By Gabriel Fidler.
One day after receiving a promotion to the Blue Jays, Adam Macko is officially a big leaguer. With Toronto facing the New York Yankees in Yankee Stadium on May 18, Macko retired three batters, earning a hold in his major league debut. In doing so, he becomes the fourth Slovakian to play in the big leagues, but is the first player who was born in independent Slovakia, or learned baseball before moving to the U.S., to make it to the big show.
The Slovakian southpaw entered two two outs in the bottom of the sixth with Toronto leading the Yankees 5-3 and a runner on first, inducing a ground ball from J.C. Escarra to end the inning. He returned for the seventh, getting another grounder, this time from the right-handed Paul Goldschmid, a lefty masher. After a long line drive was caught by Yohendrick Pinango in right field, Macko’s day was done.
Three previous players were born in towns now in Slovakia: Jack Quinn, Elmer Valo, and Carl Linhart. Technically, however, Quinn was born in the Habsburg Empire, while Valo and Linhart were born in Czechoslovakia. By common practice in sports, they would be considered Slovakian major leaguers, but each of the trio learned the sport only after moving to the U.S.
Quinn is an interest case, as he was born Johannes Pajkos (‘naughty’ in Hungarian!) in Stefurov in 1883, and arrived in the U.S. as a one-year-old. His mother died shortly thereafter, and he worked in coal mines from the age of 12. He played baseball in the afternoons, and eventually escaped the mines and road the rails for some years before a strong throw of an errant baseball before a semi-pro game earned him a shot.
By then known as Jack Quinn, he eventually made it to the bigs in 1909, and pitched for 23 years, winning 247 games with a 3.29 ERA. When he retired he was one of only two or three remaining spitballers, the pitch having been made illegal. He had turned 50 during the season, making him one of the oldest regulars in major league history. Pajkos was considered four times for the U.S. Baseball Hall of Fame and is still No. 45 in innings pitched (3,920.3), No. 51 in wins, and No. 68 in Pitcher WAR (59.4). See SABR’s BioProject for more [link].
Valo was the next to debut and, like Pajkos, had immigrated to coal-mining country in Pennsylvania as a boy. Born Imrich Valo in 1921 in Rybník, he arrived in the U.S. as a six-year-old. He learned baseball in school and was signed by the Philadelpha Athletics after high school, debuting in the bigs at only 19. Valo played 20 seasons as a corner outfielder, finishing with a .282/.398/.391 slash line and 110 stolen bases. His on-base percentage is still ranked No. 71 among major leaguers thanks to 942 career base on balls (156th all-time). Valo also made it onto the Hall of Fame ballot.
By then known as Jack Quinn, he eventually made it to the bigs in 1909, and pitched for 23 years, winning 247 games with a 3.29 ERA. When he retired he was one of only two or three remaining spitballers, the pitch having been made illegal. He had turned 50 during the season, making him one of the oldest regulars in major league history. Pajkos was considered four times for the U.S. Baseball Hall of Fame and is still No. 45 in innings pitched (3,920.3), No. 51 in wins, and No. 68 in Pitcher WAR (59.4). See SABR’s BioProject for more [link].
Overlapping with Valo was Linhart, born in Zborov in 1929. His family moved to Illinois while he was little, and he signed with the Detroit Tigers after high school. He played eight years in the minors as an outfielder and occasional catcher, hitting .285/~.399/.437, earning a call-up from Single-A at only 22. Linhart appeared in three games as a pinch hitter and pinch runner for the Tigers, going 0-for-2. Detroit did not face the A’s in any of the three games, thus preventing two Slovakians from appearing in a major league game.
There are currently 27 Europeans in MLB organizations. You can see our latest update on their progress this season here https://www.mister-baseball.com/macko-makes-mlb-debut-with-shutout-inning-fourth-slovakian-in-big-leagues/.