Joe Krakauskas

Joseph Victor Lawrence Krakauskas
(Kraky)

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 1", Weight 203 lb.
• High School Cathedral High School (Hamilton)
• Debut September 9, 1937
• Final Game September 18, 1946
• Born March 28, 1915 in Montreal, QC CAN
• Died July 8, 1960 in Hamilton, ON CAN

BR page

Biographical Information

Joe Krakauskas pitched 12 seasons, 1935 to 1949, seven in the Major Leagues and nine in the minors, losing three years to the Military. He served in the Royal Canadian Air Force for three years (1943-1945) (GB). He pitched for the Washington Senators and Cleveland Indians from 1937 to 1946. He died at age 45 from pneumonia and is buried at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Burlington, ON, Canada.

The Baseball in Wartime site [1] has a nice biography of him. Born in Montreal, QC, he grew up in Hamilton, ON, attended Cathedral High School in Hamilton and was playing amateur ball in Canada when he was signed by the Washington Senators in 1935 and sent to the Albany Senators to play. He broke into the majors with the Senators on September 9, 1937, giving up only one hit in seven innings of relief. He applied for American citizenship but nevertheless served in the Canadian military, playing both amateur ball and service ball at first, but then being sent to the United Kingdom to be a radio mechanic with an air squadron. He played major and minor league ball after the war, then was a car salesman in Hamilton, and died at age 45.