Dick Conger

Richard Conger (April 3, 1921 – February 16, 1970) was a Major League Baseball pitcher who played for the Detroit Tigers, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Philadelphia Phillies.[1] His key pitch was the fastball.[2]

Dick Conger
Pitcher
Born: (1921-04-03)April 3, 1921
Los Angeles, California
Died: February 16, 1970(1970-02-16) (aged 48)
Los Angeles, California
Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
April 22, 1940, for the Detroit Tigers
Last MLB appearance
September 14, 1943, for the Philadelphia Phillies
MLB statistics
Win–loss record3–7
Earned run average5.14
Strikeouts24
Teams

Early life

Conger was born in Los Angeles, California, and was Jewish.[3] [4][5][6] He attended Fremont High School in Los Angeles, for whom he played baseball, and as a sophomore won 17 consecutive games on the way to a City title.[7] He also led the team to the City Championship in his senior year in 1938.[7]

He then attended the University of California, Los Angeles, where Conger also played baseball.[8][9][10] He lost only one game as a freshman for the UCLA Bruins, before signing with the Detroit Tigers in 1940.[7]

Baseball career

In the minor leagues, in 1943 with the Toronto Maple Leafs Conger was 11-6 with a 1.96 ERA (3rd in the International League).[11] In 1944 with the Los Angeles Angels he was 13-7 with a 2.88 ERA, and 5 shutouts (tied for 7th in the Pacific Coast League).[12]

Conger pitched in the major leagues from 1940 (when at 19 years of age he was the second-youngest player in the American League, behind Hal Newhouser) to 1943.[13][14][15] In his major league career he was 3-7 with a 5.14 ERA, and four complete games.[14]

From 1944 to 1946 Conger served in the Marine Corps during World War II.[16][17]

After his major league career, Conger continued to play in the minor leagues, his last season being with the Sacramento Solons (PCL) and Oklahoma City Indians (Texas League) in 1950.[18] He died at 48 years of age.[5]

On June 26, 2011, Conger was inducted into the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.[19]

References
  1. "Dick Conger Stats". baseball-reference.com. sports-reference.com. Retrieved February 5, 2011.
  2. Neyer, Rob; James, Bill (2004). The Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers. Simon & Schuster. p. 170. ISBN 9781439103777.
  3. Burton Alan Boxerman, Benita W. Boxerman (2007). Jews and Baseball: Entering the American mainstream, 1871-1948
  4. "Big League Jews". Jewish Sports Review. 12 (137): 18. January–February 2020.
  5. Horvitz, Peter S.; Horvitz, Joachim (2001). The Big Book of Jewish Baseball. SP Books. ISBN 9781561719730 – via Google Books.
  6. Wechsler, Bob (2008). Day by Day in Jewish Sports History. KTAV Publishing House, Inc. ISBN 9780881259698 – via Google Books.
  7. "Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame Home". scjewishsportshof.com.
  8. Southern Campus, Volume 20, 1939.
  9. "Dick Conger Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 4, 2020.
  10. "University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Baseball Players Who Made it to a Major League Baseball Team". www.baseball-almanac.com.
  11. "1943 International League Pitching Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com.
  12. "1944 Pacific Coast League Pitching Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com.
  13. "Richard (Dick) Conger". jewishbaseballmuseum.com.
  14. "Dick Conger Stats". Baseball-Reference.com.
  15. "1940 American League Awards, All-Stars, & More Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com.
  16. The ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia. Sterling Publishing. 2007. p. 1137. ISBN 978-1-4027-4771-7.
  17. "Baseball in Wartime - Those Who Served A to Z". BaseballinWartime.com. Retrieved January 31, 2019.
  18. "Dick Conger Minor Leagues Statistics & History". baseball-reference.com. sports-reference.com. Retrieved June 10, 2011.
  19. "Sports Shorts". Jewish Sports Review. July–August 2011.
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