Here lies Frank Trechock, who had an extremely successful 1-game career – at the bat at least. In the field was a different matter. He played his one MLB game with the Washington #Senators in 1937. Though his career was short, he made it from semipro baseball to the major leagues in the span of one season.
Frank Trechock was born on December 24, 1915 in Windber, Pa., the son of Polish immigrants. He attended New Brunswick High School and was part of a double-play combo with his brother Joe. After graduation the Brothers Trechock played for a number of semipro teams around New Jersey. The Senators discovered him in 1936 and signed him for the following season. He started playing semipro for the Boundbrook Bakelites in ‘37 before reporting to the minors. Trechock was sent to the new Salisbury Indians and was one of the best hitters in the league. The problem was that he was a terrible shortstop. He was great at second and third, but he was always stuck on teams that put him at short, and that was his worst position.
The Senators brought Trechock to the majors that fall, and he played his only game on Sept. 19, 1937 against the White Sox. He went 2-4 with singles off Ted Lyons. He also made errors the first two times he touched the ball at shortstop (naturally). He settled down after that and had a couple double plays, but still ended with a .750 fielding percentage.
Trechock never returned to the majors. He spent most of his time with the Minneapolis Millers and hit .290 a couple of times. He lost two seasons to the war effort, where he served in the South Pacific for the Army in 1944-5.
Trechock retired after 1951 with 1,275 minor-league games under his belt. From the statistics that are available, he had 1,015 hits and a .260 batting average. Never a power hitter aside from his one season in Salisbury, he hit 42 homers in a 13-year minor-league career.
Trechock settled in Minneapolis. He did construction work after his retirement and later worked for the Metropolitan Waste Control Commission from 1967 until 1982. He also worked with youth at the Nokomis Heights Lutheran Church.
Frank Trechock died on January 16, 1989 from leukemia. He was 73 years old.
Here lies Wib Smith, who had a brief career as a catcher in the major leagues before enjoying a successful career in the minor leagues in Minnesota. Smith played 17 games for the St. Louis Browns in 1909.
Wilbur Smith was born on August 30, 1886, in Evart, Mich. According to census data, his parents had come from Missouri before settling in Michigan. He graduated from Albion High School in 1906 and played quarterback for the Albion College football team that fall. Rather than play college baseball, he turned pro and played for a couple teams in Michigan. He spent 1907-1908 with the Pueblo Indians in Colorado and did well enough that several MLB teams wanted him.
The Browns ended up getting his contract, though they had several catchers on the roster already. The Reds made it known that they would claim Smith if he was put on waivers, so the Browns kept him on the roster all year. Smith appeared in just 17 games and went 8-for-42 for a .190/.190/.190 slash line. He also had 3 runs, 2 RBIs and 2 sacrifice hits. That was actually the second-highest batting average among the Browns’ catching foursome, but he was the worst defender. He threw out 8 base-stealers in 48 attempts for an awful 17% success rate — the Browns two starting catchers had rates in the 40-50% range. Smith also committed 9 errors and 4 passed balls for an .836 fielding percentage.
Incredibly, Smith held out for more money in 1910, and the Browns moved on from him pretty quickly. He signed with the Minneapolis Millers and became part of a catching tandem with Yip Owens — call them WibYip. Smith performed pretty well, though some injuries took their toll. He was removed from the roster in 1915, ending his pro playing career. He managed a couple of teams in the Dakotas in the 1920s.
Smith got into automobile sales during his offseasons with the Millers and ended up a branch manager for Allis-Chambers, which manufactured farming equipment, in North Dakota. Wib Smith died in November 18, 1959, in Fargo, N.D, from pneumonia. He was 73 years old.
