Mike Palagyi

Michael Raymond Palagyi (July 4, 1917 – November 21, 2013) was a Major League Baseball pitcher who pitched for the Washington Senators. He is in a group of nearly 1500 players who have appeared in exactly one Major League game. At the time of his death, he was the oldest of those one-game players.

Early life

Palagyi was one of ten children born to Joseph and Anna Palagyi.

Career

Standing 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m) and weighing 185 pounds (84 kg), Palagyi made his major league pitching debut August 18, 1939 for the Washington Senators as a relief pitcher in a game against the Boston Red Sox. During the game, he faced three future Hall of Fame members: Ted Williams, Joe Cronin and Jimmy Foxx. He hit Foxx with a pitch and walked Williams, Cronin and a fourth batter (Doc Cramer). Three of those runners would score. The Senators would change pitchers before Palagyi was able to retire a batter. The Senators would lose the game, but Palagyi did not receive credit for the loss in that game. He would never play in another major league game. In an interview for Richard Tellis's book, Once Around the Bases, Palagyi said that he "threw but 2 strikes out of 15 pitches — a very short big league career".