Snuffy Stirnweiss

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George Henry "Snuffy" Stirnweiss (October 26, 1918 - September 15, 1958) was an American second baseman in Major League Baseball. From 1943 through 1952, Stirnweiss played for the New York Yankees (1943-50), St. Louis Browns (1950) and Cleveland Indians (1951-52). He batted and threw right-handed.

In a 10-season career, Stirnweiss was a .268 hitter with 29 home runs and 281 RBI in 1028 games played.

A native of New York City, Stirnweiss was an All-American halfback at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After being graduated in 1940, he was drafted by the Chicago Cardinals of the National Football League. Nevertheless, he cast his lot with baseball and signed with the New York Yankees organization, starting his major league career with the Yankees in 1943.

Stirnweiss was in three World Series and appeared in the All-Star Game in 1945 and 1946. He won the American League batting title in 1945 with a .309 average. A prolific base-stealer, he led the AL with 55 stolen bases in 1944 and with 33 in 1945. In the same period, he also led the league in runs (125 and 107), hits (205 and 195), triples (16 and 22), and in fielding percentage. In 1948, with only five errors tallied against him, Stirnweiss set a major league record for a second baseman with a .993 percentage.

The Yankees traded Stirnweiss to the St. Louis Browns in 1950 and the next year he was sold to the Cleveland Indians. He retired after the 1952 season. Following his retirement as a player, he managed in the minor leagues, and later entered the banking field.

Stirnweiss was killed at age 39 when the passenger train he was on plunged off the CRRNJ Newark Bay Bridge between Elizabethport and Bayonne, New Jersey.