings he gave up 23 hits and 13 runs, with eight bases on balls and seven

strikeouts 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 ...

. In three plate appearances, Savransky had a hit and a walk, and scored both times. He retired at the end of the 1954 season. Thereafter, Savransky was in the oil business and also threw

batting practice This is an alphabetical list of selected unofficial and specialized terms, phrases, and other jargon used in baseball, along with their definitions, including illustrative examples for many entries. 0–9 0 :"Oh and ..." See #count, coun ...

for a number of years at home games of the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

. Later, he was a steel company sales representative in Chicago, and a

waste management Waste management or waste disposal includes the processes and actions required to manage waste from its inception to its final disposal. This includes the collection, transport, treatment, and disposal of waste, together with monitor ...

company

independent contractor Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any oth ...

in Los Angeles. Savransky died on October 13, 2022, at age 93. At the time of his death, he was one of the 100 oldest living former Major League Baseball players.">"Oldest Living Baseball Players" by Baseball Almanac
/ref>

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Savransky, Moe 1929 births 2022 deaths 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews American men's basketball players Baseball players from Cleveland Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Charleston Senators players Cincinnati Redlegs players Cleveland Heights High School alumni Columbia Reds players Jewish American baseball players Major League Baseball pitchers Ohio State Buckeyes baseball players Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball players Seattle Rainiers players Sunbury Reds players Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players 20th-century American sportsmen