Frank Lamanske

Frank James Lamanske
(Lefty)

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 11", Weight 170 lb.

• Debut April 27, 1935
• Final Game May 1, 1935
• Born September 30, 1906 in Oglesby, IL USA
• Died August 4, 1971 in Olney, IL USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Frank Lamanske pitched a couple of games for the Brooklyn Dodgers managed by Casey Stengel early in the 1935 season but pitched professionally for almost 20 years.

Lamanske was working as a miner when he turned to baseball as a career. Lamanske started off in 1926 with the Waterloo Hawks, going 0-2. Two years later, in 1928, the 21-year-old hurler had a 20-11 season for Waterloo, one win behind co-leaders Jim A. Grant and Roger Wolff in the Mississippi Valley League. In 1929, Frank went 6-6 with a 5.09 ERA for the Seattle Indians and he followed with a 7-14, 5.14 year in Seattle. In 1931, he went 2-2, 4.92 for Seattle and 7-9, 5.63 for the Denver Bears. He was 9-7 the next year with Denver. In 1934, Frank went 24-7 for the Davenport Blue Sox, seven more wins than anyone else in the Western League. He also led the WL in innings (262) and strikeouts (216, 54 more than Al Piechota) and made the All-Star team. That earned Frank his chance with Brooklyn.

In addition to the Dodgers, Lamanske pitched for the Allentown Brooks (0-3) and Davenport (12-7) in 1935. In 1936, he was 9-8, 4.66 for the San Francisco Missions and he followed with a 9-13, 4.65 year split between the two clubs in San Francisco, CA. He was 14-11 with a 3.05 ERA for the 1938 Oklahoma City Indians. In 1939, Frank pitched briefly for the St. Paul Saints but was primarily with the Knoxville Smokies (13-7, 5.37). He was just 1-3 with a 9.00 ERA in 1940 for the Dallas Rebels and Fort Worth Cats. Then at age 34 in 1941, the veteran had a 8-7, 3.40 year for the Boise Pilots.

In 1942, pitching for Boise in the Pioneer League, he led the league in victories and win/loss percentage with a 23-8, 2.74 year; he also hit .288 with 3 homers. He went 1-1 for the 1943 San Diego Padres. He finished his career with the 1946 Twin Falls Cowboys. Overall, he was 157-126 in the minor leagues.

One source says his name was actually Lemanski but he changed it because reporters kept misspelling it as Lamanske. See Mary Lemanski.

Primary source: Pat Doyle's Professional Baseball Player Database