Johnny Wyrostek

John Barney Wyrostek (July 12, 1919 – December 12, 1986) was an American outfielder who played all or part of eleven Major League Baseball seasons between 1942 and 1954, most often in right or center field. He batted left-handed, threw right-handed, stood 6 feet 2 inches tall, and weighed 180 pounds. Signed by the St. Louis Cardinals out of his East St. Louis high school, he had his contract purchased by the Pittsburgh Pirates late in the 1941 season and played parts of the next two seasons with Pittsburgh as a reserve. After Army service, his contract was sold to the Philadelphia Phillies in 1946, where he became an everyday player. He also played for the Cincinnati Reds. Over his career with the Pirates, Phillies and Reds, Wyrostek batted .271 with 58 home runs and 481 runs batted in across 1,221 games, recording 1,149 hits, 209 doubles, and a .349 on-base percentage. He was named an All-Star twice; in 1951 he batted .311, sixth in the National League. His career spanned the wartime and postwar decades of the National League.