Sammy Fayonsky (Fay)
| Date and Place of Birth: | February 8, 1907 Greenville, SC |
| Date and Place of Death: | November 10, 1944 nr. Nomeny, France |
| Baseball Experience: | Minor League |
| Position: | Outfield |
| Rank: | Sergeant |
| Military Unit: | 68th Tank Battalion, 6th Armored Division US Army |
| Area Served: | European Theater of Operations |
Fayonsky was a dimunitive, fleet-footed outfielder who later coached one of the most famous names in baseball history.
Samuel W. Fayonsky was born on February 8, 1907, in
Greenville, South Carolina. He was the son of Jewish immigrants from
Eastern Europe – Louis and Sarah – and had an older brother, Harry, and
older sister, Millie.
Fayonsky was a star outfielder and basketball
player with Greenville High School, and attended Furman University in
Greenville in his freshman year in 1925. He headed to the University of
Virginia the following year where he made an immediate impression with
the baseball team. “Small in stature, wiry and as light as a feather on
his feet, Fayonsky is very fast and a regular ball hawk in the
outfield,” declared the Greenville News on April 27, 1927. However, he
was later ruled ineligible for athletic competition at Virginia due to
his participation in athletics at Furman.
The 21-year-old signed with the Greenville Spinners
of the Class B South Atlantic League in 1928. He was sent to the Rocky
Mount Buccaneers of the Class D East Carolina League where he batted
.264 in 112 games, and also appeared in 14 games with the Spinners. He
spent all of 1929 with Rocky Mount, batting .280 in 119 games, and
advanced to the Class B Southeastern League for 1930, playing 32 games
for the Columbus Foxes, then 109 games with
the Augusta Wolves of the South Atlantic League,
where he batted an impressive .328 and stole 23 bases. Based on this
performance Fayonsky had a try-out with the Brooklyn Dodgers, but a
shoulder injury from earlier in the season ended his chances of reaching
the big leagues.
Still struggling from the injury, Fayonsky started
the 1931 season as the lead-off hitter for the Durham Bulls of the Class
C Piedmont League, but was released in May, bringing his pro career to
an end.
The 25-year-old was playing semi-pro baseball with
the Pelzer team in 1932, and in
the late summer of that year, Fayonsky was player-manager with
the semi-pro Greenville Spinners. Playing alongside him in the outfield
for eight games during the month of August was none other than the
legendary Shoeless Joe Jackson. Joe was 45
years old at the time and batted .407, playing in his first ever
night game on August 24.
Fayonsky was employed as a manager with the
Carolina Clothing Manufacturing Company during the 1930s. He entered
military service in March 1942, aged 35, and trained with the 6th
Armored Division at Camp Cook in California. For reasons that are
unclear, but possibly to disguise his Jewish heritage, Fayonsky
shortened his last name to “Fay” while serving in the military.
Assigned to the 68th Tank Battalion as a
sergeant, Fayonsky reached England in February 1944 and then France in
July. He was killed in action in the vicinity of Nomeny, France on
November 10, 1944. He is buried at the Lorraine American Cemetery in St.
Avold, France.
Starting in 1945, a memorial trophy was given
annually by the Greenville YMCA to the town’s best sportsman. “Sam was
one of the cleanest and best athletes I’ve ever known,” said local
former sandlot player Barron Templeton at the time. “I had the utmost
respect for him and his fair play attitude.”
|
Year |
Team |
League |
Class |
G |
AB |
R |
H |
2B |
3B |
HR |
RBI | AVG |
| 1928 | Rocky Mount | East Carolina | D | 112 | 424 | - | 112 | 31 | 5 | 1 | - | .264 |
| 1928 | Greenville | Sally | B | 14 | 57 | - | 15 | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | .263 |
| 1929 | Rocky Mount | East Carolina | D | 119 | 425 | - | 119 | 24 | 7 | 3 | - | .280 |
| 1930 | Columbus | S'eastern | B | 32 | 124 | - | 36 | 5 | 3 | 0 | - | .290 |
| 1930 | Augusta | Sally | B | 109 | 320 | - | 105 | 21 | 5 | 0 | - | .328 |
| 1931 | Durham | Piedmont | C | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Sammy Fayonsky's grave at Lorraine American Cemetery
in St. Avold, France
Date Added November 23, 2024
Thanks to Jack Morris for "discovering" Sammy Fayonsky.
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