George Wehmeyer

George Bernard Wehmeyer Jr.

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 6", Weight 150 lb.

• Born February 24, 1927 in La Ceiba Honduras
• Died October 28, 2003 in Hialeah, FL USA

BR register page

Biographical Information

George Wehmeyer peaked at AAA and played for the Nicaraguan national team.

Born in Honduras, he moved to Nicaragua as a child. He played for Nicaragua in the 1948 Amateur World Series. He turned pro with the 1951 Tallahassee Citizens, hitting .333/?/.412 with 7 triples. He made the Alabama-Florida League top-ten in average, was third with 159 hits and tied Leon Hilyer, Herbert Marshall and Chase Riddle for 7th in three-baggers.

In '52, he moved to the Miami Beach Flamingos in the pitcher-dominant Florida International League. He batted .243/.312/.289, fielding .951 at 2B. He tied Woody Fair and Harry Geis for third with six triples. In Miami Beach, he met his wife, with whom he would have three children. Moving to another team in the same loop, he hit .277/.359/.387 for the Fort Lauderdale Lions while moving to short primarily and fielding .949 there. He tied for 10th in the FIL with six triples and only struck out 19 times in 346 at-bats.

Wehmeyer split 1954 between the Flamingos (.282/.362/.353, 22 SB in 104 G) and the Portsmouth Merrimacs (.260/.336/.327, 6 SB in 33 G). He led the FIL in swipes, four ahead of Jesse Levan and Frank Smith. In '55, he fielded .928 at short for the Merrimacs and hit .281/.365/.342 with 14 steals and 59 walks. He tied Aldo Salvent for 8th in swipes and led shortstops in the Piedmont League with 72 double plays turned.

He hit .246/.302/.325 for the 1956 Oklahoma City Indians, making it to AA. He was 10-for-11 in steal attempts and fielded .938 at short. He hit .310 in the 1957-1958 Nicaraguan League. He was 5 for 35 for the 1958 Corpus Christi Giants (his obituary cites a knee injury hampering his career, which could be why he missed 1957 and never played regularly in the US again?) In 1959, he wound down with two games for the Miami Marlins. He had made it to AAA; it would be 28 years before the first major leaguer born in Honduras, Gerald Young.