Andy Pafko Marquee

b. February 25, 1921 · Chicago Cubs 1943–1951, Brooklyn Dodgers 1951–1952, Milwaukee Braves 1953–1959

The photograph of Bobby Thomson's home run in October 1951 has a Dodger in it, back to the camera, looking up at the wall. That is Pafko. Brooklyn had traded four players to get him from the Cubs that June, to win that pennant.

Seventeen seasons gave him 1,796 hits, 213 home runs, 976 runs batted in and a .285 average, with five All-Star selections. He drove in 110 runs for the 1945 Cubs — the last Chicago club to reach a World Series until 2016 — and hit 36 home runs in 1950.

He played in World Series for three different clubs: the 1945 Cubs, the 1952 Dodgers and the Milwaukee Braves of 1957 and 1958. He was Slovak-American, from Wisconsin, and card collectors know him as the first card in the 1952 Topps set, which is why examples of it in good condition are so scarce. He died in 2013, at ninety-two.

Honors

Award	Times	Years
All-Star selection	5	1945, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950
Baseball Magazine All-Star	2	1945, 1948
The Sporting News All-Star	1	1945

Batting, season by season

Year	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	AVG
1943	CHC	13	58	7	22	3	0	0	10	2	5	1	.379
1944	CHC	128	469	47	126	16	2	6	62	28	23	2	.269
1945	CHC	144	534	64	159	24	12	12	110	45	36	5	.298
1946	CHC	65	234	18	66	6	4	3	39	27	15	4	.282
1947	CHC	129	513	68	155	25	7	13	66	31	39	4	.302
1948	CHC	142	548	82	171	30	2	26	101	50	50	3	.312
1949	CHC	144	519	79	146	29	2	18	69	63	33	4	.281
1950	CHC	146	514	95	156	24	8	36	92	69	32	4	.304
1951	BRO/CHC	133	455	68	116	16	3	30	93	52	37	2	.255
1952	BRO	150	551	76	158	17	5	19	85	64	48	4	.287
1953	MLN	140	516	70	153	23	4	17	72	37	33	2	.297
1954	MLN	138	510	61	146	22	4	14	69	37	36	1	.286
1955	MLN	86	252	29	67	3	5	5	34	7	23	1	.266
1956	MLN	45	93	15	24	5	0	2	9	10	13	0	.258
1957	MLN	83	220	31	61	6	1	8	27	10	22	1	.277
1958	MLN	95	164	17	39	7	1	3	23	15	17	0	.238
1959	MLN	71	142	17	31	8	2	1	15	14	15	0	.218
Career	—	1852	6292	844	1796	264	62	213	976	561	477	38	.285

On this day & linked events

1921

Born February 25, 1921

Boyceville, WI, USA

2013

Died October 8, 2013

1943

Major-league debut: Andy Pafko

Andy Pafko made a major-league debut on September 24, 1943.

1950

Andy Pafko's Three-Home-Run Game, 1950

Andy Pafko hit three home runs for the Chicago Cubs against the New York Giants on August 2, 1950.

1959

Final major-league game: Andy Pafko

Andy Pafko played a final major-league game on September 29, 1959.

Image: Bowman Gum, public domain