Andy Pafko

Andrew Pafko (February 25, 1921 – October 8, 2013) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs (1943–51), Brooklyn Dodgers (1951–52), and Milwaukee Braves (1953–59). He batted and threw right-handed and played center field.

Pafko was born in Boyceville, Wisconsin. In his 17-year MLB career, he was an All-Star for four seasons and was a .285 hitter with 213 home runs and 976 runs batted in (RBI) in 1,852 games. In 1999, he was named to the Chicago Cubs All-Century Team.

Early years Pafko grew up in Boyceville, Wisconsin. The small village did not have a baseball team.

Pafko was traded to the Brooklyn Dodgers in June 1951 during the middle of the season; he was the left fielder when Bobby Thomson hit the "Shot Heard 'Round the World". He eventually settled in the Chicago area,

Pafko died at a nursing home in Stevensville, Michigan on October 8, 2013. He was 92.

Legacy Pafko is known for being card #1 in the 1952 Topps baseball card set. This card in near mint or better condition is often worth tens of thousands of dollars or more because most collectors back in 1952 simply put the cards in numerical order and rubber banded the stack. This causes the top card (Pafko) to receive the most wear and tear and thus top grade copies are very rare and valuable. One of Pafko's 1952 cards sold for $84,000 in 1998. The card played a major role in the 2010 film Cop Out. Pafko is also remembered for a 1949 incident in which (according to him) he caught a blooper in the outfield off the bat of St. Louis Cardinal first baseman, Rocky Nelson. The outfield was strewn with paper cups, perhaps confusing umpire Al Barlick who called Nelson safe on a supposedly "trapped" catch. At the time of the play there was a runner on first base with two outs in the top of the ninth inning and the Cubs leading 3-2, so if Pafko had indeed made a valid catch, the Cubs would be 3-2 victors. Pafko started arguing with Barlick, and forgot to call time. By the time the enraged Pafko realized that time had not been called, the base runner on first had scored and Nelson was heading home. Pafko finally threw home, but his throw bounced off Nelson as Rocky slid home, giving the Cards the lead 4-3. The Cardinals subsequently went on to win 4-3 and Nelson was credited with perhaps the only "inside the glove" home run in baseball history. Pafko was in left field for the Brooklyn Dodgers, but unable to catch the "shot heard round the world", Bobby Thomson's game-winning 3-run homer in the famous play-off game between the Giants and Dodgers in 1951. Don DeLillo's short story about the game is thus titled "Pafko at the Wall." The left field wall at the Polo Grounds was over 15 feet high, too high for anyone to make a leaping catch. Andy Pafko Park in Boyceville, hosts a softball tournament every year at Cucumber Fest. The field was previously used as the home field for the high school softball team before they switched to a field at the local elementary school, Tiffany Creek.