Carl Sawatski
Carl Ernest Sawatski was an American professional baseball player and executive. In the Major Leagues, he was a catcher for the Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Milwaukee Braves, Philadelphia Phillies and St. Louis Cardinals. He also was an influential figure in minor league baseball.
Sawatski attended Pompton Lakes High School in Pompton Lakes, New Jersey, where he played football and basketball, in addition to baseball.
A left-handed batter who threw right-handed, Sawatski the player stood tall and weighed 210 pounds. The native of Shickshinny, Pennsylvania, played 11 seasons in MLB, appearing in 633 games. His career totals include 1,449 at bats, 133 runs, 351 hits, 46 doubles, five triples, 58 home runs, 213 runs batted in, two stolen bases and 191 walks, and batted.242.
Sawatski helped the Braves win the National League pennant, appearing in 58 games, 19 as a catcher, and contributing six home runs to the Milwaukee cause. During the 1957 World Series against the New York Yankees, Sawatski had two appearances as a pinch hitter and struck out each time, but the Braves prevailed in seven games to win the world title.
Sawatski was a prodigious minor league hitter. He batted.352 and slugged 34 homers in the Class D North Atlantic League in 1947. Then, two seasons later, he led the Double-A Southern Association with 45 homers and batted.360, second in the league. After his playing career ended, Sawatski served as the general manager of the Arkansas Travelers of the Double-A Texas League, a Cardinal affiliate, from 1967–75. He then was elected president of the Texas League itself and served in the post from 1976 until his 1991 death in Little Rock at the age of 64. During his presidency, the league prospered as part of the renaissance of minor league baseball that began in the 1980s.
In a 1976 Esquire magazine article, sportswriter Harry Stein published an "All Time All-Star Argument Starter", consisting of five ethnic baseball teams. Sawatski was the catcher on Stein's Polish team.
