Sam Zoldak

When the curtain came down on the 1948 regular season, the Cleveland Indians and the Boston Red Sox were both atop the American League standings, sporting identical 96-58 records. For the first time in the history of the junior circuit, a one-time, chips-in-the-middle-of-the-table, winner-take-all playoff game was played – on October 4, 1948, at Fenway Park.

The Tribe, behind rookie phenom Gene Bearden, toppled the Red Sox, 8-3. Cleveland then went on to beat the Boston Braves in six games to win their second and, to date, last world championship in franchise history.

The acquisition of pitcher Sam Zoldak at the trading deadline bolstered the Indians’ pitching staff. The left-handed hurler won nine games for the Indians, and they needed every one of them to pull even with the Red Sox. While Bob Lemon, Bob Feller, and Bearden garnered the headlines in 1948, Zoldak’s contributions should not be overlooked. He both started and came out of the bullpen to deliver some crucial wins as the pennant race tightened down the stretch.

Zoldak, then 29, had made his big-league debut in 1944. He won 43 games and lost 53 with a 3.54 ERA across nine seasons in the majors, all in the AL. His sub-.500 winning percentage reflected the many second-division clubs for which he played, along with two pennant-winners. His career ERA+ was 113, however, indicating his effectiveness. Zoldak was a swingman, starting in 93 of his 250 appearances.

The chunky southpaw (listed at 5-foot-11 and 195 pounds) pitched to contact. In 929 1/3 innings, he struck out 207 batters while walking 301.

*****

Samuel Walter Zoldak was born on December 8, 1918, in Brooklyn, New York. Sam was the second son (after Tony) born to John and Helen (née Patuk) Zoldak. Anna Jorewisk, a stepsister who was adopted, was also a member of the Zoldak household. John and Helen were both of Russian ancestry and emigrated to the United States in 1914. John worked as a plater for a light and electricity company.1

Zoldak did not play baseball as a youth or in high school at East Technical or Textile High. Instead, he participated in softball as a first baseman. Zoldak credits the Joe Stripp Big League School of Baseball for setting him on the road to becoming a big-league player. Stripp, who spent his entire career (1928-1938) as an infielder in the National League, ran a baseball school in Orlando, Florida,2 The six-week session, which included instruction from Joe Medwick and Van Lingle Mungo, among others, cost attendees $50.3

Zoldak stated that he never attended a major-league game until he joined the St. Louis Browns in 1944. “I got into baseball on a bet,” he said. “I wanted to join a semipro team, and the manager asked me if I could pitch. I told him I could, even though I never had in my life. He said he wouldn’t sign me unless I could get a contract with the Dodgers.

“Now that I look back, I was kinda dumb. Why would I want to play with a semipro team if I could get a contract with the Dodgers? I went over to Ebbets Field and worked out for three days. They must have thought I had something because they wanted me to come back on a Saturday morning.

“I never went back. We had a softball game that Saturday morning, but I got the job with the semipro team anyway. I played with Cedarhurst.”4

Eventually, Zoldak signed a professional baseball contract in 1941. He joined Williamsport (Pennsylvania) of the Eastern League, a Class A affiliate of the Philadelphia Athletics. However, he was optioned to Selma of the Southeastern League (Class B) at the start of the year. Zoldak pitched mostly out of the bullpen. He made his first start against Pensacola in the nightcap of a doubleheader on June 1, 1941. Zoldak shut out the Fliers on three hits in a complete-game, seven-inning 3-0 Selma victory.5

Zoldak was recalled to Williamsport, where he posted a 2-1 record for the Grays. After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the United States entered World War II. While many baseball players either enlisted or were drafted over the next few years, Zoldak was classified as 4-F. Zoldak was unfit to serve in the armed services, for either physical, mental, or moral reasons; the actual reason is unknown.

He returned to Williamsport for the 1942 season and posted an 11-11 record. For 1943, the lefty was transferred to Elmira, also of the Eastern League. Zoldak (20-10, 2.73 ERA) and Alex Mustaikis (20-12, 1.72 ERA) accounted for more than half of the Pioneers’ 79 wins that season. Elmira won the Eastern League championship by eliminating Wilkes-Barre in five games and then defeating Scranton in six games to take the Governor’s Cup. In the postseason, Zoldak was 3-0 with 30 strikeouts and six walks.6 

Despite his success at Elmira, Zoldak and minor-league utilityman Barney Lutz were dealt to the St. Louis Browns in exchange for catcher Frankie Hayes on February 17, 1944. Zoldak took up residence in the Browns’ bullpen and appeared in only 18 games without a decision. Of those 18 games, 16 were losses. He finished 10 of them, indicating that he was used mostly for mop-up duty.

With many frontline players serving in the war effort, the competitive landscape was altered. For this reason, the Browns shook off years of frustration and second-division finishes to win their first and only AL pennant. It was a “Trolley Series” as the Browns faced the NL-champion St. Louis Cardinals. War years or not, the Cards prevailed over their historically weaker cousin, winning four games to two in a well-pitched series. Zoldak did not appear in any of the six games.

The Browns remained a competitive club in 1945. They were in third place at the end of August, only 3½ games back. However, they went 16-14 in September, causing them to finish the season still in third with an 81-70 record.

Zoldak appeared in 26 games in 1945, again all in relief. He made his first start in the second-last game of the season against Cleveland on September 28 at Sportsman’s Park. A Ladies Day doubleheader was scheduled for noon, but rain limited the teams to only the first game – and it was called in the bottom of the sixth inning with the bases full and the Browns up, 2-1. Thus, Zoldak hung on to defeat Feller, who was making his ninth start of the season since being discharged from the U.S. Navy in August. Zoldak was credited with a complete-game win as he struck out one, walked none, and surrendered four hits.7 

Zoldak stepped up to the Browns’ starting rotation in 1946. However, he still made appearances out of the bullpen over the next two seasons, like many other starting pitchers of the day. With major-league rosters fully stocked again as players returned from the service, normalcy returned – which meant that the Browns sank in the AL standings. A seventh-place finish in 1946 and a last-place showing in 1947 were customary for them. Zoldak’s statistics for those two seasons mirrored one another. He was 9-11 with a 3.43 ERA in 1946. The next year he was 9-10 with a 3.47 ERA. If there was a favorite opponent for Zoldak, it was the Washington Senators. He victimized them three times in 1946 and four times in 1947.

Zoldak got off to a 2-4 start with the Browns in 1948, which prompted a trade to Cleveland on June 15. The Indians gave up pitcher  Bill Kennedy and $100,000, a hefty price tag to pay for any player. “It was a case of begging for him on our knees,” said Cleveland owner Bill Veeck. “I think it will be worth it, though. He should help a lot.”8 

Apparently some of Veeck’s colleagues chortled at his attempts to fortify his pitching staff. “They laughed when he (Veeck) paid Bill DeWitt $100,000 for Sam Zoldak, and they said they he had lost his mind when he gave old Satchel Paige his first chance in the majors. They were more respectful when they begged him for extra tickets to the 1948 World Series.”9

The trade paid immediate dividends for Cleveland. Zoldak started against the New York Yankees on June 22, 1948, at Cleveland Stadium. He pitched the Indians to a 5-2 victory, scattering eight hits and five walks with no strikeouts in 8 2/3 innings. Zoldak pointed out one difference between Cleveland manager Lou Boudreau and Browns skipper Zack Taylor. “With the Browns, the minute I got into any kind of a jam, Zack Taylor would come out and say, ‘Give me the ball, you’re through,’” said Zoldak. “Today it was different. I started to slip in the seventh, but Lou let me go as long as I could. And when he did take me out in the ninth, he came to me and said, ‘You pitched a good ballgame, but I don’t think you have it anymore. You better call it a day.’”10.

Zoldak started again on June 27 against Washington at Cleveland Stadium. He continued his winning ways over the Nats with a complete-game 4-1 victory.

When the pennant race reached September, Boudreau used Zoldak out of the bullpen. He made  a start on September 18 against his patsy, the Senators. Zoldak defeated Washington, 10-1.

Zoldak was 9-6 with a 2.81 ERA for the Indians in 1948. However, Boudreau did not use him in the World Series, as a starter or a reliever. Zoldak, a good-natured person, made light of his not pitching in the ’48 Series against the Boston Braves or previously against the Cardinals. “You won’t find it in the box scores,” said Zoldak. “I did my work in the bullpen. Both series went six games, and I pitched every one of them – went the whole nine innings in most – and never got called on. That’s how I got the nickname of Sad Sam. Who wouldn’t be sad after all that wasted labor?”11   

Although Zoldak proved that he could start, and win, in the big leagues, Boudreau kept him in the bullpen. He made two starts at the beginning of the 1950 season but was ineffective; thus, he was relegated back to relief duty.

On April 30, 1951, Zoldak was involved in a three-team, seven-player trade among Cleveland, the Chicago White Sox, and the Philadelphia A’s. The southpaw was on his way to Philadelphia, where manager Connie Mack used Zoldak more as a spot starter. In 18 starts and eight relief outings for the A’s in 1951, the veteran was 6-10 with a 3.16 ERA.

Zoldak pitched the game of his career on July 15, 1951, at Comiskey Park: a one-hitter against the White Sox. The lone hit was Chico Carrasquel’s third-inning single, and Carrasquel was promptly picked off by catcher Ray Murray. Zoldak faced just 28 batters, allowing one walk and getting one strikeout. He backed his fine mound performance with two hits and two RBIs. The Philadelphia Inquirer noted that Zoldak “throttled them throughout, thus achieving the second shutout by a Mack flinger this year – and the second in four days.”12

In 1952, Zoldak appeared in 16 games, with 10 as a starter, and posted an 0-6 record with a 4.06 ERA. Philadelphia released him on February 2, 1953. He attempted to catch on with Toronto of the Eastern League and Seattle of the Pacific Coast League but was unsuccessful. Zoldak’s baseball career was over. 

Zoldak never married or had any children. In 1954, Carolyn Rosenberger of Lakewood, Ohio, charged him with a paternity suit. In her claim, she said that she and Zoldak had dated in 1951 and 1952, when he was a member of the A’s. A blood test was taken and the result proved that Zoldak could not be the father. Nonetheless, Rosenberger stuck by her claim.13

After his baseball days ended, Zoldak worked for the New York State Racing Commission. He was employed as a ticket agent at various racetracks around the New York area. He also was a ticket booth salesman on Broadway. He lived in the Nassau County village of New Hyde Park.

Zoldak passed away at the age of 47 on August 25, 1966, at Nassau Hospital in New Hyde Park. He had been battling lung cancer, though the cause of his death was a pulmonary embolism. Two weeks before his passing, Zoldak gave a final interview to Milton Richman of United Press International. He reminisced, “Remember how Bill Veeck bought me for $100,000? I used to kid the other Cleveland players about it. I’d tell them, ‘This club paid $100,000 to get me from St. Louis. What did they pay to get you?’

“You know something though? I wasn’t worth it.”14           

Acknowledgments

This biography was reviewed by Rory Costello and Mike Eisenbath and fact-checked by Don Zminda.

Photo credit: Sam Zoldak, Trading Card Database.

Notes

11920 United States Census, Ancesory.com Accessed November 27, 2024

2 Harold C. Burr, “Flock Faces Red if Zoldak Becomes Fireman of the Year,” Brooklyn Eagle, January 14, 1951: 23.

3 “Joe Stripp Big League School of Baseball” advertisement, The Sporting News, October 27, 1938: 27.

4 Harry Jones, “Sad Sam Sees Silver Lining; Tribe Southpaw Flop of 1949 Starts Comeback Trail Today,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, April 23, 1950: 2-B.

5 “Bosser And Zoldak Blanks Fliers in Double-Bill Sunday,” The Selma Times Journal, June 2, 1941: 5.

6 “Pioneers Hitting in Playoffs,” Elmira Star-Gazette, September 24, 1943: 13.

7 Wallar, Glen L., “Browns Beat Feller and Indians in Rain, 2-1,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, September 29, 1945: 3C.

8 Harry Jones, “Red Sox Trounce Indians,7-3; Tribe Acquires Zoldak in Trade,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, June 16, 1948: 26.

9 McAuley, Ed, “Let Somebody Else Ride That Veeck Merry-Go-Round!” The Sporting News, July 4, 1951: 2.

10 Harold Sauerbrei, “Zoldak Gald Boudreau Had Confidence in Him,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, June 23, 1946: 25.

11 “Sam Zoldak, Lefty Pitcher With $100,000 Price Tag,” The Sporting News, September 10, 1966: 38.

12 Aert Morrow, “As Victors, 3-1. 5-0, Over Chisox,” Philadelphia Inquirer, July 16, 1951: 22.

13 “Zoldak Cleared, Faces New Charge,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, March 28, 1954: 24-A.

14 Milton Richman, “Shadows Lengthen for Sam Zoldak and an Old Friend Has to Cry,” Cleveland Press, August 13, 1966: 19.