Hank Gornicki

Hank Gornicki was a pitcher for the Cardinals, Cubs, and Pirates from 1941-43 and 1946.

It’s hard to say what his birth name was. Baseball Reference lists him as Henry Frank Gornicki, and he was overwhelmingly known as Hank, sometimes Henry, as a baseball player, except for his time in Decatur in 1937, where the papers always called him Frank. But he was Frank in the 1920 and 1930 censuses and Frank T. in 1950, and he filled out his draft card in 1940 as Frank Teddy Gornicki.

Whatever his name, he was born January 14, 1911, in Niagara Falls, New York. His parents were immigrants from Galicia in eastern Europe. The January 1920 census shows the family living at 316 14^th Street in Niagara Falls; Frank’s father is dead by then, and mother Anna, who did not speak English, only Polish, owns the house. The children, all born in New York, are James, 24, a timekeeper in a factory; Joseph, 21, a machinist specialist in a factory; Anthony, 19, a taper in a factory; Bernice, 15; Stanley, 13; Michael, 11; Frank, 9; and Lawrence, 6.

In the April 1930 census, 19-year-old Frank is counted twice. Once on April 2 with his mother and three of his brothers at 2429 Welch Avenue in Niagara Falls, in a house owned by Anna and valued at $6500; and once on April 8 at the Niagara County Jail in Lockport, where he is a prisoner. At home he has no occupation, in jail he is listed as a laborer. Unfortunately I could find no information about why he was in jail.

Anna passed away on August 24, 1931; the Niagara Falls city directory of that year notes that fact while showing Frank, Anthony, James, Lawrence, and Michael living at the 2429 Welch address. The 1935 directory shows Frank, now 24 years old, as an employee of the IP Company and living at 2007 Welch. On June 22 of that year the Dunkirk (NY) Evening Observer, in an article on the Niagara Falls semipro baseball team, quoted the team’s manager as saying “Three of our players had had league tryouts this spring,” including Gornicki with Johnstown, Pa.

In 1936 Frank, now known as Hank, signed with Cardinals farm team the Daytona Beach Islanders of the newly-formed Class D Florida State League, as a pitcher. He was impressive enough in spring training to get the opening day start, which he won 6-1. On June 10 he hit two home runs while losing 8-6; those were his only homers of the season. In 1946 Bernard Kahn of the Daytona Beach Evening Journal devoted a column to the 1936 Islanders, which included the following:

It was a rowdy crew. Fralick almost drowned swimming in the goldfish pond in the city park. Gornicki, a $100 a month rookie, decided to dress in a style to which he was not accustomed. He made a credit contract for a $125 tailor-made suit, which he immediately sold to Davis for $12, all cash…

It was a hectic season, and a successful one. Daytona Beach finished in second place. Fire burned part of the stands. Local creditors burned up, too. Gornicki, the ingenious financier, owed so much money at the end of the season that his debts resembled the national deficit. He was still in town that Winter, working off his bills. “They like me so well in Daytona Beach that they won’t let me leave,” Hank wrote home…

Hank was named the right-handed pitcher on the league all-star team; he finished with a 16-9 record and 2.77 ERA in 234 innings in 39 games, and led the league in strikeouts with 167. The Islanders lost to the Saint Augustine Saints in the league playoffs; the Saints then played a series against Georgia-Florida League champions Tallahassee, and Hank pitched for the Saints, winning three games as Saint Augustine won the series four games to two. By this point Hank had learned that in 1937 he would be jumping from Class D to AA, just below the majors, reporting to the Columbus Redbirds of the American Association.

Hank pitched in nine games for Columbus in 1937, two of them starts, and had an 0-2 record and 5.54 ERA. On May 20 he was sent down to the Decatur Commodores of the Class B Three-I League, where as Frank he went 11-10 in 21 games; ERA was not included in the league’s stats. In mid-August, shortly before the end of the Three-I season, he was sent to the Asheville Tourists of the Piedmont League, also Class B, where he went 3-1 with a 2.17 ERA in six games. He was on the Asheville reserve list over the off-season.

Hank spent all of 1938 with Asheville, and was named to the league’s all-star team. He went 17-13 with a 2.57 ERA in 308 innings in 45 games, with 187 strikeouts and 112 walks, leading the league in ERA and innings. On December 19 he got married in Asheville, to Wynne Matthews of Sylva, North Carolina. Both were listed as being 24 years old, which in Hank’s case was a lie.

For 1939 Hank was promoted to AA Rochester of the International League. Used mostly in relief, he had a 5.16 ERA in 61 innings in 23 games before being sent back to Asheville in July. With Asheville he went 9-0 in 13 games, helping the Tourists to a first place finish and a victory in the playoffs.

I can’t find Hank, or Frank, or Wynne, in the 1940 census. I did find youngest brother Lawrence, though, as a patient at the Newark State School for the Mentally Defective, in Newark, New York. Hank spent the 1940 season back with Rochester and had a solid year. On August 25 at Buffalo it was “Gornicki Day,” and he was presented with an automobile that 1500 Niagara Falls fans had teamed up to purchase for him. On September 11, before another game at Buffalo, Hank won a fungo-hitting contest with a drive of 400 feet. He finished the season with a 19-10 record and 3.21 ERA in 244 innings in 41 games, 36 of them starts, and tied for the league lead in shutouts with five. At the end of the season Hank was one of four Rochester players acquired by the parent St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for another player and cash.

On October 16 Hank filled out his draft registration card, giving his name as Frank Teddy Gornicki, his address as 412 Merriman Avenue in Asheville, and his birth date as January 14, 1915, shaving four years off his actual age. He listed his employer as the Saint Louis Cardinal Baseball Club, and his appearance as 6-1, 172, brown eyes, brown hair, and dark complexion, with a “burn scar on left leg and on left side of chest.”

Hank went to spring training 1941 as a major leaguer. The Daytona Beach Journal, which had been keeping close tabs on him since he had pitched there in 1936, reported on March 5:

Gornicki Didn’t Get Vitamins, Has Bad Arm

Henry Gornicki, former hurler for the Islanders and now one of the St. Louis Cardinals’ pitching staff, yesterday had the only sore arm among the Cards’ throwing squad of 20, the Associated Press said last night.

According to Manager Billy Southworth, Gornicki is the only man on the squad who hasn’t been getting his vitamin B1 pills. Coach Mike Gonzales expressed the opinion that Dizzy Dean would take six bottles of them for his sore arm when he heard of Gornicki’s bum wing.

The Associated Press said that Gornicki had missed the breakfast time allotment of B1 pills because he has been living with his family at a beach cottage, but Southworth will see that he gets his supply at the field henceforth.

The family alluded to was Hank, Wynne, and baby Elaine. From Harry Martinez’ “Sports From the Crow’s Nest” column in the March 31 New Orleans States:

Cards Have Strikeout Artist in Gornicki

When Billy Southworth brings his St. Louis Cardinals to New Orleans to play the Pelicans Saturday, he will have on his pitching staff one of the most talked of young pitchers in the National League in Hank Gornicki. For several years he caused baseball men to predict that if he ever found himself, he would be a standout in the majors. He found himself in such a big way with the Rochester (N.Y.) Red Wings last season that he is now a standout young pitcher with the Cards.

Gornicki has pitched great ball this spring for the Red Birds.

Possessor of a fast ball that really sizzles and a brilliant curve, Hank took delight in setting International League hitters on their collective ears last season to the tune of 19 wins against 10 defeats. He was a mainstay of the mound staff of the pennant-winning Red Wings and was third high in the league in strikeouts, eliminating 127 enemy batsmen by this method…

Hank made the team and made his major league debut in the third game of the season, on April 17 in Cincinnati. He entered the game to start the bottom of the sixth, down 3-1. His first batter was Harry Craft, who singled; after two ground outs Lonny Frey tripled him in. The Cardinals scored four in the top of the seventh to go ahead 5-4, but after two outs in the bottom of the inning Hank allowed three walks, a hit batter, and a double for two runs before being removed. The Cardinals came back with two runs in the ninth for a 7-6 victory.

Hank didn’t get into another game until April 30 in New York, when he walked his only batter, Billy Jurges. But three days later he got a start, against the Phillies in Philadelphia—and pitched a one-hitter. Right-fielder Stan Benjamin singled with two out in the sixth to break up the no-hitter, and Hank had a single of his own in the seventh to drive in Enos Slaughter with the third run in a 6-0 victory. Hank walked five and struck out five. Two days later the Daytona Beach Evening News reported:

Hank Gornicki, Former Islander Hurler, Is Southworth Worry

Hank Gornicki, the righthanded Polish hurler from Niagara Falls, who was one of the hottest money performers ever to hurl for Daytona Beach’s Islanders, being virtually unbeatable when the chips went down, currently is one of the biggest worries that Manager Billy Southworth of the St. Louis Cardinals owns.

The Card pilot has 10 days to lop two performers off his 27-man roster.

He hoped to pare down his pitching staff, and started throwing the rookies against the major league hitters early to get a line on their abilities…

And Gornicki allowed the Phillies one lonesome safety Saturday and won, 6 to 0.

So Southworth, instead of being settled on what to do with his staff is just more perplexed than ever—he’s winning games, but he still has to cut the roster, and all that he has is starting and winning pitchers.

Despite the one-hitter, Hank sat on the bench until May 15, when he pitched two-thirds of an inning of relief at home against the Braves, allowing two hits and a run. On the 20^th he was one of two Cardinal pitchers sent down to get the roster down to size, going back to Rochester. On June 28, Buffalo News Sports Editor Bob Stedler wrote in his “Sport Comment” column:

With all due credit to Head and Kehn of Montreal and the many other young pitching stars in the league, [Buffalo manager] Al Vincent says Gornicki ranks as the No. 1 enemy sharpshooter in his book. “Can’t understand how a pitcher like Gornicki ever got out of the National League,” said Al. “I know he’s better than four pitchers the Cards now have on their staff and who are winning for them.”

Baton Rouge Advocate, September 7:

GRIFFITH PASSES CHANCE TO OBTAIN GORNICKI

Washington, D.C.—Clark Griffith passed up a chance to buy Hank Gornicki, the Cardinal recruit who pitched a one-hitter against the Phillies in the spring, because he has small hands.

“I looked at the right-hander now with Rochester,” relates the Washington owner. “He’s smart and willing, has good speed, and a fine disposition, but his hands are small. I don’t think he will ever overcome his wildness. Good pitchers should have big hands.”

Small-handed Hank had a 12-9 record and 2.83 ERA for Rochester, in 181 innings in 26 games. On September 10 the Cardinals sold him to the Cubs, and on the 16^th he relieved in a home game against the Braves, allowing a run on three hits in two innings.

That would be Hank’s only appearance for the Cubs. From the September 22 Chicago Daily News:

Czar Landis Orders Cubs to Return Gornicki

VIOLATION OF WAIVER RULE, DECLARES JUDGE

Rookie Pitcher Must Go Back to Cards’ Farm Club

Chicago Cub rebuilding plans ran into a snag today with Baseball Commissioner K.M. Landis issuing an order blocking the purchase of Pitcher Henry Gornicki from the St. Louis Cardinals. Gornicki, who is with the Cubs at Cincinnati today, was obtained by the Cubs in violation of the waiver rule, Judge Landis ruled.

The Cubs had given the Cardinals a sum in excess of the $7,500 waiver price to obtain Gornicki, according to the Cub General Manager Jim Gallagher. Gornicki started the season with the Cardinals after going south with the Redbirds for the spring training trip but was pitching for Rochester of the International League at the time the transfer took place.

Both Cincinnati and the Cubs had claimed Gornicki when the righthanded pitcher’s name appeared on the waiver list. The Cubs, having finished behind the pennant-winning Reds in 1940, had the first waiver call. Branch Rickey, business chief of the Cardinals, withdrew the Gornicki waiver after the Reds and Cubs had made their claims. Subsequently he arranged to turn over Gornicki to the Cubs for a sum in excess of the waiver price. It was this transaction that drew Landis’ ire today.

“We’ll not push any attempt to get Gornicki,” Gallagher said at his Wrigley Field office after the Landis decision was announced.

It is known that the Gornicki purchase money has not been forwarded to St. Louis, Gallagher having been out of the city inspecting Cub talent in Tulsa and vicinity since the deal was agreed upon…

Between the Cardinals and Cubs Hank had a 3.38 ERA in 13 1/3 innings, with nine walks. On December 1 Branch Rickey sold him to the Pittsburgh Pirates; apparently the Cardinals had soured on him since his one-hitter, but it’s unclear why. The following day John Strothard in his “This Sports Racket” column in the Daytona Beach Evening News reported:

…The Niagara Falls Polock [sic] has been a thorn in Rickey’s side ever since he joined the St. Louis Cardinals in the spring of 1936 and was sent to Daytona Beach as a member of Andy Anderson’s twirling staff in that first Florida State League.

Hank always was anxious for more money and never had any qualms about asking for it.

And Rickey, as befits a member of the Cardinal brain trust, doesn’t mind giving a ballplayer an extra $100 a month any more than he would mind giving away his right leg.

So, as you probably can figure out, there was always a bit of a strain in the relations between Gornicki and Rickey.

One of the famous stories about the controversy over cash between the pair might stand a bit of retelling.

“That Gornicki! Every time I see him, he costs me money. Two years ago, I told him he wasn’t going to get a salary raise because he was making plenty of money to take care of himself. And then he went and got married and I had to give him a raise. But I warned him right then that he needn’t expect any more. But the next year, when he came to spring training camp, he and his wife had a baby, and I had to give him some more money. It’s been like that all through his career. That Gornicki.”

In January 1942 Hank signed his Pirate contract; newspaper reports mentioned that he was married with a child so was currently deferred from military service. From the March 12 Buffalo News:

Hank Gornicki Is Injured

SAN BERNARDINO, Cal.—Manager Frankie Frisch reported his Pirate pitchers are in “swell shape” with the exception of Hank Gornicki, who is being doctored for a torn ligament in his right leg. A foul tip landed squarely on the spot where he received an earlier leg injury.

Evansville Courier and Press, March 30:

Among the newcomers, and there are many, Hank Gornicki, who was in the Cardinal chain and finished the season with the Cubs last year, is expected to become one of the stars of the team.

Daytona Beach Evening News, April 8:

Gornicki Has A Pet Hate: Attacks Card Pilot

Pirate Pitcher Unlooses Ire On Billy Southworth

Hank Gornicki, the bodacious young Polish Gent who joined the St. Louis Cardinal chaingang as a Daytona Beach Islander in 1936, has a pet hate.

The rambunctious righthander is as mad as Donald Duck, at the Cardinals in general and at Manager Billy Southworth in particular. Gornicki, a 16-game winner here as a rookie in 1936, claims he received a raw deal from the Cards and Southworth, and many baseball men agree with him.

Gornicki’s pet hate comes to Daytona Beach fans by way of Irvin Lisager, who writes in the Chicago Daily News as follows:

Wichita, Tex., April 8—Having almost sliced an ear off Coach Hollis Thompson with a sharp whistling drive, Hank Gornicki, the young wood-chopper of the Smokies and a Pirate mound hope, surrendered his bat to Elbie Fletcher and strolled over to the short fence flanking the Pittsburgh bench, in this city where Frankie Frisch’s squad stopped for a day. “I’m going to cripple somebody with my hitting,” he said good-naturedly, wiping huge globules of sweat off his sunken cheeks with the sleeve of his sweatshirt.

A stray ball skittered along the ground at his feet and, as he threw it back to its source, he remarked, “Did you see that ball drop? That’s my sinker. I tried it against the Cubs the other day. The ball shoots down and seems pretty heavy. I know they had trouble hitting it.”

Gornicki is the fellow who escaped from the toils of the St. Louis Cardinal chain system simply because “I refused to play ball for Southworth.” Discretion was tossed to the scarcely-stirring desert wind as the 27-year-old [31] righthander told of his grievances against Southworth.

“I always had a feeling Southworth didn’t like me, even when I was at Rochester under him,” said Gornicki. “At St. Louis last year, I was sent out to work against Philadelphia and only one guy, Stan Benjamin, got a hit off me. A one-hit ball game’s pretty good pitching, I think. So did the sports writers. But six days later, I was shipped back to Rochester. I wasn’t the only one surprised, believe me. That manager didn’t like me, that was all.”

Pressed to be more specific about Southworth’s manifested displeasures, Gornicki replied, with the sagacity of an Ivy Lee, “I don’t want to get myself in any trouble. Only the 20-game winners can tell in public what they really think of their bosses. Personal feelings, that was all.”

The Chicago Cubs bought Gornicki from St. Louis, but the deal was nixed by the commissioner’s office. “It had something to do with the Cubs not being entitled to buy me for over the waiver price,” Gornicki tried to explain. “I’m not sure of the technicality. Pittsburgh got me, and that’s all right with me. And I’m plenty anxious to pour it into Southworth.”

According to Manager Frisch, Gornicki is an outstanding prospect. His minor league record is replete with heroics. He looks shorter than the listed six feet and slighter than 180 pounds. His long jaw and the drawn cheeks suggest that his desert bravado, even if a trifle indiscreet, might be turned with advantage into a Pittsburgh ace against the Cardinals.

From an AP report dated April 12, though here taken from the April 11 Springfield Republican:

Gornicki Suspended And Fined by Frisch

Wichita, Kan., April 12—(AP)—Frankie Frisch, manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates, declared today that Henry (“Hank”) Gornicki, a pitcher, had been suspended indefinitely and fined for violating the club’s spring training midnight curfew rule. Gornicki was ordered to leave the squad and go to Pittsburgh.

Frisch said he found Gornicki AWOL from his hotel room in a check last night and added: “I hate to do this (suspend Gornicki), especially when my boys lived up to the rules on the training trip, but I will tolerate no violations.”

The season began on April 14, and Hank was back with the team on April 17. He made his Pirate debut on the 20^th, pitching the last two innings of an 8-2 loss to the Cubs and allowing the last two runs. He made four more relief appearances before getting a start on May 30, his first major league start since his one-hitter the previous May, in the first game of a doubleheader in Chicago. He was removed with one out in the bottom of the fifth, and by the time the inning was over he had allowed nine runs, though only two were earned. In his next start, eight days later, he only lasted two innings. He then sat until June 20, when he pitched an inning of relief, then sat again until July 25, though I didn’t find any references to his being injured. In that game he pitched nine innings and allowed just four hits and one run in Philadelphia, but Rip Sewell lost the game in the twelfth.

Hank was a semi-regular starter the rest of the season, and pitched well. On August 27 he started at home against the Braves, and the AP reported the next day:

Hank Gornicki Shines After Long Obscurity

By ARDEN SKIDMORE

PITTSBURGH, Aug. 28 (AP).—Hank Gornicki, for  months the “forgotten pitcher” of the Pittsburgh Pirates, finally is creating some noise.

Hank turned his assortment of slants on the Boston Braves yesterday, yielding but two scratch singles and winning, 5 to 0, in one of the year’s best pitching performances at Forbes Field. To boot, he smacked a home run.

It was only victory No. 4, but the tall willowy fellow hasn’t had many regular turns on the mound. From the start of the season to July 25 he started only twice, because, as he puts it, “Frisch had me in the doghouse for staying out past midnight one night.”

Fans scarcely knew he was around. But once in a starting role Hank has made up for lost time, with all of his triumphs coming since July 25…

“If I keep on nibbling maybe I’ll get one of those no-hitters one of these days,” says Hank…

Gornicki is the lightest member of the Pirate corps—trimming the beams at 168 pounds—but many of his teammates say he owns the fastest ball on the club. And it is his fast ball, coupled with an old fashioned curve and a little change of pace, that gets him by.

Hank ended the season with a 5-6 record and a team-best 2.57 ERA in 112 innings in 25 games, 14 of them starts.  The Sporting News reported on November 19 that “Hank Gornicki, Pittsburgh pitcher, is spending the winter near the Great Smokies—hunting and chopping wood to keep the fires going.”

Hank signed a new Pirate contract in March 1943. On April 13, near the end of spring training, the AP reported:

Dr. Charles Jorgensen, trainer, has been busy for the past 48 hours helping stem an outbreak of grippe and colds. Max Butcher has been laid up for three days. It was necessary to lance his left ear today.

Others stricken include Coach Jake Flowers, [Rip] Sewell, Bo [Bob] Elliott, Vince DiMaggio and Hank Gornicki. Catcher Bill Baker is out also with a bad leg.

The next day they added that “Max Butcher remained in bed with a cold and Hank Gornicki was excused from practice because of a cold.” Hank recovered in time to start the second game of the season, on April 22 in Chicago, being removed for a pinch-hitter in the top of the third, behind 3-1; the Pirates came back to tie but lost 4-3.

Hank bounced back and forth between starting and relieving all season. The Sporting News mentioned on June 3 that “Emulating Paul Waner of the Dodgers, Hank Gornicki, Pittsburgh righthander, is now wearing glasses on the field.” On August 12, a game he was not playing in, he was ejected along with two teammates and Manager Frisch for protesting a ball/strike call. Hank won both games of a doubleheader on August 17 and the first game of a doubleheader the next day; the Sporting News reported on the feat in their August 26 issue:

HATS OFF…!

Hank Gornicki

Of the Pittsburgh Pirates

It’s a bow and a “nice day to you, Mr. Hank Gornicki,” as we dip our straw sailor to the chunky [?!] Pirate righthander, whose victory total went up in two days last week like a thermostat at high noon in the Texas Panhandle on an August day. Within a period of 26 hours, August 17 and 18, Gornicki was credited with three victories.

Wins hadn’t come easy prior to that two-day surge, and Hank had been the hard luck lord of the Pittsburgh staff. On August 17, his record was four games won and nine lost. So, in less than two days, he almost doubled his victory total.

Hank got off to an auspicious start in his success parade, August 17, when he held the Braves to six hits and blanked them, 8 to 0, in the first game of a double-header. When Xavier Rescigno got into trouble in the ninth inning of the second game, Frisch rushed Gornicki back at the Braves and he immediately stopped the rally, pitching hitless ball for an inning and two-thirds. He gave way to Elliott, a pinch-hitter, in the eleventh and when the Pirates scored a run in that frame, taking the lead, 4 to 3, Gornicki was the recipient of the victory even though Sewell retired the Braves in the second half.

The Pirates moved on to New York, August 18, and won the first half of another double-header, 7 to 6, in ten innings. Frisch trotted out six pitchers in this game, with Gornicki, the fourth flinger, getting credit for the victory when he held the Giants to one hit and no runs in the eighth and ninth innings. Again he retired in favor of Pinch-Hitter Elliott, who helped fashion the winning run…

Hank next pitched on August 22, when he LOST both games of a doubleheader. On September 5 he won another fungo-hitting contest. On September 29, Oscar Fraley’s “Sports Patrol” column, syndicated by the UP, mentioned that:

The Cubs have come up with a new nickname for Hank Gornicki, the Pittsburgh Pirates tosser. Slightly inelegant, but the chatty Chicagoans refer to him as “Hog Jaw.”

Hank finished up with a 9-13 record and 3.98 ERA in 147 innings in 42 games, 18 of them starts. On November 17 various newspapers reported that the Pirates had received a letter from Hank saying that he had been reclassified as 1-A and would be inducted into the Army on November 27. The December 9 Sporting News reported that he had been rejected but had not been informed of the reason; but things changed again and on January 29, 1944, he was inducted. Hugh Fullerton Jr., in his AP-syndicated “The Sports Roundup” column of April 15, reported that:

Pvt. Hank Gornicki, former Pirates’ pitcher dropped 14 pounds during a 20-day battle against pneumonia shortly after reaching Camp Wolters, Tex., and won’t be pitcher for the camp team for some time. But he’s getting into shape with an occasional turn in the outfield. Hank is classified for limited service because of a bad leg.

A 1948 article in the Miami (Oklahoma) News-Record recounted another issue Hank had:

Gornicki was seriously injured in 1944 while stationed with the Army at Camp Gruber, near Muskogee. Silva said the injuries occurred while the veteran player was serving with an ammunition carrier on an 8-inch gun, engaged in maneuvers at about 1 o’clock in the morning. The Topekan related that the gun was fired and that Hank slipped from a soft shoulder into a hole drilled for the recoil. In falling, Gornicki hurt his side and tore kidney tissues. But he apparently has recovered completely from those injuries, it was said. He was hospitalized for more than six months.

On November 19 the Corpus Christi Caller-Times reported: “Pvt. Henry (Hank) Gornicki, former pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates, is bothered with a bum leg and hasn’t been able to keep up his training, much less play baseball, at Camp Wolters, Texas.”

Hank was never sent overseas, and he received an honorable discharge on September 15, 1945. On February 12, 1946, it was reported that he had signed a contract with the Pirates, and on the 21^st the Buffalo News said that “Hank Gornicki, recovering from a kidney operation, arrived at the El Centro, Calif., camp.” On March 20 it was reported that he had a chance of making the team, but on the 24^th he was optioned to the Hollywood Stars of the Pacific Coast League. Due to a sore arm he only made two appearances with the Stars, but in May he was recalled by the Pirates anyway. He didn’t get into a game until June 17, and though he spent the rest of the season with Pittsburgh he only made seven appearances, all in relief. He pitched 12 2/3 innings, allowing 11 walks and ten runs, but only five of the runs were earned so his ERA was a respectable 3.55.

On February 19, 1947, the Sporting News reported that Hank had signed a provisional contract with the Pirates, based on his health: “Gornicki is nursing a sore whip which has bothered him since his return from the service.” On March 9 he was sent down to the Indianapolis Indians of the American Association; the AP story said that “Gornicki, who has been ailing, reported he is improving and has regained some of his lost weight;” the UP mentioned that he was living in Tarpon Springs, Florida.

An April 7 UP preview of the Indianapolis team said: “Hank Gornicki, former Pittsburgh and Cardinal pitcher, is ranked as tops on the hurling roster, but Big Henry has a sore arm and unless it improves, he may be a problem for the entire season.” On April 16 the Sporting News reported that the Indians had sent him down to Class A Albany of the Eastern League, but a week later they added:

Pitcher Hank Gornicki, scheduled for assignment to Albany of the Eastern League, successfully pleaded his case with Indianapolis officials and has been retained by the Indians. Gornicki insisted his ailing arm was rounding into shape.

On May 28 Hank made a start for Indianapolis and didn’t make it through the third inning. That was his only game for the Indians, who on June 4 sold him to the Memphis Chicks of the Class AA Southern Association on a 30-day probation basis. On June 26 Memphis returned him to Indianapolis—I didn’t find any evidence that he got into a game for the Chicks. On August 5 the Benton Harbor (Michigan) Herald-Palladium reported:

Hank Gornicki, Ex-Buc Hurler Joins Ausco 9

Still in the building stage, with one eye trained on the second half M-I league championship and the other on the national semi-pro title at Wichita, the Auscos have acquired two new players—an outfielder and a pitcher…

The new pitcher, who’s just arrived but won’t be unveiled for another week or so, is Hank Gornicki, late of the Pittsburgh Pirates…

Gornicki is probably more familiar to local fans because he was “up there” for several seasons. The new hurler, who stands an even six feet and weighs 165 pounds, made his acquaintance with Ausco players at yesterday afternoon’s practice session.

Undergoing an arm operation only last month, Hank has been working out with the Little Rock, Ark., club of the Southern Association. He reported here directly from Little Rock. The arm still feels stiff but a week or two of practice should bring it into pitching condition.

By the end of August, though, Hank was back in professional baseball, pitching for the Gainesville Owls of the Class B Big State League. In seven starts he had a 2-4 record and a 4.58 ERA.

The January 28, 1948, Sporting News ran this item:

Hank Gornicki, former Pirate pitcher and now a free agent, is seeking a post as player-manager or a player’s contract with some club. Gornicki, who may be contacted at 315 Forrestiera Drive, Lake Park, Fla., started last season with Indianapolis of the American Association, but underwent an operation on his ailing arm in July and now reports the flipper in fine shape. He is keeping in trim this winter by serving as a mail carrier in Palm Beach.

From the Miami (Oklahoma) News-Record, February 29:

HANK GORNICKI WILL MANAGE MIAMI CLUB

…In announcing the selection of Gornicki, a righthanded flinger with 10 years of pro ball experience behind him, R.O. (Hoot) Gibson, president of the local club, said:

“From all we’ve heard about him, we are pleased that Gornicki has accepted the job. We are looking forward to his arrival here shortly before the start of spring training March 22.”

Frank Silva, general manager of the Topeka Owls, reached Gornicki by telephone at the latter’s Lake Park, Fla., home Saturday and the two arrived at a verbal agreement. Terms were not disclosed…

Except for two years in the armed forces, 1944 and 1945, Hank continued in baseball without a break until an arm operation, for removal of gristle, forced him to retire temporarily from the Indianapolis Indians of the American association last summer.

However, Gornicki assured Silva that he is “feeling fine” and expressed belief his arm has fully recovered so that he can take his regular turn on the mound for the Owls…

Among the recommendations which Topeka and Miami club officials received in inquiring into the hurler’s past record was that of Joe Mathes, head of the St. Louis Cardinals’ farm system. Silva quoted Mathes as saying “Gornicki will leave nothing to be desired in his knowledge of pitching ability and the know-how to teach it to youngsters.”

The new Owl pilot informed Topeka officials that he has been carrying the mail in Florida and riding a bicycle six days weekly to condition himself for the position he is accepting in Miami…

The Miami Owls of the Class D K-O-M League were a farm team of the Topeka Owls of the Class C Western Association. On March 5 the News-Record reported that Hank’s signed contract had been received at Topeka, and added that:

In Silva’s office as he talked was Rabbit Maranville, the former Boston Brave shortstop. He put in a plug for Gornicki when he got on the line, saying Hank’s a “good ball player and I think he’ll go places” as a manager.

The Miami and Topeka players arrived at Miami for spring training on March 30. The next day Hank was quoted as saying that he would only use himself as a relief pitcher; then on April 12 the News-Record reported:

Art Priebe Named Miami Owl Pilot; Gornicki Resigns

A week-end shift in managers for the Miami Owls injected new interest into the local spring training camp today.

Immediately after Henry (Hank) Gornicki’s resignation was revealed Sunday, Topeka general manager Frank Silva disclosed that Arthur Priebe, 25-year-old infielder with Topeka for the past two seasons, will be the Miami pilot. He is due in town tonight by plane from his Milwaukee, Wis., home.

Silva, who announced Gornicki’s appointment only a few weeks ago, said that the former St. Louis Cardinal and Pittsburgh Pirate hurler had yielded his duties, that he had illness in his family at Lake Park, Fla. Gornicki was to leave by train late this afternoon for Florida.

Hank issued no statement, but did say “I might be able to hook on” with some other club.

It was no secret, however, among local baseball fans that Topeka, with whom Miami has a working agreement, and the ex-major league twirler did not see eye-to-eye on a wide range of baseball policies.

Miami club president R.O. (Hoot) Gibson said he had “no comment” when asked about the change in pilots.

On April 26 Hank signed with the St. Petersburg Saints of the Class C Florida International League. On the 29^th he started and was knocked out in the fifth inning, losing 10-4; soon after he was released. In late May he caught on with the Florence (South Carolina) Steelers of the Class B Tri-State League. His first appearance with them came on May 30, when he was pressed into playing third base after the regular was ejected. He pitched in five games for the Steelers, had an 0-4 record, and allowed 50 hits and 26 runs in 26 innings (he only walked four though!). This was the end for Hank as a professional baseball player.

But not the end for him in professional baseball. The following winter Hank attended Bill McGowan’s umpire school in Cocoa, Florida, and he quickly got a job with the Florida State League, where he had started as a pitcher with Daytona Beach in 1936. A March 23, 1949, Sporting News article about Hank and two other former major league pitchers, Al Smith and Roxie Lawson, becoming umpires after attending McGowan’s school, listed all-star teams that each had chosen of former teammates and opponents. Hank’s was “Dolph Camilli, first base, Billy Herman, second; Eddie Miller, short; Bob Elliott, third; Stan Musial, Terry Moore and Enos Slaughter, outfielders; Walker Cooper, catcher, and Carl Hubbell, Morton Cooper, Whitlow Wyatt and Johnny Vander Meer, pitchers.”

On May 26 the Daytona Beach Evening News reported that Hank was fined $10 for not ordering Palatka manager Bitsy Mott out of the dugout after he ejected him on the 22^nd. And the same paper reported on July 2:

There was a commotion on the playing field in the second game. Umpire Hank Gornicki walked over to one of the entrance gates to Joe Souza, the gatekeeper, who had been heckling the arbiter. They had words, and Souza is alleged to have pushed the umpire, but no blows were struck, according to those who saw the incident.

The 1950 census was taken in West Palm Beach on April 5, and the Gornickis were counted there at 620 48^th Street. Frank T., 39 (his true age), is listed as a professional umpire, but also as seeking work. Wynne is 35 and works full time as an elementary school teacher. M. Elaine is nine. I found no evidence that Hank/Frank worked as an umpire in 1950 or thereafter; at some point he returned to the postal service and worked as a mail carrier until he retired. Photos exist of him in a West Palm Beach Braves (Florida State League) uniform in 1966—I don’t know whether he was their pitching coach that season or if he was just helping out in spring training.

An article by Bob Fulton in the Indiana (Pennsylvania) Gazette from March 3, 1995, about major league baseball holding spring training in the north from 1943-45 to cut down on unnecessary travel, quoted Hank on the Pirates’ camp in Muncie, Indiana:

“It was absolutely ridiculous—65 players in a gym, running around with our sneakers on,” recalls pitcher Hank Gornicki. “You’d be stepping on each other.”

Wynne passed away at age 78 in 1992. Hank died February 16, 1996, at the age of 85, in the Veterans Administration Nursing Home in Riviera Beach, Florida.

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/G/Pgornh101.htm

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/gorniha01.shtml