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Henry Majeski (December 13, 1916 – August 9, 1991) was an American professional baseball player, coach and minor league manager.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Hank Majeski at Baseball Reference )〕 He played as a third baseman in Major League Baseball from to for the Boston Bees/Boston Braves (1939–41), New York Yankees (1946), Philadelphia Athletics (1946–49 and 1951–52), Chicago White Sox (1950–51), Cleveland Indians (1952–55) and Baltimore Orioles (1955).〔 He was known as one of the best fielding third basemen of his era, setting a major league single-season record for third basemen with a .988 fielding percentage in .〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Single-Season Leaders & Records for Fielding Percentage as Third Baseman )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Hank Majeski )〕 ==Baseball career== Born in Staten Island, New York, Majeski began his professional baseball career as a second baseman in at the age of 18 with the Eau Claire Bears of the Northern League.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Hank Majeski minor league statistics )〕 In his second season at Eau Claire, he posted a .365 batting average to finish as runnerup in the Northern League batting championship.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=1936 Northern League Batting Leaders )〕 His performance brought him to the attention of the Chicago Cubs who signed him to a contract and sent him to play for their Minor League affiliate, the Moline Plowboys of the Three-I League. Majeski continued to perform well, winning the Three-I League batting championship with a .345 batting average.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=1937 Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League Batting Leaders )〕 He was traded to the Birmingham Barons of the Southern Association in where he hit for a .325 average.〔 Majeski's contract was purchased by the Boston Braves, then known as the Boston Bees and, he made his major league debut with the team on May 17, 1939 at the age of 22.〔 During his rookie season, Bees' manager Casey Stengel converted him into a third baseman.〔 Majeski began the season hitting above .300 for the first half of the season before a mid-season slump saw his average dip to .238 but, he recovered to finish the year with a .272 average along with 7 home runs and 54 runs batted in.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=1939 Hank Majeski batting log )〕 Majeski only appeared in 19 games for the Bees in 1940, spending most of the season with the minor league Newark Bears, a New York Yankees farm team.〔 Majeski hit for a .323 average during the Bears' season, then hit .478 in the post-season to help the Bears defeat the Louisville Colonels of the American Association in the Junior World Series. At the beginning of the 1941 season, Stengel decided to replace Majeski with Sibby Sisti as the Bees' third baseman and, in May 1941 his contract was purchased by the New York Yankees.〔 In while still playing for the Newark Bears, Majeski won the International League batting championship with a .345 batting average and was named the league's Most Valuable Player.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=1942 International League Batting Leaders )〕 Majeski joined the United States Coast Guard in and missed the next three seasons before being discharged in November .〔 He reported back to the Yankees in 1946 and, after an impressive spring training performance, made the team as a substitute player. After appearing in only eight games, his contract was sold to Connie Mack's Philadelphia Athletics in June 1946.〔 Majeski immediately became the starting third baseman for the Athletics, appearing in 78 games.〔 On July 29, 1947, he escaped serious injury when he was hit in the head by a fastball thrown by Chicago White Sox pitcher, Earl Harrist. He ended the season with a .280 batting average with 8 home runs, 72 runs batted in and, set a major league single-season record for third basemen with a .988 fielding percentage, breaking the previous mark set by Willie Kamm in .〔〔 Majeski had his best season in 1948, hitting for a .310 batting average along with 12 home runs, 120 runs batted in, .368 on-base percentage, and a .454 slugging percentage.〔 He led the league once again with a .975 fielding percentage, finished third in assists and in putouts and finished 11th in voting for the American League Most Valuable Player Award.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=1948 American League Fielding Leaders )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=1948 American League Most Valuable Player Award voting results )〕 On August 27, 1948, Majeski set an American League record for most doubles in a doubleheader with 6.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Doubles Records )〕 Majeski was a member of the 1949 Philadelphia Athletics team that set a major league team record of 217 double plays, a record which still stood as of .〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=A Record with Legs: Most Double Plays Turned in a Season )〕 On August 7, , Majeski was once again hit in the head by a fastball, this time thrown by Cleveland Indians pitcher Early Wynn. Majeski seemed to fall out of favor with manager Connie Mack and he would be traded to the Chicago White Sox before the 1950 season.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Hank Majeski Trades and Transactions )〕 He rebounded with the White Sox to post a .309 batting average with 6 home runs and 46 runs batted in.〔 After only a year and a half with the White Sox, he was traded back to the Athletics in June 1951.〔 A year later, his contract was purchased by the Cleveland Indians where he served as a utility infielder behind Al Rosen, and helped tutor a young Bobby Ávila. Majeski helped the Indians win the American League Pennant, batting .281 with only 3 errors while backing up Rosen at third base and filling in as a second baseman when Avila was injured. He also hit a pinch hit three-run home run in Game 4 of the 1954 World Series in a losing cause against the New York Giants.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=1954 World Series Game 4 box score )〕 He was traded to the Baltimore Orioles in June 1955, and then retired as a player at the end of the season at the age of 38.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Hank Majeski」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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