1948
JOHN OSTROWSKI   OF

John Ostrowski was born on October 17, 1917, in Chicago and grew up in the Windy City and attended Tilden Tech.

He started his professional career in 1939 with the Superior, Wisconsin, Blues of the Class D Northern League in the Brooklyn Dodgers system. In 1940, he moved on to the Class D Alabama State League. Playing for the Troy Trojans, he had his best professional season statistically, hitting .341 and leading the circuit in RBIs and total bases. He was named to the All Star squad. Despite his banner season, which saw him promoted to Class B Macon for the final 11 games.

Under the rules in place at the time, he became Cubs property after the season when Macon’s minor league working agreement with the Dodgers expired and he was picked up by Chicago. He spent the 1941 campaign with the Cubs’ South Atlantic League (Class B) affiliate, the Macon Peaches. 

John split the following season between the Peaches, where he hit .242 in 68 games, and Jackson of the Class B Southeastern League where he hit .294 in 46 games. 

In 1943, he was picked up by the Pacific Coast League’s Los Angeles Angels and was a big part of the team’s success, playing right field, where he hit .282 with a league-best 21 home runs. He made his big-league debut in late September, appearing in 10 games for the Cubs. In 1944, he returned to the Pacific Coast League, where he spent most of the season. 

The 1945 season followed along the same lines for him, as he again made a brief appearance on the Cubs’ roster while spending the bulk of the season in the minor leagues. He spent the summer with the Kansas City Blues of the American Association, away from the PCL for the first time in three years.

John finally earned meaningful playing time at the major-league level in 1946, appearing in 64 games for the Cubs. The 1947 season offered promise, but he was unable to earn the starting job in spring training. Instead, the Cubs sent him back to the Pacific Coast League yet again. He batted .292 while hitting 24 home runs and shared the Angels’ Most Valuable Player award.

After the season, John, now 30 years old and a veteran of nine professional campaigns, became Red Sox property when he was selected in the Rule 5 draft in November 1947. He made his lone Boston appearance in April during the second game of a Patriots Day doubleheader against the Philadelphia Athletics. He had his only at-bat as a member of the Red Sox, pinch-hitting in the eighth inning and struck out.

He remained with the Red Sox for nearly a month, but never made it back onto the field. As is still the case today, players taken in the Rule 5 draft had to stay on the big league roster for the entire season or be offered back to their old team. With no playing time to be had, he was returned to the Cubs’ organization in May.

He was then assigned to the all-too-familiar Los Angeles Angels and spent the next two seasons there. In 1949 he attracted the attention of the cross-town White Sox, who acquired him from Los Angeles in August.

John split his time between two cities in 1950, playing in 21 games for the White Sox and 55 with the Washington Senators when he was shipped to the Nation’s Capital in May. In September he was waived back to the White Sox, where he finished out his final big-league season, appearing in a single game for his hometown team.

His big-league days now behind him, John spent the 1951 season north of the border, playing 127 games for the minor league Toronto Maple Leafs. He returned to the friendly confines of the PCL for one last time in 1952, playing for the Sacramento Solons and the Oakland Oaks. He finished his playing career in the Southern Association, suiting up in 22 games for the Memphis Chicks.

After baseball, John was a sales representative and drove a truck for Material Service Corp, an Illinois refuse company, retiring in 1980. 

John Ostrowski passed away at age 75, on November 13, 1992, in Chicago