Rocky Krsnich

Rocky Krsnich was an infielder for the White Sox in 1949 and 1952-53.

Rocco Peter Krsnich (pronounced Kreznik) was born August 5, 1927, in West Allis, Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee. His parents, Peter and Filimana, of Croatian descent, married in Yugoslavia and had their first child, August, there in 1912. Peter emigrated to the US in 1913; Filimana and August did not follow until 1922. Filimana gave birth to five more sons in Wisconsin.

The 1930 census shows the family living at 6016 Lincoln Avenue in West Allis, in a home they own, valued at $5000. Peter, 45, is a general laborer at a foundry; Filimana, listed as Philomena, is 38. August, 18, is shown as a daughter named Augustine (though his later World War II service will be as August) and is a clerk at a factory. Second son Rok had passed away in 1927, Joseph is five, Rocco, shown as Rudolph, is two, and Nicholas is one. Youngest son Michael is five months away from being born.

I can’t find the family in the 1940 census. In late 1944 Rocky started showing up in the Milwaukee newspapers as a basketball star for West Allis Central High School--the school didn’t have a baseball team but Rocky played American Legion ball. A January 31, 1945, article in the Milwaukee Sentinel mentioned that he was the leading scorer in the Suburban League and that he “is suffering from a badly infected arm and was held out of Tuesday’s practice session.” He signed a minor league baseball contract with the Phillies and seemingly left school before the 1944-45 school year ended.

On May 2 Rocky filled out a questionnaire in which he gives his nickname as “Rags,” his size as 6-0, 144, his off-season occupation as “student in high school,” and his hobbies as “none.” He was playing shortstop for the Wilmington Blue Rocks of the Class B Interstate League; he played 74 games and hit .266/.379/.369, but was released in early August.

On August 6, the day after his 18^th birthday, while still in Wilmington, Rocky filled out his draft registration card. He is still 6 feet tall but has filled out a bit to 155 pounds; brown eyes, brown hair, dark complexion. His address is 6818 W Lincoln in West Allis, and he gives his occupation as “unemployed at present – student at West Allis Central High School.” He then went back home, and went back to school.

During the 1945-46 off-season Rocky played amateur basketball for three different teams, the Sorce Trucking Whiz Kids in the West Allis Minor league, Krahn’s Tap in the Milwaukee Suburban league, and Allis-Chambers in the Milwaukee Industrial league. On January 16, 1946, the Milwaukee Sentinel reported:

Chisox After Krsnich

“Rocky” Krsnich, former West Allis Central High basketball star, has been offered a Chicago White Sox baseball contract to play with its Waterloo, Ia., farm of the Three-Eye League. Terms called for $200 per month. However, before accepting, Krsnich is to confer with Brewer [Milwaukee of the Class AAA American Association] officials who have been after the outfielder [sic]. Last season he was a member of the Wilmington club, a Philadelphia farm.

On February 23 the Milwaukee Journal reported that Rocky had not yet signed the White Sox contract and was still hoping to hook up with the Brewers. But on May 24 he turned up playing shortstop and batting seventh for the Quincy Gems of the Class B Three-I League, a Yankees affiliate. After hitting .241/.297/.307 in 39 games he was sent down one level to the Joplin Miners of the Western Association. He didn’t do any better there, .204/.301/.299 in 60 games, but it would prove to be an important move for personal reasons, and the Yankees thought well enough of him to send him back up to Quincy for 1947.

After another off-season playing basketball around Milwaukee, he spent the baseball season with Quincy, playing shortstop. He began the year batting sixth but ended up in the second spot as he made large strides offensively, hitting .318/.421/.455 with 23 doubles, nine triples and three home runs. He played more basketball in the 1947-48 off-season.

For 1948 the Yankees kept Rocky at Class B but moved him to the Norfolk Tars of the Piedmont League. He got off to a great start and moved from fifth to fourth to third in the batting order, but cooled off and finished at .272/.363/.435, with 15 homers and 80 RBI, and was voted by the league’s managers to the all-star team. After the season the Yankees moved him up to the roster of Augusta of the Class A Sally League but not to the major league roster, where he would have been protected, and as a result he was drafted in December by the Class AA Memphis Chickasaws, a White Sox affiliate in the Southern Association.

Also in December, the Joplin Globe reported on December 2:

R.P. (Rocky) Krsnich, Joplin shortstop in 1946 and with Norfolk, Va., of the Piedmont League last season, like ball players before him, has married a Joplin girl. Ferrell Anderson, Al Gerheauser, Gabby Street and others fell in love with Joplin girls and incidentally, all later went to the major leagues after marrying them.

Rocky was married Saturday morning to Marie Hennessey, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George V. Hennessey, 2518 North Highview avenue, at St. Peter’s Catholic church by the Rev. Father James Lyons.

The Memphis Commercial Appeal of March 24, 1949, reported that Red Ruffing, who was doing some spring training coaching with the Chickasaws “while waiting to take over his assignment as manager of Muskegon in the Central League,” said:

“I like that Rocky Krsnich at shortstop. Hell of a fielder with a great arm. I notice he didn’t hit too much but he drove in more than 80 runs. He can go to his right.”

Rocky started the season at short, but eventually got moved to third base. In the July 27 issue he got some attention from the Sporting News:

Chicks Quit Cellar on Krsnich’s Clouts

By George K. Leonard

NASHVILLE, Tenn.

…Three of the four games in the “crucial” series were decided by a one-run margin. In each contest the hero’s mantle was draped around the shoulders of Robert [sic] (Rocky) Krsnich, tall 21-year-old Memphis third baseman. Krsnich’s batting feats in the series which saw Memphis rising from the cellar for the first time this season included the following:

FIRST GAME—With the contest scoreless in the last of the eleventh, he homered with two aboard to win for his club, 3 to 0.

SECOND GAME—In the first frame, smashed a three-run circuit clout as Memphis prevailed, 4 to 3.

THIRD GAME—Drove in five of his team’s runs in a 9 to 8 win with a two-run homer and two singles.

FOURTH GAME—Whipped a line single to left field in the opening chapter, scoring two runs in a 3 to 2 triumph.

The recapitulation shows that Krsnich directly accounted for 13 of the Chicks’ 19 runs against Chattanooga with eight hits, including three homers, in 15 tries at bat. In the preceding series against Nashville, two of which were annexed by Memphis, Rocky collected six hits. All of this heavy knocking boosted his average from .258 to .285.

Milwaukee Journal, July 31:

West Allis Youngster Sets Pace for Memphis

A member of a noted West Allis athletic family may be the Milwaukee area’s next contribution to major league baseball. He is Robert [sic] (Rocky) Krsnich, 21 year old third baseman of the Memphis (Tenn.) Chicks of the Southern association, whose terrific batting spree last week almost single handedly pulled his club out of the league cellar…

Krsnich is better known to local fans for his football and basketball feats at West Allis Central high school, having won all-Suburban conference recognition in the cage sport in 1945. Since Central had no baseball team, his diamond activities were confined to junior American Legion and West Allis AAA league ball until he joined the New York Yankee organization three years ago [not quite true]. His younger brothers, Nick and Mike, had similar high school athletic careers…

The Chicago White Sox have first call on Krsnich’s services because of a working agreement with the Memphis club, so it will not be surprising if Rocky does his playing close to home next season.

Memphis Commercial Appeal, August 10:

Pouring Praise On Krsnich

And The Chick Third Baseman Deserves It—Rocky Raises Average And Homer Output

It is really pleasant to dwell on the virtues of Rocky Krsnich, a polite young man who is the current hitting sensation of the Southern League, especially since he is a member of the Chickasaws…This 22-year-old is the pacemaker of the Tribe now that the boys are seeing better days and he is not only hitting the ball at a lively clip, but he is fielding beautifully around third…His batting average through last night’s game was a respectable .313 and this represents a considerable gain for he fell down to the low .200s for a while…Furthermore his run-batted-in total stood at 65 and his home run output at 18…Now 18 homers for a righthanded hitter in this league is better than pretty good, for our parks aren’t built for that species of swinger…

Krsnick’s first name isn’t Robert, as reported on the reserve list, but Rocco, as he wants one and all to know…

All above ellipses are part of the article and not me showing that I’ve left things out. So I need to verbally state that I’m skipping ahead now.

Rocky started at shortstop and wasn’t exactly steady at the job…Furthermore, he wasn’t hitting too well and it was getting him down a little…”That’s where Al Todd came into it,” says Rocco. “He strung along with me, patiently explained my mistakes and told me to keep bearing down. He changed my batting stance a little to have me facing the pitcher a bit more and I picked up almost at once. He’s been simply swell to me and I think he did it all.”…Of course, the Chick manager disclaims the “all” part in view of the fact that Rocky has natural power and a good way of going…Although he played shortstop almost exclusively before coming to Memphis, he is confident that third base is his spot now and prefers playing there…So do the fans.

On September 10 Rocky’s contract was purchased by the White Sox and he was called up. With Memphis he had hit .318/.381/.527 with 38 doubles (tying for the league lead), four triples, and 20 homers, and 90 runs and 91 RBI.

Rocky made his major league debut on September 13 at Washington, playing third base and batting sixth in the lineup, behind Catfish Metkovich and ahead of Chuck Kress. In his first plate appearance he doubled off Dick Weik in the second inning. He also made two errors, each one leading to an unearned run, but the White Sox won 3-2 behind Randy Gumpert.

The next day Rocky went 3-for-5 with a double and three RBI; on September 21 at Yankee Stadium he hit his first major league home run, off Ralph Buxton. He played third base in 16 of the Sox’ final 17 games, starting 15 of them, and hit .218/.295/.364 in 55 at-bats. On October 12 the Memphis Commercial Appeal reported:

Rocky Krsnich, who went up to the White Sox when the Chicks finished their season, showed the parent club he’s a comer, but it’s likely that he’ll get that extra season of experience he needs right back in Memphis.

On December 21 Newman’s Department Store in Joplin ran an ad in the Globe to let the town know that Rocky had taken a job in their men’s department (The 1949 Joplin City Directory shows that Marie was a cashier for Newman’s, and that the couple was living at 501 Sergeant.) He went to spring training 1950 with the White Sox, but on March 22, as predicted, he was optioned back to Memphis. On April 10 an article appeared in the Commercial Appeal under Rocky’s byline, titled “How to Play Third Base:”

This is another in a series of articles which has been prepared by The Commercial Appeal in co-operation with the Memphis baseball team. The objective is improvement on the part of high school and sandlot players of the Mid South.

Next, Pat Seerey talks about hitting.

Rocky got off to a good start. He was voted utility man for the league’s all-star game, played July 18, in which the first-place Atlanta Crackers played against players from the other teams; but after that he had a variety of ailments and faded. The July 20 Commercial Appeal mentioned that he “is limping noticeably from a pulled leg muscle,” on August 16 they reported that he “was led off the field late in the game, for a reason not explained. He seemed to be suffering from dizziness.”

On August 18 the same paper said that he was out with a back injury, and on the 19^th he was placed on the disabled list. From August 29:

Rocky Krsnich has come off the Chicks’ disabled list after being laid up with a back injury for two weeks…Rocky hasn’t any real good idea of how he picked up the ailment, but he played under a handicap for some time before being allowed a rest…He was back in action last night at Mobile.

He ended up hitting .272/.338/.408 with 12 home runs, numbers down significantly from 1949. He was added back to the White Sox roster briefly, then in December he was optioned to the Pacific Coast League’s Seattle Rainiers, in return for the right to purchase Rainier pitcher Vern Kindsfather.

Rocky spent the 1951 season with the Rainiers, where his manager was Rogers Hornsby. His hitting tailed off even more, and he started to be known for his glove. On August 15 the Portland Oregonian reported:

No longer is Rocky Krsnich, the Seattle third sacker, “the vowelless baseball player.” One Seattle baseball writer, Lenny Anderson of the Times, took pity on Krsnich’s vowelless state and generously gave him one—it’s now Kresnich when he writes about the young man.

A September 19 AP report on a playoff game between Seattle and Hollywood included this: “An error by Rocky Krsnich, generally regarded as one of the best glove men to ever perform at third base in the Coast League, started Seattle’s downfall in the ninth.” Rocky hit just .251/.314/.351 with four homers in 538 at-bats. Still, the White Sox put him on their off-season roster to protect him from the draft.

Rocky went to spring training 1952 with Chicago, but was optioned back to Seattle. His hitting bounced back some, and he continued to get raves for his fielding. From Frank T. Blair’s “Frankly Speaking” column in the July 11 Long Beach Press Telegram:

Manager Bill Sweeney of the Seattle Rainiers [replacing Hornsby] says that Rocky Krsnich ranks next to Pie Traynor as the best defensive third baseman he has ever seen. Krsnich is a pretty durable guy, too. He bounced up unhurt after a collision on the base paths with big Chuck Connors of the Angels Wednesday night, but the latter suffered another shoulder injury and had to leave the game.

As an aside, this is from Emmett Watson’s “Our City” column in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer of April 11, 1960:

This one digs ‘way back into sports history, but Chuck Connors, the TV star, credits an ex-Rainier ballplayer, Rocky Krsnich, for a big assist in his acting career. Only Rocky doesn’t know it. Connors, once a stout-hitting first-baseman for the old Los Angeles Angels, was churning around second base one night when he collided with Krsnich, the Seattle third-baseman, who had moved toward second for a possible play. Wham! Connors was upended, came down hard, suffered a dislocated shoulder. “I don’t know what he was doing there,” said Connors last week, “but he helped make up my mind about a movie career.”

Rocky was hitting .295/.339/.371 for the Rainiers when the White Sox recalled him at the end of July in an attempt to solve their third base woes. He started four games, going 2-for-10, after which manager Paul Richards decided to go back to Hector Rodriguez at third and use Rocky as a late-inning defensive replacement. On September 2, in the first game of a home doubleheader against the Tigers, he entered the game after Rodriguez had been pinch-hit for and hit a game-winning two-run triple in the bottom of the ninth off Virgil Trucks. This won him the job back and he kept it for the rest of the season, Richards saying, “He’s the best third baseman I’ve ever seen.”

On September 14 Rocky won a game at home against the Red Sox with a bases-loaded single with two out in the 17^th inning. The next day he broke a 2-2 tie with a two-run bases-loaded single in the bottom of the eighth. From the September 16 Chicago Daily News:

Sox Call Krsnich ‘Another Kamm’

Face Athletics Twice Tonight

By Neil R. Gazel

Have the White Sox another “Willie Kamm” playing third for them in graceful Rocky Krsnich?

Batting coach “Doc” Cramer thinks so. And Bucky Harris, another contemporary of the former Sox and Cleveland star concurs.

“He reminds me a lot of Kamm. I’m not kidding,” asserted Cramer.

“He does at that,” conceded Harris after Krsnich whipped his Senators last Wednesday both afield and at the plate.

With Chicago Rocky hit .231/.327/.385 in 91 at-bats in 40 games. From the October 23 Milwaukee Journal:

Krsnich

West Allis Lad Looms as Third Baseman for Chisox Next Season

By Sam Levy

It is not too early to predict that Rocky Krsnich, former West Allis Central high school athlete, may be the regular third baseman for the Chicago White Sox next season. Frank Lane, general manager of the Comiskey forces, himself foresees it. Krsnich’s play in the final month of the American League season was a pleasant surprise to everybody on the club. The Sox recalled the suburbanite from Seattle (Pacific Coast League), where he had starred in 118 games.

“Krsnich will get a chance to win the job next spring,” Lane told the writer recently. “I’ve liked Rocky ever since I first saw him play when both of us were in the Yankee chain. We drafted him shortly after I joined the White Sox in the fall of 1948.”…

“When we sent Krsnich to Seattle, we expected him to hit well but we were surprised by the remarkable improvement in his fielding,” said Lane.

Bill Sweeney, Seattle manager and a former Cleveland infielder, is one of Krsnich’s biggest boosters. He says: “I have seen almost all of the great third basemen, but I have never seen anyone play it so well as Krsnich.”

In December Rocky signed a 1953 Chicago contract; on the 28^th Porter Wittich, in his “Globe Trotter” column in the Joplin Globe, mentioned:

Which reminds me that Rocky Krsnich, former Miner shortstop and now a full-fledged member of the Chicago White Sox, is “home” in Joplin for the holidays before departing soon for Florida and spring training…

Rocky reported early to spring training for a “finishing school camp” for him and eight other young players that opened January 19. By the end of the month the White Sox had optioned Hector Rodriguez to Syracuse and obtained infielder Fred Marsh from the Browns to give themselves another third base option. Another trade brought Ferris Fain from the Athletics; a January 28 AP story quoted Paul Richards as saying: “We now have the finest defensive infield in the league—Rocky Krsnich on third, Chico Carrasquel at short, Nellie Fox at second and Fain on first.” Another AP story from the same day attributed an almost identical quote to Frank Lane, only he said “either Rocky Krsnich, Sam Dente or Fred Marsh at third.”

On February 9 Lane made another trade, this one bringing Vern Stephens from the Red Sox. From the next day’s Chicago Daily News:

“We aren’t saying he’ll get the third base job over Rocky Krsnich or Fred Marsh,” explained Lane. “But we think the gamble for him is well worth taking.”

On March 27 the Milwaukee Journal reported:

Krsnich, who finished last season with the club after being called up from Seattle, has been hitting above expectations, especially with men on base, and is giving Stephens a battle for the third base assignment. He is much the surer fielder of the two and covers more territory,

Memphis Commercial Appeal, April 1:

When Rocky Krsnich was employed by the Chickasaws, he was not known as a master of the leather…But Rogers Hornsby now describes him as the finest fielding third baseman he has observed, and Stan Hack concurs in the opinion.

Atlanta Journal, April 8:

Slumping Stephens Opens Way For Chisox’ Krsnich

By Bob Christian

How much Rocky Krsnich, former Memphis Chick, will play for the Chicago White Sox depends on Vern Stephens, slugging third baseman acquired from the Boston Red Sox in late winter.

Between rings of the telephone in his 11^th floor hotel suite Wednesday, it was easy to see that Paul Richards, lanky skipper of the White Sox, has high regard for Krsnich.

After a friend called and offered to sell him some flat land in Texas, the former Cracker skipper sat down and started talking about Krsnich, the hot flash of the Chisox’ training season.

“Krsnich used to be stronger at the plate than in the field,” Richards said.

“Now the guy is a whale of a glove man and it’s entertaining for me to watch him. There have been guys who might be quicker with the flip throw to first after coming in for a slow roller but when Krsnich’s in his normal position he is something to watch now.”

His battle with Stephens will depend on how the former Red Sox star comes through at the plate.

“When we got the guy from Boston I wasn’t worried about his hitting. It was his leg. He seems to have recovered but he’s had only one base hit in the 11 or 12 games we have played since leaving California.

“However, I checked up and I’ve learned that Stephens has never been much of a spring hitter,” Richards said. “Our trainer said he was with Stephens one spring and he didn’t get a base hit. Then I remember taking the Atlanta club over to Anderson, S.C., one afternoon. Stephens played against us and he struck out three or four times. So I guess there is nothing to do but wait for the bell.”

But if something should happen to Vern’s batting eye then “Slug” will have the fellow who has developed into one of those things with a glove.

On April 12 the Boston Advertiser’s “Baseball Forecast” passed along the following:

Royal Brougham of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer offers two long shots: 1—That Rocky Krsnich at third base for the White Sox will make Bill (The Glove) Cox look like a “butter-fingered fumbler” and that Freddie Hutchinson, youngest manager on the big wheel, will surprise everyone with the job he does at Detroit.

The season opened on April 14 with Stephens playing third and batting cleanup. He didn’t hit, and after seven games Rocky replaced him. But Rocky didn’t hit much either, and also had problems in the field, so after six games Stephens got the job back. When Stephens continued to struggle at the plate Rocky was reinstated in late May; his fielding, at least, improved, but on June 9 he dislocated his left shoulder while sliding, the prognosis being that he would be out at least three weeks.

At this point Fred Marsh was given the third base job, but after a week Lane made a trade with the Browns for Bob Elliott, who held on to the position for the rest of the year. Rocky returned to the team in mid-July, started for a week during an injury to Elliott, and finished the season as Bob’s backup. He hit .202/.270/.287 in 129 at-bats in 64 games, while in the field his percentage fell from .959 to .929 and his range per nine innings from 4.07 to 3.32.

From the December 9 Milwaukee Journal:

Major league ballplayers Johnny Logan of the Braves, Harvey Kuenn of Detroit and Rocky Krsnich of the White Sox will be guest speakers at a father and son night at the West Allis Kiwanis club at the Tanner-Paul American legion post Thursday night.

Thursday was the next day, the 10^th, and that same day Rocky was traded with Saul Rogovin and Connie Ryan to the Reds for Willard Marshall. He went to spring training 1954 with Cincinnati but on opening day of the Reds’ season he was sold to the Portland Beavers of the Pacific Coast League. That day, April 14, the Oregon Journal reported:

Krsnich is driving from his home in West Allis to Portland and is due to arrive here in time to don a Beaver uniform for the opening game of the season Tuesday [20^th] with Sacramento.

Yet the April 16 Cincinnati Post published a photo from the Reds-Cubs game of the 15^th, played in Milwaukee, that showed Rocky in uniform for the Reds. Once in Portland he didn’t become the regular third baseman until May, then replacing Don Eggert, who was moved to the outfield. On August 17 he stole home as part of a triple steal. He hit .252/.306/.366 with nine homers in 511 at-bats in 142 games, but his 77 RBI were second on the team. His fielding numbers improved.

Marlowe Branagan’s “Tower Lights” column in the September 14 Oregonian, devoted to the Beavers players departing for the off-season, included:

Rocky Krsnich, another silent young man, dressed in rapid fashion. He will likely return to his home in West Allis, Wis., and his family was ready for a long drive home.

That same day Emmett Watson in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported that the Rainiers were going to try to reacquire Rocky. On October 17 the Joplin Globe reported that “Kansas City has an all-star team of ball players ready to do some barnstorming, including Jay Sousley, Kite Thomas and Rocky Krsnich, all former Joplin Miners.” I didn’t find any more references to that, though. From the October 31 Oregonian:

…What will be the lot of Rocky Krsnich is up to new owners.

Krsnich was just so-so here this past season. He didn’t hit the long ball in frequent fashion and there were many days when he didn’t hit, period.

On December 30 it was reported that the Beavers had turned down Seattle’s offer of Leo Thomas for Rocky, but the Rainiers were still interested.

On January 15, 1955, he was traded with pitcher Jehosie Head and cash for Seattle’s Artie Wilson. The Post-Intelligencer’s Royal Brougham said in his January 21 “Morning After” column that “Rocky Krsnich is the best fielding third baseman since Dick Gyselman and even big Dick couldn’t handle bunts so deftly as Rocky.” And from the February 2 P-I: “Seattle is my favorite town and I’m sure I’ll have a big year with the Rainiers,” is the word from Rocky Krsnich.

However, in 1955 Rocky started having serious throwing problems. He made ten errors in his first seven games, and 16 in his first 23. In mid-May the Rainiers got Lou Ortiz on option from the Phillies, put him at second base and moved Monty Basgall to third. Seattle optioned Rocky to the Tulsa Oilers of the Texas League; with the Rainiers he had hit .231/.313/.325 in 117 at-bats in 34 games, and made 19 errors for an .847 fielding percentage.

On May 24 Rocky made two errors in his debut game with Tulsa. On June 2 the Tulsa Daily World reported:

Tulsa’s biggest problem continues to be third base where Rocky Krsnich has failed to come up to expectations. He has been an improvement but not to the extent Schenz and Grayle Howlett had looked for. Krsnich has made some costly errors and has not hit much.

Back in Seattle, Emmett Watson wrote in the June 7 Post-Intelligencer:

The Rainiers estimate that a “normal” year from Rocky Krsnich would have them about even with San Diego—notwithstanding the Padres’ spectacular surge. Bad throws by Rocky cost Seattle at least six games.

Rocky’s throwing troubles continued with Tulsa, though his hitting improved some and he kept his job all season. The Dallas Morning News reported on August 21:

An oddity of the game was the fact that in the eighth inning, Tulsa’s third baseman, Rocky Krsnich, threw his left shoulder out of place while sitting on the bench. But it had happened before to him; a doctor was summoned from the stands, and he snapped it back into place. Krsnich, next up, went to the plate and swung without apparent difficulty, although he popped out to short.

With the Oilers Rocky hit .263/.325/.377 in 438 at-bats in 120 games. He made 46 more errors, giving him 65 for the year between the two teams, and his range fell off from his time in Seattle. But on October 14 Tulsa purchased his contract from the Rainiers, “on a conditional basis, pending the outcome of a shoulder operation which he hopes will correct an ailment he suffered last season.” (Tulsa Daily World)

The 1956 Joplin city directory lists Rocky as a ball player for the Tulsa Oilers, living at 2518 Highview Avenue, his in-laws’ house. On April 6, 1956, the Daily World reported that “A shoulder operation figures to help his erratic throwing of last year.” Rocky started the season playing third and batting third, though others were tried at the position. In mid-May, after playing in 16 games, the Oilers apparently returned him to Seattle, as in early June the Rainiers sold him again, to the Texas League again, this time to Oklahoma City.

Rocky got into 29 games with Oklahoma City, then presumably was released. Between the two Texas League teams he hit .268/.348/.384, his best showing since 1950, in 164 at-bats in 45 games, but he fielded just .885. After that he is supposed to have spent some time with the Dickinson Packers of the independent Manitoba-Dakota League, but no stats exist. This ended his professional career.

In 1959 Rocky appeared in the Wichita city directory, as a representative of the CIT Corporation, living at 429 N. Pershing Avenue. 1959 is also when he returned to the sports pages, as a member of the Wichita Cessna team in the National Baseball Congress’s tournament for semi-pro and amateur teams, held late each summer in Wichita. In 1960 the Wichita city census found Rocky, Marie, and their three kids at 429 N. Pershing.

The 1961 Wichita directory shows Rocky still working for CIT but now living at 1005 Wicker. Each year from 1961 through 1963 he played for the Wichita Rapid Transit Dreamliners in the NBC tournament; in 1962 they won the tournament and Rocky, still just 35 years old, was named the most valuable player. In 1964 he played in the tournament for Wichita’s Bob Moore Oldsmobile.

On July 31, 1967, L.H. Gregory mentioned Rocky in an installment of his “Greg’s Gossip” column in the Oregonian, devoted to Dick Radatz:

…Radatz isn’t the first baseball player to lose his throwing rhythm…

“I can cite a case closer to home,” said Lenny Anderson, baseball writer for the Seattle P-I. “In Rogers Hornsby’s 1951 Seattle pennant year, Rocky Krsnich, whom you always called ‘the shortstop with the missing vowel’ and generously supplied him with one, was a fine fielder with an exceptionally strong and accurate arm. Suddenly he began making bad throws to first and it got worse—he couldn’t seem to make a good one. Eventually he to some extent regained his rhythm, but never completely. The next year he was with a different team and my impression is that his baseball life was shortened.”

Rocky’s father passed away in 1969, and his mother in 1981. Marie died in 2004. Rocky’s youngest brother, Mike, who had played professional baseball from 1950 to 1969, including time in Mexico and Japan and 15 games for the Milwaukee Braves in 1960 and 1962, died in 2011; brother Nick, who played in the low minors in 1950 and 1951, followed in 2014. Rocky himself passed away at age 91 on February 14, 2019, in Overland Park, Kansas.

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/K/Pkrsnr101.htm

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/k/krsniro01.shtml