Virgil Woodrow Abernathy (February 1, 1915 – December 5, 1994) 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 whose career spanned six seasons, including parts of two 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

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 ...

(1946–1947). Abernathy batted and threw

left-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to and causing it to be stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply l ...

. Abernathy also played in the minor leagues. Over his career in the minors, Abernathy played for the Class-D Salisbury Bees (1938), the Class-C Fort Smith Giants (1942), the Double-A

Jersey City Giants {{Infobox Minor League Baseball , name = Jersey City Giants , founded = 1937 , city = Jersey City, New Jersey , misc = , logo = , uniformlogo = , class level = , past ...

(1945), and the Double-A (later Triple-A)

Minneapolis Millers The Minneapolis Millers were an American professional minor league baseball team that played in Minneapolis, Minnesota, through 1960. In the 19th century a different Minneapolis Millers were part of the Western League. The team played first in ...

(1945–1948). In the majors, Abernathy went 1–1 with a 3.64

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 ...

(ERA), one save and six

strikeout 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 ...

s in 16 games, one start. In the minors, he went 43–68 in 133 games. After his playing career, Abernathy was a

repairman The technical meaning of maintenance involves functional checks, servicing, repairing or replacing of necessary devices, equipment, machinery, building infrastructure and supporting utilities in industrial, business, and residential installat ...

in Chesnee, South Carolina for 30 years.

Professional career

Early career

In 1939, Abernathy began his professional career with the Class-D Salisbury Bees of the North Carolina State League. The Salisbury team, representing

Salisbury, North Carolina Salisbury ( ) is a city in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region of North Carolina, United States; it has been the county seat of Rowan County, North Carolina, Rowan County since 1753 when its territory extended to the Mississippi River. ...

, were affiliated with the Boston Bees

franchise. Abernathy took an absence from the professional circuit after the 1939 season. In 1942, Abernathy joined a

semi-professional Semi-professional sports are sports in which athletes are not participating on a full-time basis, but still receive some payment. Semi-professionals are not amateur because they receive regular payment from their team, but generally at a cons ...

team representing Woodruff, South Carolina. Later that season he joined the Class-C Fort Smith Giants of the

Western Association The Western Association was the name of five different leagues formed in American minor league baseball during the 19th and 20th centuries. The oldest league, originally established as the Northwestern League in 1883, was refounded as the Wester ...

. With Fort Smith, Abernathy went 16–6 in 29 games. After the season, he was tied for third in wins amongst league pitchers. Abernathy was runner-up for the league's best pitcher award that season. During the Western Association playoffs in 1942, Abernathy won two games for the Giants who went on to win the league pennant. Abernathy again left the professional circuit, this time for two seasons. In 1945, Abernathy joined the Double-A

Jersey City Giants {{Infobox Minor League Baseball , name = Jersey City Giants , founded = 1937 , city = Jersey City, New Jersey , misc = , logo = , uniformlogo = , class level = , past ...

of 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 ...

, but only pitched one game before he joined the Double-A

of the American Association. With the Millers that season, Abernathy went 9–13 with a 4.59

(ERA) and 80

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 32 games, 25 starts. Before the 1946 season, Abernathy tried out for the Class-B Spartanburg Peaches. That season, Abernathy did not play for the Peaches, instead re-joining the Millers of

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

. With the Millers in 1946, Abernathy went 9–9 with a 3.44 ERA in 22 games, 19 starts.

New York Giants

On July 25, 1946, the

acquired Abernathy from the Minneapolis Millers in exchange for pitchers Bob Joyce and Rube Fischer, and cash considerations. Abernathy made his major league debut on July 28, 1946, against the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

. In that game, Abernathy went seven

innings An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). In cricket and rounders, "innings" is ...

giving up five runs (four earned) while

striking out ''Striking Out'' is an Television in the Republic of Ireland, Irish television legal drama television series, broadcast on RTÉ, that first aired on 1 January 2017, based on ''The Good Wife'' by Robert King (writer), Robert and Michelle King. Prod ...

two. He got the loss in that game. On September 2, against the

Boston Braves The Boston Braves were a Major League Baseball club that originated in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, and played from 1871 to 1952. Afterwards they moved to History of the Atlanta Braves#Milwaukee, Milwaukee (and became the Milwaukee Braves). ...

, Abernathy got his first and only major league save. Abernathy picked up his first win on September 5, against 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 ...

after pitching only of an inning. On the season, Abernathy went 1–1 with a 3.38 ERA, one save and six strikeouts in 15 games, one start. In 1947, Abernathy pitched only one game with the Giants giving-up three runs (two earned) in two innings pitched.

Later career

After completing his tenure with the New York Giants, Abernathy re-joined the Minneapolis Millers. During the 1946 season, Abernathy went 9–10 with a 5.19 ERA and 52 strikeouts in 27 games, 17 starts. During the off-season, Abernathy was plagued with a stomach injury that he cured himself of before the 1948 season. In 1948, Abernathy only pitched two games and stuck out one in one inning pitched.

Later life

Abernathy resided in Chesnee, South Carolina where he worked as a

at the Reeves Brothers Textile Plant for 30 years until his retirement. Abernathy died on December 5, 1994, survived by his wife Marry Abernathy ''

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

'' Badgett, his sister Nell Ford, his stepsister Janell Peterson, his half-sister Junie Jones and his brother Wade Abernathy. Abernathy was buried at Resthaven Memorial Park.

References

;General references # # ;Inline citations

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abernathy, Woody 1915 births 1994 deaths Baseball players from Rutherford County, North Carolina New York Giants (baseball) players Fort Smith Giants players Jersey City Giants players Major League Baseball pitchers Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players People from Forest City, North Carolina Baseball players from Spartanburg County, South Carolina Salisbury Bees players 20th-century American sportsmen