[GeoPoto]

Player #163: Peter W. "Pete" Appleton. He was born Peter Jabionowski and was sometimes known as "Jabby". He changed his name in 1934. Pitcher for the Washington Senators in 1936-1939 and 1945. 57 wins and 28 saves in 14 MLB seasons. He debuted with the Cincinnati Reds in 1927-1928. His best season was 1936 with Washington as he posted a 14-9 record with a 3.53 ERA in 201.2 innings pitched.

We will use Appleton's SABR biography to highlight his career and time in Washington: In September 1927, the Cincinnati Reds brought up a 23-year-old right-handed pitching prospect named Pete Jablonowski for a late-season look-see. Although he made a good first impression, going 2-1 with a 1.82 ERA and a shutout victory, Jablonowski struggled the following year in 31 games. In 1930-1931, however, he saw considerable service with the Cleveland Indians, posting a combined 12-11 log over two seasons of spot starting and relief work. But Jablonowski was thereafter cast adrift again, with only a brief stint with the Boston Red Sox and a single game appearance for the New York Yankees preceding his return to the minors.

Three seasons and one legal name change later, he resurfaced as Pete Appleton, notching a career-best 14 wins for the 1936 Washington Senators. For the next nine years, with time out for World War II naval service, Appleton remained in uniform, hurling his final major-league game as a 41-year-old in September 1945. The remainder of his life was likewise devoted to the game, first as a player-manager in various minor leagues and thereafter as a fulltime scout for the Senators and Minnesota Twins. By the time of his death in early 1974, Pete Appleton had spent 47 years associated with professional baseball. . . .

. . . That winter (after the 1935 season), appreciative (for Appleton's 23-9, 3.17 season helping Montreal win the International League pennant) Montreal owner-manager Frank Shaughnessy cleared the way for Pete to get another major-league shot, selling his rights to the Washington Senators for $7,500.

The 5’11” and 183 lb. veteran was now almost 32 years old. As described by Washington Post sports columnist (and soon-to-become ardent Pete Appleton booster) Shirley Povich, Appleton was a deliberate worker who did not throw hard, delivering his assortment of pitches via an over-the-top motion. But while his stuff was still adjudged no more than adequate by major-league standards, Washington brass hoped that Pete, if used judiciously, would prove a useful addition to a Senators pitching corps in serious decline from the pennant-winning performance of three seasons earlier. Alternating between the rotation and the bullpen, Appleton vindicated his acquisition, going 14-9, with 12 complete games and a creditable 3.53 ERA for the 1936 season, one that saw the Senators (82-71) post a 15-win improvement over the previous campaign. Unhappily for the DC faithful, neither the Senators nor Appleton would continue the good work, with the 1937 season seeing both the club (73-80) and the pitcher (8-15) headed in the wrong direction. The following two years, Appleton worked primarily in relief, turning in sub-par (7-9 and 5-10) logs for second division Washington teams.

In December 1939, Appleton was a throw-in in the trade that sent hard-hitting Taft Wright to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for outfielder Gee Walker.