Bill Marzalek
| Date and Place of Birth: | February 12, 1918 Emsworth, PA |
| Date and Place of Death: | October 6, 1942 Fort Huachuca, AZ |
| Baseball Experience: | Minor League |
| Position: | Pitcher |
| Rank: | Second Lieutenant |
| Military Unit: | 504th Field Artillery US Army |
| Area Served: | United States |
Bill Marzalek was born William A. Marszalek, to Polish immigrant
parents in Emsworth, Pennsylvania, on February 12, 1918, and grew up at
the Holy Family Orphanage in Emsworth. He went on to become the ace of
the Duquesne University varsity team and the Peter’s Club of the
Pittsburgh City League, before signing with the Pittsburgh Pirates’
organization following graduation from Duquesne in June 1941.
The Pirates assigned the hard-throwing right-hander to the Oil City
Oilers of the Class D Penn State League and he made his professional
debut with the club on June 30, 1941, hurling the Oilers to a 5-4
victory over the Beaver Falls Bees. Marzalek allowed only six hits that
day and contributed a two-run home run. Among his Oilers teammates was
19-year-old rookie Al Gionfriddo, who will always be remembered for his
play in the 1947 World Series against the Yankees when he caught
DiMaggio's drive to left field in Game 6, saving an 8-6 win for the
Dodgers at Yankee Stadium.
Quiet and unassuming, he became one of the best liked Oilers players
among the crowds at Oil City’s Ramage-Hasson Field, and he finished the
season with a 7-5 won-loss record and a 4.40 ERA in 16 outings, along
with a .271 batting average (16-for-59). One of his finest performances
of the year proved to be among his last. In the first game of the
post-season Shaughnessy playoffs with the Butler Yankees, Marzalek
scattered six hits and struck out 11 in leading the Oilers to a 7-1 win
(Butler went on to win the series three games to two).
With a successful first season of professional baseball still fresh in
his mind, Marzalek entered military service with the Army at Fort George
G. Meade, Maryland, on October 16, 1941. Seven weeks later, the Japanese
attacked Pearl Harbor and Second Lieutenant Marzalek was assigned to the
504th Field Artillery at Fort Huachuca, in Sierra Vista, southeast
Arizona, about 15 miles north of the border with Mexico. On October 6,
1942, while on maneuvers, Marzalek lost his life in a training accident.
"His never say die spirit,” announced the Oil City Blizzard upon
learning of his death, “regardless of what the odds were was a trait
which made him popular with the local baseball fans."
Requiem mass for Marzalek, who was survived by four brothers and two
sisters, was held on October 12 at St. Leocadia’s Church in Wilmerding.
He is buried at St. Mary's Polish Cemetery in McKeesport, Pennsylvania.
Two years after Marzalek’s death, on November 4, 1944, former Oilers
teammate Mike Sambolich, who had batted .312 in 1941, was killed in
Belgium when the jeep he was driving collided with a taxiing airplane.
|
Year |
Team |
League |
Class |
G |
IP |
ER |
BB |
SO |
W |
L |
ERA |
| 1941 | Oil City | Penn State Assoc | D | 16 | 119 | 58 | 62 | 96 | 7 | 5 | 4.39 |
Fort Huachuca, Arizona, where Bill Marzalek lost his life in a training accident on October 6, 1942
Date Added February 1, 2012 June 16, 2014
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