Pete Appleton

Peter William Appleton (May 20, 1904 – January 18, 1974), born Peter Jablonowski and sometimes known as "Jabby" and the "Polish Wizard," was an American baseball player, scout, and manager.

Appleton was born as Peter Jablonowski in 1904 at Terryville, Connecticut.

His father was a foreman at the Eagle Lock Co. in Terryville.

Jablonowski attended Terryville High School where he was a star athlete in baseball, basketball, and track.

He was selected as an all-state forward in basketball and broke the Connecticut state record with a distance of 39 feet, 4 inches in the shot put.

In 1921, he threw a no-hitter and struck out 23 batters in a game against Waterbury High School.

As a youth, Jablonowski was an accomplished classical pianist.

He reportedly "horrified his mother when he elected to become a baseball player."

He was a pitcher for the Michigan Wolverines baseball team for three years from 1924 to 1926.

He helped lead the 1924 Michigan team to a 16–7 overall record (8–2 in conference) and the Big Ten Conference championship.

During a trip to the South in the early part of the season, Jablonowski was the starting pitcher in Michigan's first win of the 1924 season, a 10–1 victory over Alabama Polytechnical School (now known as Auburn University).

In his second start on the road trip, Jablonowski won a 3–1 decision against Mississippi A&M College (now known as Mississippi State University).

On May 31, 1924, he was the winning pitcher and struck out 11 batters in the game that secured the Big Ten championship for Michigan — a 9–0 shutout victory against Wisconsin.

In the final game of the 1924 season, Jablonowski threw a complete-game shutout, allowing only five hits and striking out 13 batters in an 11–0 victory over Japan's championship team from Meiji University.

The 1925 Michiganensian noted: "Jablonowski showed excellent form on the mound."

In 1925, Jablonowski helped lead the Michigan baseball team to a 17–8 record.

In the Big Ten Conference opener on May 2, 1925, he threw a one-hitter against Illinois, but lost 1–0 after two throwing errors allowed the Illini to score a run.

Appleton played college baseball for the University of Michigan and played professional baseball from 1926 to 1951, including stints as a pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Washington Senators, Chicago White Sox and St. Louis Browns.

He compiled a record of 57–66 in 343 games in Major League Baseball.

The 1926 Michiganensian described the one hit allowed by Jablonowski as a "scratch hit," and some opined that the game should have been called a no-hitter as the hit came on a bobbled ground ball that the Illinois scorer credited as a base hit.

As a senior in 1926, Jablonowski helped lead Michigan to another Big Ten Conference baseball championship.

In the third game of the season, Jablonowski shut out Vanderbilt, and Michigan won, 7–0.

Jablonowski was also a strong batter for Michigan, compiling a .342 batting average in 1926 – the third highest on the team behind William H. Puckelwartz (.441) and Bennie Oosterbaan (.364).

Although the University of Michigan yearbooks identified Jablonowski as a pitcher, Appleton's obituary in The Sporting News noted that he also played shortstop and was part of a Michigan infield that was known as the "jawbreaker infield", including Jablonowski, Oosterbaan and Puckelwartz.

The three did play together on the 1926 Michigan baseball team, but Puckelwartz played centerfield, Oosterbaan right field, and Jablonowski was a pitcher.

While attending Michigan, Jablonowski lived at Fletcher Hall and was a member of the Polonia Literary Club.

Appleton played professional baseball for 26 years from 1926 to 1951.

He played for six major league and 12 minor league teams.

In 14 seasons of Major League Baseball, Appleton posted a 57–66 record with 420 strikeouts and a 4.30 ERA in 341 games (71 as a starter).

In his obituary, The Sporting News described him as "a righthander with no outstanding talents."

After graduating from Michigan in June 1926, Appleton turned down several offers to play Major League Baseball and opted to play during the 1926 season near his Connecticut home for the Waterbury Brasscos in the Eastern League.

John played "twilight ball" in Terryville and struck out 16 batters in a game in 1929.

Jablonowski attended the University of Michigan.

A newspaper profile of Jablonowski in 1930 noted: "He plays a mean piano. And no amount of persuasion will induce him to mix jazz with his Chopin and Beethoven. It remains to be seen how many more ball teams will fall for is 'slow music' on the diamond."

He changed his surname from Jablonowski to Appleton in 1934.

After retiring as a player, Appleton remained active in baseball as a scout and manager.

He was a manager of minor league teams in the Washington Senators/Minnesota Twins organization for 20 years.

A 1952 newspaper story noted that, during his time in the major leagues, he was "recognized as the finest piano player in the majors."

Jablonowski had three younger brothers, Joe, John, and Alec, who also played baseball.

Joe played baseball at the University of New Hampshire.