Dick Tomanek

Richard Carl Tomanek
(Bones)

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 1", Weight 175 lb.
• High School Avon Lake High School
• Debut September 25, 1953
• Final Game September 26, 1959
• Born January 6, 1931 in Avon Lake, OH USA
• Died August 11, 2023 in Westlake, OH USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Left-hander Dick Tomanek was signed by the Cleveland Indians as an amateur free agent before the 1950 season. He spent his first two seasons in the minors with average success. In 1953, he chalked up a 13-8 record with a 3.11 ERA for the Indianapolis Indians of the American Association and received a late-season call-up to the major league Indians to show his stuff.

Tomanek quotes, "My dad told a group of his friends in a bar that if I made it up to the Indians he would walk the twenty miles from our home in Avon Lake to Municipal Stadium to see me pitch, and he did it."

His father Wes was rewarded after his long walk with watching his son beat the Detroit Tigers, 8-2, on September 25th as Dick pitched a complete game. He was back with the Indians in 1954 but only long enough to make one appearance out of the bullpen for the American League champions. He pitched the remainder of the season with Indianapolis, going 6-9 with a 4.29 ERA.

The 6' 1", 175-pound pitcher, who was know as "Bones", returned to Cleveland in 1957, going 2-1 in 34 games, primarily as a reliever. He was traded, along with Roger Maris, to the Kansas City Athletics during the 1958 season and was 7-8 with 5 saves in 52 games between the two teams that year. He closed out his five seasons of big league play with the Athletics in 1959, ending up with an overall mark of 10-10 and a 4.95 ERA in 106 games. Dick commented about Maris: "Roger was my room-mate and he was a great ballplayer and a great guy."

Tomanek spent seven seasons in the minors, 1950 through 1960, and closed out his pro baseball time with an overall minor league record of 43-57 and a 4.01 ERA, while pitching 868 innings.

Tomanek, who retired from the B.F. Goodrich Chemical Company in 1990, continued to make his home in Avon Lake, OH in his later years.

Sources

Baseball Players of the 1950s

Related Sites

• Dick Tomanek at the SABR Bio Project
• BR Minors page