Andy Pafko

In 1941, Pafko played on the Green Bay Blue Sox team in the Wisconsin State League. He had 12 home runs, 66 RBIs, while batting .349 on the team that won the league championship. He played another season in the minor leagues before debuting in the major leagues in 1943 with the Chicago Cubs.

Pafko was traded to the Brooklyn Dodgers in June of 1951 during the middle of the season; he was the left fielder when Bobby Thomson hit the "Shot Heard 'Round the World." Pafko returned home when he was traded to the Boston Braves before the start of the 1953 season, becoming the only Wisconsin native on the Braves roster when they arrived in Milwaukee and participating in their strong contending teams there, including the 1957 World Series champions. Pafko started in the first game at Milwaukee County Stadium on April 3, 1953. A devout Slovak Lutheran, he was an instant favorite with Milwaukee's large Eastern European community. In the mid 1950s, the Milwaukee area Lutherans had an "Andy Pafko Night" and gave him a new car.

After playing in the major leagues, Pafko managed in the minor leagues, including a two-year stint as the skipper for the Kinston Eagles in the Carolina League. Pafko also scouted for the Montreal Royals in the late 1960s. He was also active in the Milwaukee Braves Historical Association. He eventually settled in the Chicago area, and always provided good copy for the press, especially when the subject of the Cubs would come up. When the Cubs won their division in 1984, Pafko mused, "I never dreamed it would take them 39 years to win again. I thought they would have won by accident before then!" Pafko was named to the Cubs All-Century team at the turn of the 21st century. As of July 2013, Pafko and Lennie Merullo (died May 30, 2015) were the last two men living who played for the Cubs in a World Series.

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