Mitch Chetkovich pitched four games for the 1945
Philadelphia Phillies.
Mitchell Chetkovich was born July 21, 1917, in Fairpoint,
Ohio, which is in the eastern part of the state, near Wheeling, West Virginia. He
was the fourth of five children of Mike and Mary Chetkovich, both Serbian
immigrants. In the 1930 census the family lives at 12645 Camden Avenue in
Detroit, in a house they own which is valued at $7000. Mike is 44 years old and
was 22 at the time of their marriage, while Mary is 35 and was 16 at the time
of their marriage, which doesn’t add up; since oldest son Stephen is 22 it
looks like either Mary was 13 when they got married or she was lying about
being 35. Mike, Stephen, and second son John, 19, are all employed in the
automobile industry; Mike as an enameler, Stephen a foreman, and John an enamel
finisher. Anna, 15, Mitchell, 12, and Rose, 11, are in school.
Mitch turns up next on February 6, 1937, when he married
Betty Heymes. His age was listed as 21 and hers as 19, though apparently he was
actually 19 as well. He was listed as a factory worker and Betty as an office
worker, both in Detroit. In 1938 his name starts to appear in the Detroit
Times, in box scores for Belgrade in Detroit’s semi-pro Sandlot League and
also for Murray Local No. 2 in a United Auto Workers league. In 1939 he again
pitched in the Sandlot League, this time for the Four Leaf Clover team; the Times
reported on August 28:
MAJORS SIGN NINE SANDLOTTERS
Five of Them Are Going to Washington Nats
Cardinal Scout Attracts Three
…Most of the signing took place yesterday at Northwestern Field, which each Sunday is a general meeting place for scouts from just about every team in the “big show.” But only Cleveland, Washington and St. Louis Cardinal representatives came away with any signatures…
Now on the Washington farm list are Michael [sic] Chetkovich, right-handed Four Leaf Clover pitcher…
Four of the players already have been assigned to minor-league teams next Spring. Chetkovich and Gira will get a tryout with Orlando, Fla….
On February 2, 1940, Mitch and Betty got married for a
second time; I don’t know when they had gotten divorced. Mitch’s occupation was
given as factory worker, while Betty had none. I found nothing about him going
to spring training with Orlando, and nothing at all about him playing
professionally that year. In June and July he was appearing in box scores for
UAW No. 154 back in the Detroit Sandlot League.
In 1941 Mitch pitched for Four Leaf Clover in the Sandlot
League and for Motor Products 203 in the CIO League. By then he had filled out
a draft registration card, which gave his address as 3296 Canbon Avenue in
Detroit, which was typed in with 682 Continental crossed out. His employer was
Hudson Motor Car Co., E. Jefferson, Detroit.
In May, June, and early August of 1942 Mitch appeared in box
scores with UAW 174 in the Sandlot League and for Ternstedt in the UAW-CIO
League. At some point, though, he made his professional debut with the Quebec
Athletics of the Class C Canadian-American League; he pitched 61 innings in
nine games, allowing just 51 hits but walking 41, for a 3.84 ERA and a 5-4
record.
In 1943 the number of operating minor leagues, which had
been 41 in 1941 and 18 in 1942, was down to ten, due to the war, so the number
of jobs was way down. Whether that was the reason or not, in April Mitch found
himself back in Detroit Sandlot ball, pitching for the Chevrolet team, and then
he went into the Army. The next year he got a medical discharge; I didn’t find
any stories about it at the time but later in his baseball career there would
be references to his suffering a frozen lung in Greenland. On May 14, 1944, he
made his first sandlot start, with the Virgies team, then he was immediately
snapped up by the Philadelphia Phillies, desperate for players during wartime
like all the other teams. They signed him to a contract with the Utica Blue Sox
of the Class A Eastern League, but I found no evidence that he pitched for
them; by June 1 he was pitching for the Wilmington Blue Rocks of the Class B
Interstate League. On June 29 he pitched a four-hitter, and on July 21 he set a
league record with 15 strikeouts. For the season he pitched 185 innings with a
3.94 ERA and a 16-8 record, tying for second in the league in wins. He walked
just 64 batters, much better control than with Quebec in 1942. He finished
sixth in the league MVP voting.
Mitch went to spring training with the Phillies in 1945, and
he made the team. On April 19, the third game of the season, he made his debut,
in Brooklyn, and got a mention in the next day’s New York Times:
Sproull, who won sixteen for Milwaukee last year, and Mitchell Chetkovich, who twirled the eighth, kept the Dodgers at bay thereafter, the victors getting five hits in all. The latter recently was discharged from the Army, after he had suffered a frozen lung at Iceland [sic].
After starting pitcher Charlie Sproull was pinch-hit for in
the top of the eighth, down 3-1 after allowing three runs in the third, Mitch
pitched the bottom of the inning. He walked Dixie Walker, then each of the next
three batters forced the runner on first out at second. Even though that seemed
to go well, he didn’t get into another game until May 2, at home, when he
pitched the top of the ninth in a 9-8 loss to the Giants. He continued his
knack for force outs—after the first batter grounded out, he walked the next
guy, followed by two forces at second. On the 5th, at home, he
pitched the ninth in a 10-1 loss to the Dodgers, in the first game of a
doubleheader; this time he allowed an unearned run and the only force out was
part of a double play. The day after that, in the second game of another
doubleheader, again against the Dodgers, he came in to start the ninth, down
8-7. He walked Eddie Stanky, then made an error on a bunt by Goody Rosen that
allowed Rosen to reach first, after which he was removed, and wound up being
credited with two more unearned runs.
As it turned out this concluded Mitch’s major league career,
despite his 0.00 ERA. He was optioned to the Oakland Oaks of the Class AA
Pacific Coast League, where on May 18 he “developed a painful stitch in his
side while throwing batting practice and was rushed to a doctor” (Oakland
Tribune). On May 22 he earned his first victory, in relief. On June 17 he
got a start and pitched a one-hit shutout; on the 24th he got
another start, as reported on by the next day’s San Francisco Chronicle:
Chetkovich Brilliant But Oaks Lose, 1-0, After Taking Opener
By Clyde Giraldo
It’s a shame the way that Mitch Chetkovich, the Serbian Lothario, pitches. A week ago he throttled the Seals, 2-0, on a one-hit performance. Yesterday he lost an equally brilliant effort, a seven-hitter but a beauty, to Los Angeles, 1-0, in the nightcap at Emeryville. Thereby the Oaks split the day’s bill, having won the opener, 11-3, with unassuming case over Pitchers Red Adams, Ralph Marshall and Jodie Phipps. But that Chetkovich—
The man’s the hero of yesterday no matter if he lost. He wasn’t responsible for the lone run which beat him in the ninth inning, the second extra inning [minor league doubleheader games were often seven innings], of a duel against George Comellas. The latter, stingy and cautious, yielded only two measly hits, singles by Frankie Hawkins in the second and Les Scarsella in the fourth. If the Oaks could have hit Comellas perhaps Chetkovich would have won.
Mitch continued to both start and relieve. On July 22 it was
reported that he was ill, and on the 25th that he “reported sick
last night” but “should be all right by the end of the week” (Oakland
Tribune). From the Tribune of July 27:
Mitchell Chetkovich, pitcher who only recently has indicated he can hurl good ball, is added to the team’s growing list of ill and injured athletes…
The loss of Chetkovich for an indefinite period is a blow to whatever immediate hopes the Acorns had of climbing out of the second division.
Chetkovich, here on option from the Phillies, collapsed on the field last evening shortly before the game was to begin. Carried to St. Luke’s Hospital in an ambulance, he was said to have suffered an attack of acute indigestion, with incipient pneumonia noted.
The hurler will remain under observation until all danger has passed. Mitchell, Manager Raimondi said, has suffered similar attacks recently, but none so severe as last evening’s.
Chetkovich was in the United States Army in Greenland, where damage to his system by the cold left him susceptible to periodic illnesses…
On the 30th it was reported that he was still in
the hospital, and on the 31st that he had not accompanied the team
south. But on August 3 the Tribune reported:
Hero of last night’s double bill was Mitch Chetkovich, Oakland’s former serviceman hurler. Chetkovich, suffering from a frozen lung received in Greenland, was rushed to a San Francisco hospital last week during the Oak-Seal series. He was left at home when Manager Bill Raimondi took his charges south.
Always a fighter, Chetkovich soon was on his feet and he headed south. Mitch went in to hurl the last inning of the first game and then relieved Jack Lotz in the second contest. This one Chetkovich won.
Mitch has been used as a starting hurler, a relief man, a pinch hitter, a runner. A nice man to have on your club.
In August the San Francisco Chronicle began to refer
to Mitch as “’Sugar’ Chetkovich,” with no explanation that I could find. On
August 12 he injured an ankle running the bases, and on August 15 he and a
teammate were given the night off to celebrate Japan’s surrender that ended the
war. From the August 29 Oakland Tribune:
It was Mitch Chetkovich, the mad Slovenian [sic], who racked up last night’s victory…
It’s too bad that Chetkovich is not the property of the Oaks. He’ll return to the Phillies this fall, but next Spring he appears to be a cinch to be transferred to either Portland, as partial payment for Shortstop Johnny O’Neil, or to Hollywood, in return for infielder Ken Richardson.
The Acorns would like to buy his contract outright, but he is not for sale for cash. He was originally sent to Oakland for Les Scarsella. Scar refused to report. The sale was changed to an option deal—and the Phils are taking up their option…
From the same newspaper, September 7:
The absence of Mitch Chetkovich, who has not yet reported back from Detroit where he was called by family difficulties, leaves Raimondi short handed for pitching.
Chet was recalled by the Phillies today, but this is only routine. He will finish the season with Oakland—if he ever gets back from his present journeying.
And from September 12:
A current problem on the Oakland club is what to do about Pitcher Mitch Chetkovich who unexpectedly returned from Detroit yesterday and reported for work.
Only a few hours before Victor Devincenzi, Acorn general manager, had mailed him notification of his suspension. He was scheduled to return a week ago Monday and there now appears to be considerable doubt if he will be reinstated.
But he pitched on the 13th, as reported by the
following day’s San Francisco Chronicle:
Sugar Chetkovich, taken off probation two hours before the game, relieved Len Gilmore for the Oaks but put on an exhibition of pitching which no doubt the Philadelphia Phillies too wonder [sic] why they exercised their option on this right-hander for 1946.
Chetkovich cut loose a wild pitch on the first throw to let in a run, threw the ball wild to third base trying to trap a man, letting in another run; walked the next three men and Roy Paton tripled, clearing the bases and finished off an unglorious denouement for the future Philly.
Meanwhile, the Detroit News had run an item on the 9th
saying that Mitch was “said to be” the only Serbian in baseball. On the 16th
they ran a retraction, naming four other known Serbians.
Mitch finished the season with a 3.32 ERA in 168 innings in
33 games, 16 of them starts, with a 10-11 record. In October, as predicted by
the Oakland Tribune in August, he was sent by the Phillies to the
Portland Beavers as partial payment for shortstop Johnny O’Neil. In November he
began pitching in the San Mateo Winter League in California, where he injured
his arm—we will eventually hear more about this.
During early 1946, the Portland Oregonian ran
thumbnail sketches of the Beaver players, and Mitch’s appeared on February 18:
Mitchell Chetkovich, right-hand pitcher from the Phillies via Oakland, in part payment for Johnny O’Neil: Back in the late 1920s John Miljus of Seattle and later the Pittsburgh Pirates, used to be called “the only Serbian pitcher in baseball”…Now there’s another. Though Chetkovich was born at Fair Point, O., his parents both came from the present Jugoslavia…”Mitch,” as he is called, or “Chet,” stands 6-3 ½, weighs 212, has huge shoulders and long arms and is big all over…Dandy fast ball and good curve…With anything but a good ball club behind him at Oakland, he won 10, lost 11, one of his defeats being 1-0 at Vaughn street against Ad Liska…Two evenings later he relieved Guy Stromme with men on in the second inning and blanked the Beavers to the end of the game—he has stuff.
“Mitch” attended Denby high in Detroit, where he played baseball and football…Started in baseball as an outfielder and first baseman, but could throw so hard he was switched to pitcher…Began professionally with Quebec of Canadian-American league in ’42 and won his first start, 4-3, in 13 innings…Baseball ambition, to get to the big leagues and stay there; winter occupation—listen to this—host in night club!...Once struck out 16 men in a game, and last year pitched a 1-hitter against San Francisco.
This is the only mention I found of his high school
experience or of the night club thing. On March 7 the San Francisco
Chronicle observed:
Down in San Jose the Oaks will be glad to see the Beavers’ Mitchell (Sugar) Chetkovich, if he’s signed and working. Sugar pitched heavy duty for Oakland last year, both on the mound and in the finance and loan department.
I don’t know if that last part was a joke, but either way I
don’t know what it means. On March 15 the Oregonian reported that he had
not agreed to contract terms so the Beavers, who didn’t really need him, were
going to return him to the Phillies. But on April 9, Oregonian Sporting
Editor L.H. Gregory, in his “Greg’s Gossip” column, reported:
Mitch Chetkovich, big right-handed pitcher with Oakland last year whom the Phillies turned over to Portland in part payment for Johnny O’Neil, has apparently concluded to accept the Beaver terms, to wit: that he work out one month without pay to make up his neglected spring training, and incidentally, also to make up a cash advance he wrangled out of Bill Klepper on a visit to San Jose…At any rate, he’s working; whether he sticks out the month is something else. The Beavers had intended to turn him back to Philadelphia…
That same day he appeared in the Beavers’ game, so his
working out one month without pay seems to have included actually playing. Then
on April 23 the Oregonian reported:
Mitch Chetkovich, the big pitcher with the Beavers from the Phillies via Oakland, had his sacro-iliac bumped out of place last week and spent a night of pain, tied up in an aching knot, when a “joker” pulled a chair out from under him as he was about to sit down; Julian George, the Beavers’ new trainer, did an adjustment on his back and got the sacro-iliac back in place.
On the 29th the Oregonian reported that
Mitch “has been fined $50 and suspended indefinitely for failing to appear at
the ball park Sunday [28th] and also for breaking training rules
Saturday night.” On May 3rd they reported that he had been sold to
Chattanooga of the Southern Association, while the next day came this:
By the way, that man Chetkovich made the longest ride Thursday [2nd] for a dime in the history of baseball. He rode from the ball park to the hotel. When he left the ball park he had been sold to Chattanooga. When he returned Friday he wasn’t sold after all, the deal having been canceled, so went out and showed his best stuff yet while relieving. It was a long, long ride for only a dime, or maybe he used a street car token.
Mitch pitched in a few more games, then was unconditionally
released on May 30. He pitched 12 innings in nine games for Portland, allowing
19 hits and eight walks, but an unknown number of runs. If he played baseball
anywhere the rest of the year, I didn’t find any evidence of it.
On February 25, 1947, Mitch and Betty got divorced for the
second time, in Michigan. He caught on with the Tacoma Tigers of the Class B
Western International League, where, despite a 5.53 ERA, he had a 12-12 record
and pitched a career-high 192 innings in 36 games, with 76 strikeouts and 101
walks.
In 1948 Mitch pitched for Tacoma in the second game of their
season-opening doubleheader on April 18, but I didn’t find any reference to him
appearing for them after that, and he did not get into enough games to be
listed in the league’s official stats. On May 19 the Tigers sent him to the
Bisbee-Douglas Javelinas of the Class C Arizona-Texas League. On May 27 he was
ejected from the game for using profanity after being called out at first base,
on June 6 he allowed 11 runs and 19 hits in a complete game, and on June 18 he
was named manager of the team, as reported in the next day’s Tucson Daily
Citizen:
Chetkovich To Head Javelinas
BISBEE, June 19. (AP)—Mitchell “Chet” Chetkovich, ace hurler of the Bisbee-Douglas Javelinas in the Arizona-Texas league is the new field manager of the team.
Announcement of this was made last night by Mel Steiner, business and player manager of the squad. Steiner is turning over his field managership to Chetkovich, a veteran of 10 years in organized baseball.
Two weeks ago it was announced Steiner would withdraw as field manager to devote his full time to the business end of the club. Steiner will continue on the roster as utility outfielder…
In making the announcement, Steiner said, “This will give me a chance to get some rest and devote some time to promotion of local games and office affairs.”
Chetkovich said: “This is a break for me and something I have always wanted to do.
“I think we will be out of the cellar before long. We have a fair ball club with a lot of good material.”
At the same time Steiner changed the name of the team from
Javelinas to Miners. On June 27 and 28 Mitch pitched back-to-back complete game
victories over Phoenix, and on July 2, as the El Paso Herald Post reported
the next day:
Manager Mitch Chetkovich of the Miners got chased by everybody, first by the Brownies who pounded him off the mound, then by the umpire who thumbed him out of the game. When the ump saw him sitting in the stands, he was ordered clear out of the park.
On July 10 the El Paso paper ran a feature on Mitch:
Sun Bakes and Heals Arm of A-T Iron-Man
By Bob Ingram
The hot Southwestern sun is good medicine for a pitcher’s ailing arm, Mitchell (Chet) Chetkovich, iron man hurler of the Arizona-Texas League, and manager of the Bisbee-Douglas club, has found.
The therapeutic value of hot weather in the cactus country has made his right arm strong again after it went dead in 1945, and has enabled him to attain a pitching mark no other A-T hurler has approached.
Chetkovich recently twice has won games on successive nights, the power-laden Phoenix club being the victim of his pitching all four times.
On June 27, in Phoenix, he went nine innings to whip the Solons, 11-6. He came back to the mound the next night to throw a five-hitter against the Phoenix club as his Miners gained a 5-4 decision. Then, this week, in Bisbee, he repeated the double win. He hurled the Miners to a 9-4 win Wednesday, was back on the rubber to spin a seven-hit, 7-5 triumph on Thursday.
“How does your arm feel now after 18 innings in two nights?” he was asked yesterday as he brought his Miners to the border for a series against the Juarez Indios and Texans.
“To tell you the truth, it’s not a bit tired,” he said. It felt good enough, at any rate, for him to take his third pitching chore in three days when he appeared against the Indios in a relief role in the eighth inning last night.
“My arm feels as strong as it did before I hurt it playing winter ball with San Mateo in California in 1945. It’s getting stronger all the time in this hot weather.”
Chetkovich is not afraid he’s going to throw his arm away again with night-after-night pitching.
“I don’t throw hard enough to hurt it,” he said. “I just use slow curves, sliders and fork balls—nothing fast—and that has worked pretty successfully so far for me in this league.”…
One reason why Chetkovich sees so much duty with his Bisbee-Douglas Miners is that he has the smallest squad and the smallest pitching staff in the circuit. He has only 13 active players, including five hurlers. Most other teams carry seven and eight pitchers.
On August 3 he was hit by a pitch that cracked his kneecap,
and the Sporting News reported on August 18:
PITCHES WITH CRACKED KNEECAP
Manager Chet Chetkovich of the Bisbee-Douglas (Arizona-Texas League) club, plagued by a shortage of pitchers, chiseled off his kneecap protecting cast, August 6, and, replacing it with adhesive tape, went to the mound against Juarez and hurled a 7 to 1 victory. Though grimacing with pain on almost every pitch, Chet scattered six hits and walked only two. Two nights later he beat Phoenix, 7 to 6, then was ordered to put the cast back on his knee and rest a week.
The Tucson Daily Citizen reported on the 14th
that he would be out the rest of the season, and as far as I can tell that was
the case. But those final weeks of the season were not uneventful for him; the Sporting
News reported on September 1:
CHETKOVICH HONORED AT BISBEE
Mitchell Chetkovich, Bisbee-Douglas (Arizona-Texas League) pitcher-manager on the disability list with a cracked kneecap, was honored with a night at Bisbee, August 19. His arms were loaded with everything from a box of handkerchiefs from an admirer to a gold wrist watch. The watch was a gift of the fans, a surplus of $161.75 from the fund also being given to Chetkovich. Other presents included a cigarette case and lighter combination from the batboy and other youngsters who worked for him at the park. League President Riney B. Salmon sent a check.
And the El Paso Herald Post had this story on August
31:
Chetkovich Charge Dropped
PHOENIX, Ariz., Aug. 31. (UP)—Embezzlement charges against Mitchell (Chet) Chetkovich, colorful player-manager of the Bisbee-Douglas Miners of the Arizona-Texas Baseball League, were withdrawn Monday and extradition proceedings dismissed.
Acting Gov. Dan E. Garvey said the charges were withdrawn by Tacoma, Wash., authorities who charged Chetkovich of embezzling about $70 from the Tacoma chapter of the Fraternal Order of Eagles.
Garvey said he did not know why the charges were dropped. He added that he understood Chetkovich stood ready to pay the Tacoma group.
Chetkovich, in Phoenix with his ball club, declared the entire affair was a “misunderstanding” regarding some raffle tickets he sold for the Eagles. He said in his hurry to report to Bisbee from Tacoma he forgot to make an accounting of the sum involved.
That’s the only story I found about that.
On March 14, 1949, Mitch was traded to the Pampa Oilers of
the West Texas-New Mexico League, also Class C, for 21-year-old catcher-outfielder
Richard Samek. However, they let him go, and he went back to semi-pro ball,
pitching for Elk City in the Oklahoma Semi-Pro League, for whom he had a 17-2
record.
On March 9, 1950, Mitch, now 32 years old, got back into
organized ball, signing with the Ardmore Indians of the Class D Sooner State
League. On March 12 the Ardmore Daily Ardmorite reported that he would
be moving his family to Ardmore on March 21; before this I didn't know he had a family, and had found no evidence of his having remarried.
From the March 31 Daily Ardmorite:
Mitch Chetkovich, the Ardmore Indians’ only pitcher with major league experience, is a confirmed fisherman. He caught a 3 ¼-pound bass his first try in Lake Murray and hasn’t missed a day since.
Same paper, April 7:
Mitch Chetkovich, veteran right hander, returned to the Tribe training field Thursday [6th]. He has been moving his family to Ardmore.
The season opened on April 25, and on May 1 the Ardmorite’s
“Rambling Reporter,” reporting on a baseball parade, mentioned:
Mary Chetkovich was the little beauty wearing the silver crown and driving the miniature buggy pulled by a Shetland pony. Mrs. Roy Brady was seeing that the pony didn’t run away with the little girl. Mary is the daughter of Mitch Chetkovich, pitcher on the Ardmore Indian team.
So he had a daughter, and since this is just three years
after the divorce, I’m guessing Mary is his daughter with Betty, unless he had
remarried and she’s a stepdaughter. Later in the season there are mentions of
sons Tommy (age ten) and Jerry pitching in midget baseball; again, I don’t know
where they came from.
Through July 2 Mitch had a 4.23 ERA and a 12-5 record, the
12 wins leading the league. Three weeks later, he had given up ten earned runs
in ten innings, was 12-7, and was out with an injured finger. On August 10 he
was hit by a pitch that broke his right arm above the wrist, ending his season.
He pitched 145 innings overall, with a 4.66 ERA, 88 strikeouts and 36 walks; he
also hit .323 and slugged .485, never having been an impressive hitter
previously in his pro career. On September 28 the Ardmorite ran the following:
Mitch Needs A Job; Arm Is Healing
Mitch Chetkovich, stalwart pitcher for the Ardmore Indians during the past season until he received a broken arm when hit by a pitched ball, is in trouble.
The season over and the pay checks stopped, Mitch is looking for a job.
The doctors tell him it will be six or more months before his arm is healed enough for him to do heavy work.
In the meantime he has to make a living for his wife and four children.
Mitch says he is out of work and needs a job badly. He has had experience as a salesman and can do that type of work.
Any persons who might have information about a job for Mitch are urged to contact Vernon Moyer immediately.
Mitch next pops up in the Ardmorite in February 1951,
by which point he is the athletic director of the local American Legion,
directing the baseball team’s workouts and trying to expand the boys’ athletic
program to include other sports. On March 22 it was reported that he had been
replaced as manager of the baseball team by the previous year’s manager, but I
don’t know if that meant he had lost his athletic director job. Perhaps it was
time for Mitch to start pitching himself, but I found nothing about that until
May 9, when he is mentioned in the Ardmorite as playing for the semipro McMakin’s
Chevrolet team of Marietta, which started its regular season on May 15 and went
to the district tournament at the end of July. Meanwhile, the 1951 Ardmore City
Directory listed him as living at 1301 B Street SE.
In the November 7 Valley Morning Star of Harlingen,
Texas, there was a report on the Harlingen Capitols Baseball Club’s search for
a new manager; my impression is that it was a semipro team. Mitch is listed as
one of the applicants:
Chetkovich wrote that he had experience as a professional ball player, but did not mention the teams or leagues in which he has played.
Apparently that spotty resume didn’t get him the job, but he got a different
one, as reported by the Oklahoma City Daily Oklahoman on May 25, 1952:
Durant GI Hurler Chetkovich Stars On Traffic Patrol
DURANT, May 21—If Durant GI hurler Mike Chetkovich can halt enemy batters as he stops speeding motorists while serving on the local police force, he should win 20 games this season.
Chetkovich joined the GIs a couple of weeks ago, and went to work as a traffic cop this week.
The long, lean veteran has played with the Philadelphia Phillies. In 1945 he compiled a 11-12 record with Oakland in the Pacific Coast League.
Chetkovich played briefly with Ardmore in the Sooner State League in 1950 and won 12 games in two months. He sparked the Marietta sandlot team into the finals of the state tournament last season where it was defeated by Wilson & Co. of Oklahoma City.
Chetkovich, a good hitter, will play first base for Durant while not taking his regular mound turn.
Mitch didn’t keep the police job for long, though; the Ada
Evening News, on July 9, in a brief item on somebody else, mentioned as an
aside: “Willoughby joined the force after Durant GI baseball player Mitch
Chetkovich resigned.”
After this Mitch’s trail goes mostly cold. On September 9,
1953, a Mitchell Chetkovich married Mary Virginia Holland in Rockwall, Texas,
but this isn’t necessarily our Mitch, as there were at least two other Mitchell
Chetkovichs in the US, born around the same time as him. But Texas is the right part
of the country.
The 1965 city directory for Grass Valley, California, shows Mitchell
and Eleanor Chetkovich living at 100 Manzanita Drive, Mitchell being a carpenter.
This is our Mitch. He and Eleanor appear at the same address in the 1966 and
1968 directories; what complicates things is the fact that on March 16, 1968, a
Mitchell Chetkovich, state of residence given as Massachusetts, and Eleanor
Pinter, state of residence Virginia, got married in Goldfield, Nevada.
Whatever that means, Mitch passed away in Grass Valley,
which is not far from Nevada, on August 24, 1971, at the age of 54.
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