Remembering Joe Krakauskas

Montreal-born left-hander Joe Krakauskas, who pitched parts of seven major league seasons, would’ve turned 105 today.

March 28, 2020

By Kevin Glew

Canadian Baseball Network

Montreal-born left-hander Joe Krakauskas, who pitched parts of seven major league seasons, would’ve turned 105 today.

Raised in Hamilton, Ont., the Canuck left-hander was pitching for the Intercounty Baseball League’s Brantford Red Sox when he was signed by the Washington Senators. The 6-foot-1, 200-pound southpaw would prove to be an important pitcher for the Senators in the late 1930s. In fact, his major league debut remains arguably the best debut by a Canadian reliever.

On September 9, 1937, Krakauskas was summoned from the Senators’ bullpen to make his debut after the Philadelphia A’s had taken a 6-0 lead against starter Dick Lanahan in the first two innings. The Canadian southpaw took the mound at the start of the third inning and proceeded to throw seven scoreless frames and allow just one hit, while spreading out seven walks. His Senators teammates responded by rallying to score 13 runs to beat the A’s 13-6.

That performance earned Krakauskas four starts with the Senators to close out the season and he tossed a complete game in three of those, finishing the campaign with a 4-1 record and a 2.70 ERA across 40 innings in five appearances.

The Canuck lefty returned to the Sens the following year and was employed as a reliever/spot starter. In all, he toed the rubber in 29 contests and made 10 starts. He threw five complete games and finished the season with a 7-5 record and a 3.12 ERA.

He graduated to a more regular spot in the Senators’ rotation in 1939 and tossed 12 complete games and a career-high 217 1/3 innings. He completed the year with 11 wins, but his ERA rose to 4.60.

After a subpar 1940 campaign that saw him register a 6.44 ERA with the Senators, he was traded to the Cleveland Indians for Ben Chapman on December 24.

In 1941, Krakauskas appeared in just 12 contests (five starts) for the Indians, but one of them was particularly memorable. On July 16, 1941, he was the pitcher that allowed the last hit in Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak when the Yankee Clipper doubled to left-centre field off him in the ninth inning in the Bombers’ 10-3 victory.

Krakauskas would make just three appearances for the Indians in 1942 before reporting for military service in the Royal Canadian Air Force where he worked as a radio mechanic in England. He would serve in the Air Force for over three years.

He returned to the Indians in 1946 and posted a 5.51 ERA in 29 appearances, including five starts. That December, the Tribe sold him to the triple-A Hollywood Stars of the Pacific Coast League, where he continued to pitch until 1948 Krakauskas toed the rubber for one final season with the double-A New Orleans Pelicans in 1949.

After his baseball career, he returned to Hamilton, the city he grew up in, and was employed as a car salesman.

Sadly, he died of pneumonia in 1960 when he was just 45. He is buried in the Holy Sepulchre Catholic Cemetery in Burlington, Ont.