April 24, 1872: The 1st Polish-American Player In Major League Baseball

April 24, 1872: The New York Mutuals beat the Washington Nationals, 11-7 at the National Grounds in Washington, D.C. Baseball-Reference.com mentions these details, but, as is usually the case for Major League Baseball games played before 1900, it does not include a box score.

This was the 2nd game of the season for the Nationals. Playing in this game, but not in the 1st one, was Oscar Bielaski, a right fielder. This made him the 1st Polish-American Player In Major League Baseball.

He lived his whole life in Washington, born there on March 21, 1847, and died there on November 8, 1911, at the age of 64. In between, he played for the Nationals in 1872, the Washington Blue Legs (apparently, a completely different team that replaced the preceding) in 1873, the Baltimore Canaries in 1874; and the Chicago White Stockings in 1875, the last season of the National Association, and in 1876, the 1st season of the National League, when the White Stockings won the Pennant. 

The White Stockings are the only one of these teams to survive today, having become the Cubs in 1903. The current Washington Nationals franchise bears no connection to the team of 1872.

Bielaski was a drummer boy in the Union Army during the American Civil War. His father, Alexander, was an Army Captain, and died at the Battle of Belmont in southeastern Missouri on November 7, 1861. Oscar entered the ranks, but was discharged in 1864 when it as discovered he was underage.

He was noted for his speed, but also for being a poor hitter, with a lifetime batting average of .240, and a poor fielder. The Nationals had dropped out of the NA after the 1872 season, and he rejoined them in 1877, but was done in 1880, only 33 years old.

In the off-season, he worked at the U.S. Department of the Treasury. After leaving baseball, he worked as an auditor for the Department of the Navy. Although his military service was limited, he was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. In 2005, in recognition of his distinction -- definitely not of his talent level -- he was elected to the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame, located in Troy, Michigan, outside Detroit. 

He is not, of course, in the regular Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. The 6 Polish-American players who are, in chronological order, are: Stan Coveleski, Al Simmons (real name, Syzmanski), Stan Musial, Bill Mazeroski, Carl Yastrzemski and Phil Niekro.

April 24, 1872 was a Wednesday. The Mutuals-Nationals game was the only game played that day.