Lon Warneke

Lonnie Warneke (March 28 1909 - June 23 1976), nicknamed the "The Arkansas Hummingbird," was an American right-handed pitcher and umpire in Major League Baseball who played for the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals from 1930 to 1943 and in 1945. He led the National League in wins (22) and earned run average (2.37) in 1932, placing second in the MVP voting as the Cubs won the NL pennant.

Born in Mount Ida, Arkansas, he was selected to the first All-Star team in 1933, and was chosen again in 1934, 1936, 1939 and 1941. Warneke also tossed back to back one-hitters (April 17 and 22, 1934) and pitched a 2-0 no-hitter against the defending World Series champion Cincinnati Reds on August 30, 1941. He was an outstanding fielder, setting a major league record of 163 consecutive errorless games (with 227 total chances) from September 30, 1938 until the end of his career; the record was broken by Marv Grissom of the San Francisco Giants in 1958. While with the Cardinals, Warneke played guitar and banjo and sang as a member of the team's "Mudcat" band. His contract was sold back to the Cubs in June 1942, but he saw limited play before entering the Army for World War II service in 1944-45, and ended his career with nine appearances for 1945 Cubs; he did not play in their World Series matchup with the Detroit Tigers.

After his playing career, Warneke became an umpire in the Pacific Coast League from 1946 to 1948 before moving up to the National League from 1949 to 1955; he worked in the outfield in both the 1954 World Series and the 1952 All-Star Game. He was elected a judge in Garland County, Arkansas in 1962, a primarily administrative position in which he occasionally mediated minor civil disputes, and served until 1972 before retiring.

Warneke died at age 67 at his home in Hot Springs, Arkansas from a heart attack after the initial ambulance dispatched was totaled on the way to the scene. [1]

See also

• List of Major League Baseball ERA champions
• List of Major League Baseball wins champions
• List of Major League Baseball no-hitters

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference
• Retrosheet
• New York Times obituary