Ed Winceniak
From BR Bullpen
Edward Joseph Winceniak
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 5' 9", Weight 165 lb.
[edit] Biographical Information
Chicago-born Ed Winceniak was signed as an amateur free agent by the Chicago Cubs on June 26, 1948. He would spend his first three seasons (1948-50) in the minors, playing the shortstop position for the Springfield Cubs, the Visalia Cubs and the Rock Hill Chiefs, fielding well, but hitting for a combined three-year average of .239. Winceniak would then spend the next three years (1951-53) in the United States Military Services during the Korean War.
Returning to baseball, Winceniak saw a lot of playing time in AAA and Open Classification ball during the 1950s with the Los Angeles Angels, Portland Beavers and the Seattle Rainiers all of the Pacific Coast League and the St. Paul Saints and Denver Bears of the American Association. During this run, Ed did get the chance to fill in at second base, shortstop and third in 32 games for his hometown Chicago Cubs during the 1956 and 1957 seasons, hitting for a .209 average with one home run among his 14 big league base hits.
Winceniak would hang tough through-out his nine seasons in the minors, ending his pro baseball run in 1959 with the Seattle Rainiers at the age of 30, with a minor league lifetime hitting average of .248 with 56 home runs while appearing in 1,012 games.
Winceniak worked for the Republic Steel Corporation in Chicago, where he was a supervisor in craft wage estimation from 1959 to 1985. Ed also scouted for the Atlanta Braves from 1966 to 1968 and the Montreal Expos from 1969 to 1971. From 1987 to 1993 he was in sales for Dekker Electric in Lansing, Illinois, and is now retired in his native Chicago, IL.
