Johnny Wyrostek

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John Barney Wyrostek (July 12, 1919 - December 12, 1986) was a center fielder and right fielder mostly, who played in the MLB from 1942 through 1954. He was born in Fairmont City, Illinois and was signed by the St. Louis Cardinals out of high school. He batted left-handed, and threw righty.

After a brief stint in the Army, Wyrostek became an every-day player with the 1946 Phillies.

Wyrostek averaged 8 homers a year in his career, and had only one season in which he hit over 10. In 1948, he had a total of 17 home runs with another career-high, 76 RBIs, which he would tie later. His 7 stolen bases on the year was also a career-high tie.

In 1950, he had a very solid season, hitting .285 with 8 homers and 76 RBIs with the Reds. On September 4 of the year, Wyrostek drove in 8 of the Reds' 13 runs in a doubleheader sweep of the visiting Cardinals. The Reds won 5-4, and then 8-4.

By 1951, Johnny was an accomplished good-hitting outfielder who averaged about a .266 batting average. But that year, his batting average syrocketed to .311. While his power numbers went down (2 HR, 61 RBIs), his batting average was good for 6th in the league and his 167 hits was 10th. He made his second and final All-Star team.

In an 11-season career played with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia Phillies, and Cincinnati Reds, Wyrostek batted .271 with 58 home runs and 481 RBIs in 1221 games. He had 525 runs scored with 33 stolen bases and a solid .349 on-base percentage. He had 1149 hits with 209 doubles and 45 triples in his 4240 at bats.