Walt Navie
| Date and Place of Birth: | April 19, 1918 Chicago, IL |
| Date and Place of Death: | October 5, 1945 Hotel Oasis, El Paso, TX |
| Baseball Experience: | Minor League |
| Position: | Pitcher |
| Rank: | Private First-Class |
| Military Unit: | 35th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division US Army |
| Area Served: | Pacific Theater of Operations, UNited States |
Walter Navie was a 20-game winner in the minors and headed for a career with the White Sox. But four years of military service ended in tragic circumstances.
Using his real last name of Nawiesniak, Walt Navie, a 17-year-old
left-handed pitcher from Harrison Technical High School, Chicago,
Illinois, signed with the Rock Island Islanders of the Class A Western
League in 1935. In his professional debut for the Islanders against the
Davenport Blue Sox, he survived seven innings without allowing a hit,
but so did the opposing pitcher. In the eighth inning his control
wobbled, he allowed three hits and was beaten, 2–1. It was to be the
highlight of an otherwise forgettable trial in which he finished with an
0–5 won-loss record in 10 appearances before getting his release. Later
in the year he caught on with the Greenville Buckshots of the Class C
East Dixie League, pitching in eight games for a 2–4 record. The
following year, in between working for the International Harvester
Company, he made four appearances with the Crookston Pirates of the
Class D Northern League for an 0–2 record, and also compiled a 2–4
record in the Class D Alabama-Florida League with the Panama City
Papermakers and the Enterprise Browns.
In 1937, he returned to minor league baseball under the abbreviated name
of Walt Navie, and made five appearances with the Newton-Coroner Twins
of the Class D North Carolina State League. It was in 1938, at the age
of 20, that Navie finally got into the swing of things. Signing with the
Chicago White Sox organization he was assigned to the Rayne Rice Birds
of the Class D Evangeline League where he led the pitching staff with a
16–11 won-loss record in 33 appearances. He was back with the Rice Birds
in 1939 for a career-best 20–11 record, a 2.27 ERA and a league-leading
223 strikeouts. On August 5, Navie played in the Evangeline League
All-Star game at Lake Charles, Louisiana, and then made four late-season
appearances for the Shreveport Sports of the Class A1 Texas League.
He began the 1940 season with the Marshall Tigers of the Class C East
Texas League, and was 7–2 in 13 appearances when he rejoined Shreveport
for the remainder of the year. Navie was 2–4 with the Sports and earned
a spot on the White Sox spring training roster for 1941. On March 6, he
made a relief appearance for the major league team in an exhibition game
against the Hollywood Stars, hurling two scoreless innings in Chicago’s
8–0 win. On March 29, he made another relief appearance, this time
against the San Diego Padres, pitching five scoreless innings after
Orval Grove allowed three runs in the Padres 3–1 win. Despite these
performances, and since the White Sox had a steady starting rotation of
Ted Lyons, Thornton Lee, Eddie Smith and Johnny Rigney, Navie was
optioned to Shreveport the next day where he appeared in 23 games during
the regular season for a disappointing 4–8 record and 4.13 ERA.
Navie was carried on Chicago’s National Defense Service List when he
entered military service with the Army on February 21, 1942.
Serving with the military
police, he reached Hawaii in the early summer with the 35th
Infantry Regiment at Schofield Barracks, and pitched for the
Headquarters Aristocrats in the Schofield Barracks League, the Tigers in
the Hawaii League and the North Sector All-Stars. “It was obvious the
guy was a professional ballplayer the moment we got a gander of his form
on the mound, his delivery, and the hop on his fast one” wrote Charles
Marsis in the Honolulu Star Bulletin.
In October 1945, with the war over, the 28-year-old was stationed at El
Paso, Texas, where he had gotten married in the spring. On Friday,
October 5, 1945, Nawiesniak was on duty at the Union Depot Railway
Station before returning to the Hotel Oasis at 711 North Oregon Street,
where he was living with his wife, Maxine.
Year
Team
League
Class
G
IP
ER
BB
SO
W
L
ERA
The Hotel Oasis in El Paso, Texas Thanks to Astrid van Erp for help with photos for this biography Date Added February 2, 2012 Updated August
2, 2017 Baseball's Greatest Sacrifice is associated with Baseball
Almanac Baseball's Greatest Sacrifice is proud to be
sponsored by
Navie’s time in Hawaii was brief. The 35th Infantry Regiment,
attached to the 25th Infantry Division, was sent to
Guadalcanal in November, to relieve Marines near Henderson Field, during
which time he suffered from recurring attacks of malaria.
Although fellow MPs said he had been in good spirits recently, Walt and
Maxine had been having marital problems. Walt had threatened to kill
himself several times and Maxine had filed for divorce the previous day.
At around 1 pm, Maxine left the hotel to go shopping and when she
returned at 5 pm she found her husband lying on the floor in a pool of
blood; a .45 caliber Army revolver beneath his dead body.
On October 10, Justice of the Peace Charles Windberg, Jr., returned a
verdict of suicide. Nawiensniak had shot himself through the left side
of his head at around 2pm. He had left two notes.
One note said:
"Dearest Darling Mommie: I've waited for one and a half hours and I have
to go to work now - Please call me at Main 6478 or I'll call you. Daddy.
P. S. I love you."
The other note said:
"Dearest Darling Mommie: Dear, I'm sorry you're not home. I really
wanted to talk to you for the last time. Goodbye Mommie, I love you
always. Daddy."
Harry Grabiner, the Chicago White Sox general manager, said he was "very
sorry to hear" of Nawiesniak's death. He described the soldier as "a
fine young man, a very promising pitcher."
1935
Rock Island
Western
A
10
49
-
44
24
0
5
-
1935
Greenville
east Dixie
C
8
34
25
28
15
2
4
6.62
1936
Crookston
Northern
D
4
9
20
15
5
0
2
20.00
1936
Panama City/Enterprise
Alabama-Florida
D
8
41
23
19
7
2
4
5.05
1937
Newton-Conover
N. Carolina State
D
5
12
-
17
8
1
1
-
1938
Rayne
Evangeline
D
33
225
102
100
177
16
11
4.08
1939
Rayne
Evangeline
D
31
278
70
70
223
20
11
2.27
1939
Shreveport
Texas
A1
4
9
-
8
5
1
1
-
1940
Marshall
East Texas
C
13
78
26
32
57
7
2
3.00
1940
Shreveport
Texas
A1
27
72
37
33
42
2
4
4.63
1941
Shreveport
Texas
A1
23
120
55
68
60
4
8
4.13
