Elden Auker

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Elden Auker
Pitcher
Born: (1910-09-21)September 21, 1910
Norcatur, Kansas, U.S.
Died: August 4, 2006(2006-08-04) (aged 95)
Vero Beach, Florida, U.S.
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
MLB debut
August 10, 1933, for the Detroit Tigers
Last MLB appearance
September 20, 1942, for the St. Louis Browns
MLB statistics
Win–loss record130–101
Earned run average4.42
Strikeouts594
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Elden LeRoy "Submarine" Auker (September 21, 1910 – August 4, 2006) was an American Major League Baseball pitcher with the Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Browns between 1933 and 1942. Auker batted and threw right-handed. Auker was noted for his submarine pitching style.

Athletic career

Auker was born and raised in

Big Six Conference in baseball, football, and basketball.[1] In football, Auker starred at quarterback, was named second team All-American by Grantland Rice and was offered a $6,000 contract by the Chicago Bears. The Bears sent Bronko Nagurski to Manhattan to try to convince him to join the team.[citation needed] Auker turned down the Bears, however, to pitch for the Detroit Tigers
.

During his ten-year Major League career, Auker played with the Tigers,

winning percentage with an 18–7 record. In the 1935 Series against the Chicago Cubs
, Auker started Game 3, which Detroit won in extra innings, and the Tigers went on to win the Series four games to two.

During the 1935 World Series, Auker was interviewed by a young Cubs broadcaster, Ronald Reagan. When they met after Reagan had been elected governor of California, Reagan told him, "You probably won't remember me, but I'll remember you as long as I live." The radio interview, Reagan said, "was my first big break."[2]

Before the 1939 season, Auker was traded by Detroit to the Red Sox for Pinky Higgins and Archie McKain. That season was Ted Williams's rookie year in Boston, and the two would develop what became a lifelong friendship during the season. However, Auker chafed playing under Red Sox manager Joe Cronin, and his 9–10 record in the year was the lowest win total of any full season he played. Auker finished his career playing three seasons with the Browns (1940–1942). During the 1941 season, he gave up hits to Joe DiMaggio during two games of DiMaggio's record 56-game hitting streak.

As a hitter, Auker was a better than average hitting pitcher, posting a .187

bases on balls. Defensively, he was better than average, recording a .967 fielding percentage
which was 12 points higher than the league average at his position.

Post-playing career

Auker retired in 1943 so that he could contribute to the war effort. From 1943 to 1945, he worked on airplane and naval guns. From 1946 until 1975, Auker worked for Bay State Abrasives in Massachusetts, a company that made armaments and abrasive materials, retiring as the company president.[2]

He was inducted into the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame in 1969.[1]

Auker appeared at the last game played at Tiger Stadium on September 27, 1999. Auker spoke at the ceremony and told the crowd: "Never forget us, for we live on by those that carry on the Tiger tradition and who so proudly wear the olde English D."[3]

In 2001, Auker published his memoirs, entitled Sleeper Cars and Flannel Uniforms, written with Tom Keegan.

He died due to congestive heart failure, at age 95, in his home in Vero Beach, Florida.[2] He was the last surviving member of the 1935 World Champion Detroit Tigers.

Works

  • Auker, Elden; .

References

  1. ^ a b c "Auker, Eldon Inducted 1969". Kansas Sports Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 19, 2012.
  2. ^ a b c Schudel, Matt (April 6, 2006). "Depression-Era Submarine Pitcher Elden Auker". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 19, 2012.
  3. ^ Goldstein, Richard (August 5, 2006). "Elden Auker, 95, Pitcher Known for Submarine Style, Dies". The New York Times. Retrieved November 12, 2017.

Further reading

External links