Oscar Bielaski

Oscar Bielaski
Right fielder
Born: (1847-03-21)March 21, 1847
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Died: November 8, 1911(1911-11-08) (aged 64)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
MLB debut
April 24, 1872, for the Washington Nationals
Last MLB appearance
July 21, 1876, for the Chicago White Stockings
MLB statistics
Batting average.240
Home runs0
Runs batted in52
Teams

Oscar Bielaski (March 21, 1847 – November 8, 1911) was an American right fielder and the first Polish-American to play Major League Baseball, playing from 1872 until 1876. His father, Alexander Bielaski, a captain in the Union army, died at the Battle of Belmont. A. Bruce Bielaski, head of the Bureau of Investigation, and his sister, Ruth Shipley, head of the State Department's Passport Division, were first cousins of Oscar. Oscar learned to play baseball while enlisted in the Union Army as a drummer.[1]

Oscar Bielaski was inducted in the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame in 2005.[1]

Oscar was born in Washington, D.C., and died there, at the age of 64. He is interred at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.[2]

  1. ^ a b "Oscar Bielaski". polishsportshof.com. Archived from the original on November 14, 2006. Retrieved March 24, 2009.
  2. ^ "Oscar Bielaski's career statistics". retrosheet.org. Retrieved March 24, 2009.