Cass Michaels
| Cass Michaels | |||
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Michaels circa 1953
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| Second baseman | |||
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Born: March 4, 1926 Detroit, Michigan |
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Died: November 12, 1982 (aged 56) Grosse Pointe, Michigan |
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| MLB debut | |||
| August 19, 1943, for the Chicago White Sox | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| August 27, 1954, for the Chicago White Sox | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Batting average | .262 | ||
| Home runs | 53 | ||
| Runs batted in | 501 | ||
| Teams | |||
| Career highlights and awards | |||
Cass Michaels (Casimir Eugene Kwietniewski; March 4, 1926 – November 12, 1982) was a Major League Baseball infielder. He joined the Chicago White Sox at just seventeen years old, and played twelve seasons in the majors until a beanball ended his career at just 28 years old.
The Chicago White Sox discovered Kwietniewski playing sandlot ball in Detroit, Michigan, and signed him to a major league contract in 1943 just shy of his seventeenth birthday. When he made his major league debut at third base on August 19, he was the second-youngest player in the American League, behind sixteen year old Philadelphia Athletics pitcher Carl Scheib. He went hitless in two games and seven at bats.
He shortened his name to Cass Kwiet for the 1944 season. After a slow start, he was demoted to the Southern Association's Little Rock Travelers for more seasoning. In 27 major league games, mostly played at shortstop, he batted .176 with five runs batted in.
His third big league season brought with it a third name, as he entered Spring training 1945 as Cass Michaels, the name he would keep for the remainder of his major league career. With Skeeter Webb having been dealt to the Detroit Tigers during the off season, and Luke Appling serving in the U.S. Navy, shortstop belonged to Michaels alone. He emerged as a smooth fielder with an erratic arm; he committed a league leading 47 errors, mostly on throws.
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