Wayne Ambler

Wayne Harper Ambler

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 8½", Weight 165 lb.
• School Duke University
• High School Abington (PA) High School
• Debut June 4, 1937
• Final Game September 4, 1939
• Born November 8, 1915 in Abington, PA USA
• Died January 3, 1998 in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL USA

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Biographical Information

Infielder Wayne Ambler played three years in the majors.

Wayne was from Abington, Pennsylvania. His father was former speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, postmaster, state insurance commissioner, and head of a contracting firm. Wayne graduated from Abington High School and went to Duke University where he played football and baseball and was a teammate of Ace Parker and Eric Tipton. Ambler ended up at Duke in an unusual way. He had known someone who recommended the 17-year-old Ambler to the Philadelphia Athletics, and the team let him work out on the field sometimes. Connie Mack got to know him, and one day Duke University coach Jack Coombs came by to see Mack. Ambler was invited to go to Duke, and since he needed money, Coombs found him jobs while Mack gave him some money for tuition.

When he graduated from Duke in 1937, he went directly to play for the Philadelphia Athletics and made his major league debut on June 4, 1937. He played in 271 big league games from 1937 to 1939. Wayne was badly hurt in a game in 1937, knocked unconscious. He broke his jaw, hurt his shoulder and was out for six weeks. In 1940, he played for the Jersey City Giants in the International League and was with the Indianapolis Indians in the American Association in 1941.

Ambler joined the Navy right after Pearl Harbor. He went on active duty on October 28, 1943 and served in the Armed Guard as a gunnery officer on 2 merchant ships, the SS Ross and SS Butterfield in both the European and Pacific theaters, earning on battle star. He was released from active duty as a Lieutenant at Philadelphia on February 20, 1946.

After the war, Ambler retired from baseball. He had chosen not to play baseball during the war but preferred going into combat. He worked many years at a trucking firm and played semi-pro baseball. In 1960, he coached a Little League All-Star team that featured a youngster named Reggie Jackson. Ambler died in January 1998 at the age of 82.

Related Sites

• Wayne Ambler at the SABR Bio Project