Dick Conger

Richard Conger (April 3, 1921 – February 16, 1970) was a Major League Baseball pitcher who played for the Detroit Tigers, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Philadelphia Phillies.^[1] His key pitch was the fastball.^[2]

Early life

Conger was born in Los Angeles, California, and was Jewish.^{[3] [4][5][6]} He attended Fremont High School in Los Angeles, for whom he played baseball, and as a sophomore won 17 consecutive games on the way to a City title.^[7] He also led the team to the City Championship in his senior year in 1938.^[7]

He then attended the University of California, Los Angeles, where Conger also played baseball.^[8][9][10] He lost only one game as a freshman for the UCLA Bruins, before signing with the Detroit Tigers in 1940.^[7]

Baseball career

In the minor leagues, in 1943 with the Toronto Maple Leafs Conger was 11–6 with a 1.96 ERA (3rd in the International League).^[11] In 1944 with the Los Angeles Angels he was 13–7 with a 2.88 ERA, and 5 shutouts (tied for 7th in the Pacific Coast League).^[12]

Conger pitched in the major leagues from 1940 (when at 19 years of age he was the second-youngest player in the American League, behind Hal Newhouser) to 1943.^[13][14][15] In his major league career he was 3–7 with a 5.14 ERA, and four complete games.^[14]

From 1944 to 1946 Conger served in the Marine Corps during World War II.^[16][17]

After his major league career, Conger continued to play in the minor leagues, his last season being with the Sacramento Solons (PCL) and Oklahoma City Indians (Texas League) in 1950.^[18] He died at 48 years of age.^[5]

On June 26, 2011, Conger was inducted into the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.^[19]

References

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or Baseball Reference, or Baseball Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet
• Dick Conger at Find a Grave