Frank Oceak

Who was Frank Oceak?

Frank John Oceak was an American infielder and manager in minor league baseball and a coach in Major League Baseball for 11 seasons between 1958 and 1972. A trusted confidant of four-time Pittsburgh Pirates manager Danny Murtaugh, Oceak was coaching at third base on October 13, 1960, during Game 7 of the 1960 World Series, when Pirate second baseman Bill Mazeroski hit his dramatic walk-off home run to clinch the Series against the New York Yankees. Oceak, wearing uniform #44, can be seen in many of the films and still photos of the historic event, celebrating with Mazeroski as he rounds third base and following him to home plate.

Frank Oceak was born in Pocahontas, Virginia. He batted and threw right-handed, and stood 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighed 172 pounds. Primarily a second baseman and shortstop, Oceak spent his entire playing career in the lower minor leagues, briefly as a member of the Yankees' farm system. He became a player-manager at age 25 in 1938 with the Lafayette White Sox of the Class D Evangeline League — which was, despite its nickname, an affiliate of the St. Louis Browns.