April 17, 1945: Pete Gray Makes His Major League Debut

April 17, 1945, 80 years ago: Pete Gray makes his major league debut. This would be a big deal for any player. But it was an especially big deal for Gray, since he only had one arm.

Peter James Wyshner was born on March 6, 1915 in Nanticoke, in the coal country of northeastern Pennsylvania. His brother became a boxer under the name Whitey Gray. Pete would take the name Gray as well.

The story of how Pete lost his right arm has varied over the years, even his age, 7 or 8. Supposedly, it was in a wagon accident. But he still wanted to play baseball, and he learned to bat and field one-handed, catching the ball in his glove and then quickly removing his glove and transferring the ball to his hand in one motion.

By the age of 19, he was playing semi-pro baseball. In 1942, he signed with Three Rivers of the Canadian-American League. His play there caught the attention of the Memphis Chicks of the Southern Association. In 1944, he batted .333, and led the SA with 68 stolen bases. He was awarded the league's Most Valuable Player award.

That season, for the only time in their history, the St. Louis Browns won the American League Pennant. It was largely "credited" to the manpower drain of World War II taking away the other teams' best players. But even the Browns were losing players to the military draft, and they signed Pete Gray for $20,000.

He made his major league debut on April 17, 1945, at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis, the Browns' season opener, against the Detroit Tigers. He was put in left field on this day, wearing Number 14, and batting 2nd. The opposing pitcher was Hal Newhouser, the previous year's AL MVP. Gray grounded to shortstop in the 1st inning, struck out in the 3rd, flew out to center in the 5th, and beat out an infield single to 2nd in the 7th. The Browns won the game, 7-1, as Sig Jakucki outpitched Newhouser.

Gray said his dream was to play at Yankee Stadium. It came true on May 20, with a doubleheader that the Browns swept, 10-1 and 5-1. He got 5 hits and had 2 RBIs. But, as it turned out, he couldn't hit breaking pitches, and with only one hand, he couldn't check his swing. He appeared in 77 games, batting just .218.

He was not appreciated by his teammates, either. They thought he was only on the team to sell tickets due to his disability. They thought he was holding them back from repeating as Pennant winners. It wasn't true: Their winning percentage in games he played was .600, and in games he didn't, .425. They finished 3rd. He was released after the season, with the veterans coming back, and, without him, the Browns fell back to 7th. They didn't have another winning season until 1960 -- their 7th as the Baltimore Orioles.

Gray played in the minor leagues over the next 4 years, but never returned to the majors. He returned to semi-pro ball, and played into the early 1950s. He developed addictions to alcohol and gambling, and resisted interview requests. In 1986, Keith Carradine starred in the ABC movie A Winner Never Quits: The Pete Gray Story. It renewed interest in him, and he became more receptive to publicity. He died on June 30, 2002 in Nanticoke, at age 87.