George Stirnweiss

George Henry "Snuffy" Stirnweiss (1918-1958) was an American second baseman who played in Major League Baseball from 1943 to 1952. He spent the majority of his career with the New York Yankees before short stints with the St. Louis Browns and Cleveland Indians. A college football and baseball player at the University of North Carolina, Stirnweiss became a regular in the Yankees infield during World War II, when many established players were in military service. He led the American League in several offensive categories in 1944, including 205 hits, 125 runs, and 55 stolen bases, while batting .319. In 1945 he won the American League batting title at .309 and was named to the All-Star team; he was selected again in 1946. His production declined after the war as veterans returned to the league. Over a ten-season career he batted .268 with 29 home runs and 281 runs batted in. He was part of three Yankees World Series championship teams, in 1943, 1947, and 1949, and posted a .429 on-base percentage in the 1947 Series against Brooklyn. Stirnweiss died in 1958 at age 39 when a commuter train he was aboard plunged into Newark Bay near Bayonne, New Jersey.