Michael Solomko

Michael Solomko

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 180 lb.
• High School Throop High School

• Born July 24, 1936 in Pennsylvania USA

BR register page

Biographical Information

Michael Solomko played in the minor leagues and Nippon Pro Baseball over a career of 8 years.

Solomko pitched a perfect game in high school, and was chosen "Athlete of the Week" by the Scranton Times-Tribune in May 1953 He was signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1954, and he hit .281/.432/.496 with 17 homers for the St. Jean Canadians. He tied for 5th in the Provincial League in dingers, was 8th in walks (88), ranked 3rd in OBP and was in the top ten in slugging and OPS. One negative was his .858 fielding at the hot corner, his 33 errors leading the league at the spot.

He then had a .268/.388/.436 with 12 homers with the Burlington-Graham Pirates in 1955, tying for 7th in the Carolina League in triples (7) and finishing 6th in walks (80). After not appearing in '56 due to injuries and taking time to care for his mother , he batted .289/.384/.449 in 53 games for the Lincoln Chiefs in 1957, backing up Dick Stuart at first base. Despite injuring his arm, he was in the military from 1958 to 1959. The Osaka Tigers signed him in 1960, and Solomko hit .241/.294/.483 with 17 homers. He tied Sadaharu Oh for 5th in homers in the Central League. He was also selected into the 1960 NPB All-Star Game, and he was 0-for-1 in Game 1. As the starting left fielder in Game 3, Solomko went 2-for-4, with a 2-run home run against Tetsuya Yoneda.

In 1961, Solomko improved to .270/.333/.481 with 21 homers, ranking 3rd in homers (between Takeshi Kuwata and Shinichi Eto) and 5th in RBI (between Eto and Sadayuki Tokutake). He then recorded a .222/.299/.377 batting line with 14 homers in 1962, and he led the league with 121 strikeouts. He was 5-for-25 in the 1962 Nippon Series, and the Toei Flyers beat the Tigers in 7 games. Solomko was still a solid slugger in 1963, and he hit .263/.346/.505 with 22 homers. He was 7th in homers, between Toru Mori and Hiromu Fujii. The Tigers then traded Solomko to the Tokyo Orions for Tomoo Wako, and Solomko became the first foreign player to be traded in NPB history. He hit .253/.333/.412 with 15 homers in 1964, but he only played 50 games with a .242/.306/.412 batting line in 1965. Solomko announced his retirement after the 1965 season.

Overall, Solomko hit .250/.322/.447 with 509 hits and 95 homers in 6 seasons in the NPB.