Jack "Lucky" Lohrke

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Jack Wayne Lohrke (born February 25, 1924 in Los Angeles, California) is a former American infielder in Major League Baseball. During his playing career, he stood 6' (183 cm) tall, weighed 180 pounds (81.7 kg) and threw and batted right-handed. He earned the nickname "Lucky" not only because it resembled his last name, but because he averted two potentially fatal transit accidents before reaching the major leagues.

During his three years of service in the United States Army during World War II, Lohrke was bumped from the passenger list of a military transport plane at the last moment; it would later crash. Then, when he resumed his baseball career after the war, Lohrke missed by only a few hours almost certain injury or death in the tragic 1946 Spokane bus accident, the worst transit mishap in the history of U.S. professional baseball.

On June 24, 1946, Lohrke was a passenger on the team bus carrying the Spokane Indians of the Class B Western International League as it traveled toward Bremerton, Washington, to begin a road trip. He was the team's regular third baseman and was batting a healthy .345 in 229 at bats during the young season. During the late afternoon of June 24, the bus pulled over to a roadside restaurant for supper.

There, Lohrke learned that he had been recalled by the AAA Pacific Coast League's San Diego Padres and was summoned to report immediately. He removed his gear from the bus and bade goodbye to the Indians, and he would never see most of them again. That evening, the bus broke through a guard rail on a mountain pass, plunged down a hill, and crashed. Of the 15 players on it, nine were killed, including player/manager Mel Cole. The six survivors were badly injured.

Lohrke reached the major leagues the following year. He appeared in 354 games over seven seasons (1947-53) for the New York Giants and Philadelphia Phillies, primarily as a third baseman. He hit .242 in 914 at bats with 22 home runs.

[edit] References

• Spink, J.G. Taylor, ed., The 1952 Baseball Register. St. Louis: The Sporting News, 1952.