Joe Spalick
Ballplayers Wounded in Combat
| Date and Place of Birth: | November 16, 1920 Millvale, PA |
| Date and Place of Death: | June 4, 1995 Pittsburgh, PA |
| Baseball Experience: | Minor League |
| Position: | Outfield |
| Rank: | Corporal |
| Military Unit: | 4th Marine Division USMC |
| Area Served: | Pacific Theater of OPerations |
Joseph M. Spalick, the son of Frank and Elsie
Spalick, was born on November 16, 1920 in Millvale, Pennsylvania. Joe’s
father played baseball in Pittsburgh’s North Side Twilight League and
the Carnegie Steel League, and Joe was sure to follow in his footsteps.
In 1938 he played for the local Millvale Club, and
the 18-year-old outfielder signed with the Mayodan Millers of the Class
D Bi-State League in February 1939, but was released before the season
began. He spent the year playing in Pittsburgh’s City League and signed
with the St. Louis Cardinals’ Fostoria Red Birds of the Class D Ohio
State League in 1940, appearing in 87 games and batting .228.
Spalick was back with Fostoria in 1941 but a leg
injury saw his release from the team in June. In 1942 he played for the
Etna Club in the Greater Pittsburgh League and worked for the Pullman
Standard Car Company in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Spalick enlisted in the Marine Corps in July 1942.
He played ball for the Devil Doggs (managed by Aubrey Epps) at Camp
Lejeune, North Carolina, and was also stationed at Camp Pendleton,
California. Corporal Spalick later served in the Pacific with the 4th
Marine Division and took part in the Battle of Kwajalein in the Marshall
Islands in February 1944. He was wounded in combat during the Battle of
Saipan in June/July 1944 and hospitalized at New Caledonia.
Corporal Spalick was discharged from the Marines in
October 1945. He married Grace Mihlfried in June 1946 and worked as
machine operator, but he continued to play baseball and roamed the
outfield for the Pleasant Valley Smilers in 1946 and 1947. He later
worked as a sporting goods buyer at Zayre’s and as a mail clerk for the
Postal Service until his retirement. Spalick also owned a greyhound in
his retirement which he would race at Wheeling, West Virginia.
Joe Spalick passed away, aged 74, on June 4, 1995 at St. Margaret Memorial Hospital in Pittsburgh. He is buried at St. Stanislaus and St. Anthony Cemetery in Etna, Pennsylvania.
Date Added May 21, 2020
Can you add more information to this biography and help make it the best online resource for this player? Contact us by email
Read Baseball's Greatest Sacrifice Through The Years - an online year-by-year account of military related deaths of ballplayers
Baseball's Greatest Sacrifice is associated with Baseball Almanac
Baseball's Greatest Sacrifice is proud to be sponsored by
