Pete Gray

 

April 17, 1995 Nanitoke, Pa

50th Anniversary of game appearance against the Detroit Tigers

Pete Gray (b. Peter Wyshner) was a one-armed baseball player, making his debut for the StLouis Browns on April 17, 1946

A childhood accident caused his right arm to be amputated above the elbow. His enthusiasm for baseball led him to learn to bat and field one-handed. By the age of 19, he was playing outfield for the Hanover Lits of the Wyoming valley Anthracite League. he would go on to play semi-pro with Pine Gove in Pennsylvania and Scranton in Brooklyn.

Gray earned tryouts with the St Louis Browns and the Philadelphia Athletics, but did not get called by either team. Gray continued to play in the minor leagues and semi-pro, with eh Trois-Rivieres Renards of the Canadian-American League, the Memphis chicks of the Southern Association and the independent Brooklyn Bushwicks

The St Louis Browns purchased his contract from the Chicks, and he would go on to play 77 games, batting .218 with a .958 fielding average