Sam Zoldak

Samuel Walter Zoldak
(Sad Sam)

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 11½", Weight 185 lb.
• School Fordham University
• High School Eastern District High School, Textile High School
• Debut May 13, 1944
• Final Game August 26, 1952
• Born December 8, 1918 in Brooklyn, NY USA
• Died August 25, 1966 in New Hyde Park, NY USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Sam Zoldak, who pitched effectively in the big leagues, is known for having one of the lowest "strikeouts per nine innings" levels for his era. Sam's 113 ERA+ for his career is the best of 49 live ball era pitchers with a strikeout to walk ratio of 0.7 or less in careers of 500 or more innings pitched.

The record shows that in 1938, Zoldak pitched for the Palatka Azaleas of the class D Florida State League. The 19-year-old went 0-2 with a 10.38 ERA in 13 innings and disappeared from the baseball scene completely during 1939 and 1940. He resurfaced before the 1941 season and signed as a free agent with the Philadelphia Athletics. He would appear with two clubs in the 1941 season, one being the Selma Cloverleafs of the class B Southeastern League and the other was the Williamsport Grays of the class A Eastern League. He appeared in a total of 12 games, winning 3 and losing 2 with a 3.93 ERA.

Sam spent the entire 1942 season with the Williamsport team again, this time going 11-11 in 32 appearances with a 2.54 ERA. He moved to the Elmira Pioneers of the same Eastern League in 1943 and won 20 while losing but 10 with a 2.73 ERA. Early in 1944, the Athletics traded Sam to the St. Louis Browns where he worked 18 games in relief with no decisions for the American League Champions. The St. Louis Cardinals beat their Sportsman's Park landlords, the Browns, 4 games to 2 in the World Series in which Sam did not make an appearance.

Sam made 25 relief appearances in the 1945 season before finishing the year with his first career start, a 2-1 complete game victory over Bob Feller and the Cleveland Indians. He completed his first four starts of the following season for a record streak of 5 CGs in as many starts, the longest by a Browns/Orioles pitcher to begin a live ball era career. Zoldak was a nine-game winner in both 1946 and 1947 as a spot starter for the St. Louis American Leaguers. He was traded to the Cleveland Indians early in the 1948 season and helped them to the pennant, going 9-6 with a 2.81 ERA. The Indians won the World Series, beating the Boston Braves in six games, 4-2. Zoldak was again the victim of helping a team to a pennant and never being called upon to pitch during the Series. Sam later joked that he acquired his nickname of "Sad Sam" because he was up and throwing in the bullpen in all six games of the World Series but never got the call to the mound.

After two more years (1949 and 1950) used primarily as a reliever with the Indians, Zoldak closed his career with two seasons for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1951 and 1952, pitching a one-hitter against the Chicago White Sox on July 15th, 1951 while facing just one batter over the minimum. For his nine-year major league career, Zoldak logged a 43-53 record and a 3.54 ERA. He also posted a five-season minor league record of 34-25 with a 2.98 ERA.

After his time as an active player ended, Zoldak scouted for the Washington Senators. He died of a pulmonary embolism on August 25, 1966 in New Hyde Park, NY, aged only 47.

Notable Achievements

• Won a World Series with the Cleveland Indians in 1948 (he did not play in the World Series)

Sources

Baseball Players of the 1950s

Related Sites

• Sam Zoldak at the SABR Bio Project
• BR Minors page