Stephen Richard Sundra (March 27, 1910 – March 23, 1952) was a

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, ...

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 ...

who played during eight seasons for the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

(1936; 1938–1940), Washington Senators (1941–1942) and

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they ...

(1942–1944; 1946). He batted and threw right-handed.

Career

A native of

Luxor, Pennsylvania Luxor is an unincorporated area, unincorporated community and coal town in Hempfield Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, Hempfield Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. History Th ...

, Steve Sundra was the son of a Czech coal miner. The family moved to

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 ...

, when he was 16 and Sundra starred in

sandlot ball Sandlot ball or sandlot baseball is a competitive and athletic sports game that follows the basic rules and procedures of baseball. It is less organized and structured, as the name alludes to a makeshift field or an empty lot. In the 20th centu ...

there. He was signed by 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 ...

and made his pro debut in 1932, moving up to Toledo in 1934. Cleveland optioned Sundra to Minneapolis and Newark in 1935, and the Yankees obtained him in a three-pitcher deal in December, along with

Monte Pearson Montgomery Marcellus Pearson (September 2, 1908 – January 27, 1978) was an American baseball pitcher who played ten seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Nicknamed "Hoot", he played for the Cleveland Indians, New York Yankees and Cincinnati ...

, in exchange for Johnny Allen. His career in 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 ...

ran from 1936 to early in 1946, with time out for 1944–1945

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

service during World War II. In 1936, Sundra posted a 12–9 record for the

Newark Bears The Newark Bears were an American independent league professional baseball team based in Newark, New Jersey. They were a member of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball and, later, the Canadian American Association of Professional Bas ...

, leading the

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 ...

with a 2.84

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

. After one

relief Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...

appearance for the Yankees in April 1936, he was optioned back to Newark. The Bears won the IL championship with a 109–43 mark, and Sundra went 15–4, ranking eighth in the league in ERA (3.09), and was selected for the All-Star Game. Sundra was a member of the

World Champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

Yankees in

1938 Events January * January 1 – state-owned enterprise, State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France (SNCF) and the Netherlands (Nederlandse Spoorwegen – NS). * January 20 – King Farouk of Egypt marries Saf ...

. He won his last four starts during the regular season, then ran off 11 straight victories (three in relief) for the 1939 AL pennant-winners before losing his last start of the season. He appeared in Game Four of the

1939 World Series The 1939 World Series featured the three-time defending champion New York Yankees against the Cincinnati Reds, who were making their first Series appearance since winning the scandal-tainted 1919 World Series. The Yankees swept the Series in fou ...

, pitching 2.2 innings of relief, allowing 4 hits, 3 runs, all unearned, 1 walk and striking out 2. In 1940 Sundra faded, going 4–6, and the next year was sold to the Washington Senators, who in turn sent him to the St. Louis Browns in the 1942 midseason. He won 15 games in 1943, then in , began the year with two

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

victories for the pennant-bound Browns. But after his third start on May 2 he entered the Army, thus missing the

1944 World Series The 1944 World Series was an all-St. Louis World Series, matching the St. Louis Cardinals and St. Louis Browns at Sportsman's Park. It marked the third time in World Series history in which both teams had the same home field (the others being th ...

, the only fall classic in which the Browns would ever appear during their 52-year history in the

. Sundra rejoined the Browns for

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

in 1946 after his discharge, but was released on May 29, marking the end of his baseball career. Sundra was good with the bat for a pitcher, posting a .209

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 ...

(63-for-302) with 33 runs, 2

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run ...

, 22 RBI and 20

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), better known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches during a plate appearance that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The bas ...

in 168 games. Later, Sundra sued the Browns under the

G.I. Bill The G.I. Bill, formally the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was a law that provided a range of benefits for some of the returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as G.I. (military), G.I.s). The original G.I. Bill expired in ...

, claiming that he should have been kept on the roster for one year. He asked for $5,413, the difference between what he had been paid and his 1946 salary, but lost in federal court in a decision rendered in 1949. He worked in construction until he fell ill in late 1950. Sundra died in Cleveland, four days before his 42nd birthday, a victim of cancer. He was buried in Cleveland's Calvary Cemetery.

References

External links

Baseball Almanac
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sundra, Steve 1910 births 1952 deaths American people of Serbian descent Baseball players from Atlantic City, New Jersey Baseball players from Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania Burlington Bees players Deaths from cancer in Ohio Major League Baseball pitchers Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players New Orleans Pelicans (baseball) players New York Yankees players Newark Bears (International League) players Quincy Indians players St. Louis Browns players 20th-century American sportsmen Toledo Mud Hens players Washington Senators (1901–1960) players Zanesville Greys players United States Army personnel of World War II