Parshat Balak Player of the Week

This parsha's Player of the Week is former catcher George Balak.

Balak had a nice high school career at Weir High School in West Virginia, being a catcher on the 1959 state champions and also an all-state center for the football team, who won the state championship in 1960.Balak attended Marshall University on a football scholarship, but he left after 2 years to sign with the Baltimore Orioles in 1965. Balak was assigned to a minor league team that you are all familiar with as a major league team, the Miami Marlins, then of the Single-A Florida State League. Balak hit .272 in 1966 with 5 doubles and 2 homers in 39 games for the Marlins.

In 1967, Balak split time between the Marlins and the Single-A Stockton Ports, and it did not go well. Balak hit just .166 between the two teams with 4 doubles, 3 homers, and 23 RBI in 80 games. He did post a decent .986 fielding percentage behind the plate.

In 1968, Balak was sent down to Short Season-A Corning, where he hit .217 with 1 homer in 23 games to end his career. I guess Balak had bigger things to worry about than baseball.