Bruce Ogrodowski

Ambrose Francis Ogrodowski
(Brusie)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 175 lb.
• Debut April 14, 1936
• Final Game October 3, 1937
• Born February 17, 1912 in Hoytville, PA USA
• Died March 5, 1956 in San Francisco, CA USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Bruce Ogrodowski was the brother of Joe Ogrodowski. Bruce played two seasons in the majors, but really found a home with the San Francisco Seals, with whom he played from 1941-1947 as part of a 16-season minor league career. Lefty O'Doul managed the Seals all seven years that Bruce was there.

Bruce was born in Hoytville, PA, in north-central Pennsylvania. When he hit .298 for the Columbus Red Birds in 1935, that got him a serious chance with the big league club, and he was on the St. Louis Cardinals team for all of 1936 and 1937, appearing in at least 90 games as a catcher each year. Frankie Frisch was the manager both years, and the team finished over .500 both seasons. In 1936, Spud Davis was the regular catcher, but in 1937 Spud was gone and Bruce became the regular. The young Mickey Owen was the backup, and became the starter the following year.

Bruce was one year older than teammate Johnny Mize and the same age as teammate Joe Medwick.

Thereafter he went on to a long minor league career, finishing up as a player in 1951. He was a player-manager in 1949-1951 and a manager in 1952 in the minors.

Although Bruce never appeared in a World Series, he did face Joe DiMaggio in Joe's first spring training game in a New York Yankees uniform (on March 17, 1936). [1]. Joe, of course, also played for the Seals, but did so in the 1930s while Bruce did so in the 1940s.

In another story involving a DiMaggio, Dizzy Dean supposedly once bet Vince DiMaggio (in 1937) that he could strike him out four times in a row. When Vince hit a foul pop-up, Dizzy yelled "drop it!" to Ogrodowski, who did. and Dizzy proceeded to then get the strikeout. [2]

A SABR article indicates that Bob Feller's professional debut was in an exhibition game against the Cardinals in 1936, and his first pitch was a strike to Bruce. Bruce bunted for an out on the next pitch and then Feller struck out Leo Durocher. [3]

Year-by-Year Managerial Record

Year	Team	League	Record	Finish	Organization	Playoffs	Notes
1949	Salinas Colts/ Potros de Tijuana	Sunset League	58-68	6th	St. Louis Browns	none
1950	Marshall Browns	East Texas League	88-46	2nd	St. Louis Browns	League Champs
1951	Wichita Falls Spudders	Big State League	56-66	--	St. Louis Browns	--	replaced by Cecil McClung (10-16) on August 11
	Aberdeen Pheasants	Northern League		5th	St. Louis Browns		replaced Jim Post on August 23
1952	Aberdeen Pheasants	Northern League	63-62	6th	St. Louis Browns