Slim Emmerich

William Peter Emmerich

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 170 lb.

• Debut May 14, 1945
• Final Game April 26, 1946
• Born September 29, 1919 in Allentown, PA USA
• Died September 17, 1998 in Allentown, PA USA

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Biographical Information

Right-hander Slim Emmerich was signed by the St. Louis Cardinals before the 1941 season and spent eleven active seasons in professional baseball from 1941 to 1951. Slim spent his first four seasons in the minors with two of those being double-digit win years. The first such season came in 1943 with the Allentown Wings of the class B Interstate League, where he had 13 victories, and the second in 1944 with the Rochester Red Wings of the AA (then the highest tier of the minors) International League, he chalked up 12 wins. On November 1, 1944 he was drafted by the New York Giants from the Cardinals in the 1944 Rule V Draft.

1945 was a big year for Slim as the major league Giants brought him up to the big leagues and he made his debut on May 14th. Slim stayed the entire season with the Giants, appearing in 31 games with a 4-4 record and a 4.86 ERA while pitching 100 innings. He was back with the Giants in 1946 and appeared in 2 games with no decisions and made his last appearance for the team, and in the major leagues, on April 26th.

Emmerich spent the rest of 1946 with the Jersey City Giants of the International League, winning 10 and losing 10 with a 3.75 ERA and appearing in 30 games for his third double-digit mark of his career. In 1948, he had probably his best season when he won 11 and lost 6 while appearing in 55 games for the Minneapolis Millers of the American Association.

Slim spent the next three seasons (1949-1951) with six different clubs, not doing very well, and finished up his minor league career in 1951, at the age of 31, going 3-13 for the Albany Senators of the class A Eastern League. This gave him a losing career record of 77-87 while appearing in 366 games.

This marked the end of Emmerich's professional baseball career and he returned to his native Allentown, PA, where he worked and lived until his death on September 17, 1998. William Peter Emmerich was 78 years of age.