Tom Paciorek

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Thomas Marian Paciorek (born November 2, 1946 in Detroit, Michigan) was a major league outfielder and first baseman for 18 seasons between 1970 and 1987.

Paciorek played baseball and football for the University of Houston from 1965-1968. was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1968, one of 14 players drafted by the Dodgers that year to reach the majors. A top prospect, he was The Sporting News' Minor League Player of the Year in 1972. He spent the 1973 through 1975 seasons as a fourth outfielder and pinch hitter. After hitting under .200 in 1975, he was traded to the Atlanta Braves as part of a trade for Dusty Baker. He hit .290 in a platoon role for Atlanta in 1976 but he struggled to duplicate those numbers the following year.

The Braves released him after spring training in 1978, but signed him against just a week later. However, 6 weeks and only 9 at bats later, the Braves gave him his release a second time. Paciorek then signed with the Seattle Mariners, where he finished the season hitting .299.

Following two solid years as a platoon player, Paciorek put together a career season with the Mariners in the 1981 season. Playing full-time for the only time in his career, Paciorek batted .326, second in the American League, and was fourth in the AL in slugging percentage. He earned his only appearance to an all-star team in 1981 and was 10th in the AL MVP race.

In the offseason, the Mariners traded Paciorek to the Chicago White Sox for three players, none of whom would make an impact with Seattle. Paciorek hit over .300 his first two years with the Sox, and was part of Chicago's division championship team in 1983. He was traded to the New York Mets in 1985, then spent his final two years with the Texas Rangers.

Tom was one of three brothers to play in the majors; younger brother Jim played for the Milwaukee Brewers in 1987, while older brother John played one game for the Houston Astros (where he went 3-3 and walked twice) in 1963.

Paciorek has served as a broadcaster for several years since retiring as a player, with his most notable stint as the color commentator for White Sox broadcaster Ken Harrelson. He served that role for Atlanta Braves games on FSN South from 2001 to 2005, and some Detroit Tigers games for FSN Detroit from 2001-2003. In 2006 he was the color commentator for the Washington Nationals, but his contract was not renewed for 2007 [1].

In the spring of 2002, Paciorek told the Detroit Free Press in a report that priest Gerald Shirilla molested him and three of his four brothers while working as a teacher at St. Ladislaus in the 1960s. "I was molested by him for a period of four years," Paciorek is reported to have said. "I would refer to them as attacks. I would say there was at least a hundred of them." The former All-Star said he didn't tell anyone because no one would have believed him. "When you're a kid, and you're not able to articulate, who's going to believe you?" he asked. "The church back then was so powerful, there's nothing that a kid could do," [2], one of many abuse cases reported among priests at the time.