LUCKY

JACK "LUCKY" LOHRKE            

JACK LOHRKE ALWAYS HATED HIS NICKNAME: "LUCKY". BUT WHAT DID HE EXPECT?

HE DIDN'T REALLY HAVE A VERY IMPRESSIVE CAREER AS A BASEBALL PLAYER. HE PLAYED FOR 7 SEASONS, APPEARING IN 354 GAMES- FROM 1947 TO 1953. HE PLAYED FOR THE NEW YORK GIANTS AND THE PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES.

HE HAD 914 AT-BATS, HIT 22 HOME RUNS, AND ENDED HIS CAREER WITH A .242 BATTING AVERAGE. HE PLAYED BRIEFLY IN THE 1951 WORLD SERIES.

A NOT-VERY-MEMORABLE BASEBALL CAREER. MAYBE SO - BUT A VERY EXTRAORDINARY LIFE.

DURING WORLD WAR II, HE WAS PART OF THE NORMANDY INVASION AND THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE.
FOUR TIMES, SOLDIERS ON BOTH SIDES OF HIM WERE KILLED. BUT LOHRKE CAME THROUGH UNSCATHED.

WHEN THE WAR ENDED, LOHRKE WAS SCHEDULED TO FLY HOME IN AN ARMY TRANSPORT PLANE. HE WAS BUMPED FROM THE FLIGHT AT THE LAST MINUTE.

THE PLANE CRASHED, KILLING EVERYONE ON BOARD. IN 1946, LOHRKE WAS PLAYING MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL FOR THE SPOKANE INDIANS. HE WAS TOLD TO REPORT TO SAN DIEGO TO JOIN THEIR TEAM.

HE GOT OFF THE TEAM BUS IN ELLENSBURG, WASHINGTON. 15 MINUTES LATER, THE BUS CRASHED IN A RAVINE IN THE CASCADE MOUNTAINS. 9 PLAYERS WERE KILLED. IT WAS THE WORST TRANSIT ACCIDENT IN THE HISTORY OF PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL.

JACK "LUCKY" LOHRKE HAS ALWAYS BEEN AN INTENSELY PRIVATE MAN. AFTER HIS BASEBALL CAREER ENDED, HE WORKED 20 YEARS FOR LOCKHEED AND RETIRED. HIS HOBBIES ARE HUNTING, FISHING AND GOLF.

RECENTLY, A WRITER FOR THE SOCIETY OF BASEBALL RESEARCH ACTUALLY GOT HOLD OF LOHRKE'S HOME PHONE NUMBER AND TRIED TO INTERVIEW HIM. THE WRITER, JOHN PASTIER, INTRODUCED HIMSELF AND TOLD LOHRKE HE'D LIKE TO INTERVIEW HIM AND ASK SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT HIS CHARMED LIFE. THE FOLLOWING IS "LUCKY" LOHRKE'S ENTIRE RESPONSE:

I'M TIRED OF TALKING ABOUT THAT. THANK YOU. BYE BYE. (CLICK!)

YES, TODAY, "LUCKY" LOHRKE IS STILL LIVING (ONE WONDERS WHAT KIND OF INCREDIBLE POWER IT WILL TAKE TO EVENTUALLY BRING THIS GUY DOWN??). HE RECENTLY CELEBRATED HIS 84TH BIRTHDAY AND IS LIVING HAPPILY IN SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, WITH HIS WIFE, MARY JO MARIE. HE HAS A SON, KURT, WHO PLAYED IN THE MINOR LEAGUES.

IS JACK LOHRKE A RELIGIOUS MAN? DOES HE BELIEVE IN DIVINE POWER? PROVIDENCE? OR DOES HE BELIEVE HE WAS JUST PLAIN "LUCKY"?

I WONDER. MAYBE WE'LL NEVER KNOW. JACK LOHRKE MAY HAVE HATED HIS NICKNAME, BUT SOME THINGS IN LIFE ARE JUST INEVITABLE.

Comments

[John Lohrke]

I'm Jack Lohrke's second son, John (born 1957). One of six children. Our mother's name is Marie Josephine Lohrke. Not Mary Jo. Not Mary Josephine, just Marie. I've worked at a Ford dealership in Alaska for over 25 years, while previously handling the General Manager duties for a semi-pro baseball team outside Fairbanks called the North Pole Nicks (1980-87). We had over 25 future major leaguers play for us including Luis Gonzalez, Mark Grace, Steve Finley, Eric Karros, Todd Zeile & Chad Kreuter.