Mike Blyzka
From BR Bullpen
Michael John Blyzka born Michael John Bliska
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Weight 190 lb.
- Debut April 21, 1953
- Final Game September 25, 1954
- Born December 25, 1928 in Hamtramck, MI USA
- Died October 13, 2004 in Cheyenne, WY USA
[edit] Biographical Information
The Chicago White Sox signed Mike Blyzka as an amateur free agent in early 1946 and assigned the 17-year-old right-hander to the Madisonville Miners, where he spent the 1946 and part of the 1947 seasons, showing a 2-6 record with a 4.60 ERA. He finished out the 1947 year with the Lima Terriers, going 0-9 with a 5.65 ERA.
It was at this stage of his career the White Sox traded him to the St. Louis Browns in an unknown transaction.
He would spend three more years in the low minors, going 40-29 with a .347 ERA and then spent 1951 and 1952 in the United States Military Service in the Korean conflict.
Along with having the distinction of being born on Christmas day (1928) , Mike was with both the Browns in their final season in St. Louis and the Orioles in their first post-1905 major league season at Baltimore. However he did not have much success in either city, going 2-6 for St. Louis and 1-5 for Baltimore to finish his major league run with an overall 3-11 mark.
The right-hander was part of the 18-player trade between the Orioles and the Yankees after the 1954 season that saw Bob Turley and Don Larsen go to the Bronx Bombers. Mike was to make the trip also but the Yankees dropped him off with the Denver Bears in the American Association.
Blyzka never quite made it to Yankee Stadium, pitching for the AAA Denver Bears again in 1956 and finished out his pro baseball career with the AAA Minneapolis Millers and the Springfield Giants in 1957. Mike spent from 1946 through 1957 in professional baseball and aside from his major league numbers he put together some decent minor league stats. He appeared in 237 contests, winning 63 and losing 60, pitching 1,064 innings, giving up 1,122 base hits and 568 base on balls for a 4.34 ERA.
Although Mike never made it into the Yankee pin-stripes as he was sent out to Denver, he enjoyed the Rocky Mountain area enough to settle there, after baseball, where the Korean War Veteran managed and tended a bar at a VFW post until his death at the age of 76 on October 13, 2004 in Cheyenne, WY.
[edit] Sources
Baseball-Reference.com
Baseball Players of the 1950s
SABR MILB Database:page
