George Yankowsk Visits Cooperstown

By Samantha Carr Cooperstown, N.Y. Aug 2009 - Once in a while, a former Major League player comes to the Baseball Hall of Fame's research library looking for information from a game in his career. But rarely is that player making his first visit to the Hall in 67 years. On Thursday, George Yankowski and his wife stopped at the Baseball Hall of Fame to retrieve a box score from the 1942 Hall of Fame Game he played in. That was the last time he was in Cooperstown.

"The Hall of Fame is like a place for fantasy games with old players," said Yankowski, a former catcher for the Philadelphia A's and Chicago White Sox. "That is why it is so great that I got to play down here."

Yankowski was just 19 years old when his A's lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-2 ,on Aug. 3, 1942. Now 86, Yankowski can look back on a life filled with memorable moments on and off the baseball diamond.

One year after his Hall of Fame Game debut, Yankowski played in a game with future Hall of Famers Babe Ruth and Ted Williams on July 12, 1943. The mayor of Boston, Maurice Tobin, hosted a charity game featuring the Boston Braves against some military all-stars at Fenway Park. Yankowski, who grew up in Watertown, Mass., was invited to play.

Ruth was coaching first base in what was the final game in which he appeared in uniform. Yankowski hit a ball off the Green Monster and only got a single on a hit that he said should have been a double.

"But thank god I stopped at first, because Ruth put his arm around me and said, 'Nice going, kid'," Yankowski said. "It never would have happened if I was standing on second."

Ruth pinch-hit in the game but didn't reach base. Williams homered, but it was Yankowski who knocked in the winning run in a 9-8 win for the military all-stars.

Yankowski's Major League career began under Hall of Fame manager Connie Mack in 1942, but he played in just six games that season. He then spent three years in the army during World War II as an aviation cadet and later served in the infantry. Yankowski fought in the Battle of the Bulge and spent a long, terrible winter in Europe.

"It was a no-brainer, really," said Yankowski about his decision to leave a promising baseball career for the military. "We were losing that war for a while and when your country is at stake, the young and healthy men go to serve in the armed forces."

Yankowski returned from the war and returned to baseball. He played for the White Sox in the Minor Leagues and was called up in 1949 after a seven-year absence from the big leagues. After only 12 games, Yankowski retired and went onto another rewarding career as a high school teacher and baseball coach.

He was also a successful guidance counselor and worked for ADP, a tech company, before retiring at age 85. He and his wife, Mary, enjoy traveling, and Yankowski recently played in a charity golf tournament at the Delaware Water Gap in Pennsylvania with Hall of Famer Ferguson Jenkins.

"I had been meaning to come to Cooperstown and it's -- wow, after all these years," said Yankowski.

"This is a little boy's world," added his wife, Mary. "It's every little boy's dream."