Joe Tepsic
Ballplayers Wounded in Combat
| Date and Place of Birth: | September 18, 1923 Slovan, PA |
| Date and Place of Death: | February 23, 2009 Bald Eagle, PA |
| Baseball Experience: | Major League |
| Position: | Outfield |
| Rank: | Unknown |
| Military Unit: | US Marine Corps |
| Area Served: | Pacific Theater of Operations |
Joseph J. Tepsic was born in the western Pennsylvania mining community
of Slovan on September 18, 1923.
An all-round athlete at Union High School in Burgettstown, he attended
Waynesburg College for one semester before enlisting in the Marines in
1941. Tepsic saw comabt at Guadalcanal in the Pacific in 1942 where he
suffered a bayonet wound in the left shoulder and required a year’s
hospitalization.
Upon receiving his medical discharge in late 1944, Tepsic attended Penn
State on the GI Bill. He reported for baseball in April 1945, and made
good almost immediately. Joe Bedenk, Penn State baseball coach, spotted
him the first day of practice. "He's a natural outfielder," explained
Bedenk at the time. "He's fast, his reflexes are amazingly quick, he has
a good arm. But I needed a third baseman. He didn't want to play there,
but I had nobody else for that spot."
His big bat soon attracted major league scouts, and more than a half
dozen turned up in the grandstand at home games. But none of them made
much headway. "I want my degree before I consider baseball as a career,"
he said. "Then, too, I want a couple of years of football before I throw
in the sponge. All these baseball scouts tried to talk me out of
football."
Tepsic got to play football and scored eight touchdowns in eight games
as a freshman, making him the Pittsburgh Steelers' number four draft
pick. He played baseball again in the spring of 1946 before signing a
contract with the Brooklyn Dodgers for an estimated bonus of $17,000 in
July.
The Dodgers sent catcher Mike Sandlock to their Southern Association
farm team at Mobile to make way for Tepsic but he was used sparingly and
when the Dodgers wanted to assign him to Montreal of the International
League he refused to go. Tepsic stayed with the Dodgers throughout the
season, appearing in 15 games, primarily as a pinch runner, and went 0
for 5 at the plate.
In the spring of 1947, the Dodgers tried to send Tepsic to their Mobile
club but again he refused to go telling Branch Rickey he “would play
baseball in the majors or not at all.”
Rickey admitted that Tepsic had the potential of a big leaguer but was a
year or two away. “They never gave me a chance,” Tepsic said. “I know I
can play with this club. If they don’t want me I’m going back to
Pennsylvania and work in a mill . . . I’m definitely not going to Mobile
or anywhere else except the majors.”
Tepsic went home for two weeks before reporting to St. Paul of the Class
AAA American Association where, despite batting .302 in 21 games, his
attitude continued to be a problem and he was sent to Fort Worth of the
Class AA Texas League. In 1948, he went to spring training with the
Montreal Royals but was assigned to Lancaster of the Class B Inter State
League after making only one appearance as a pinch runner. He was with
Newport News of the Class B Piedmont League in 1949 and his professional
baseball career ended with the Harlingen Capitals of the Class B Gulf
Coast League in 1951.
Joe Tepsic then returned home. He worked in the logging industry and as
a state highway inspector before opening a small
grocery store, the Village Dairy Store in Altoona.
Tepsic passed away on February 23, 2009, in Bald Eagle, Pennsylvania. He
was 85 years old and is buried at Bald Eagle Cemetery in Tyrone,
Pennsylvania.
Date Added December 19, 2017
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