George "Snuffy" Stirnweiss Obit from Newark Star Ledger
Biographical Sketches of Dead and Missing Passengers in Bayonne Wreck
George H. Stirnweiss
A former New York Yankee infielder, George (Snuffy) Stirnweiss was seen to board one of the front cards of the train just as it pulled out of the Red Bank Station.
Mr. Stirnweiss, a foreign freight agent, was expected in New York about noon to keep a luncheon appointment for his company, Caldwell & Co., of 50 Broad Street. He failed to appear and has not been hear from since, either at his office or at his home at 140 Maple Street, Red Bank.
The son of a New York policeman, Mr. Stirnweiss was one of the fastest baserunners in the American League while playing second base for the Yankees between 1943 and 1950. He was married and the father of six children, aged 17 months to 15 years.
In his eight years with the Yankees, Mr. Stirnweiss became so proficient at his infield post that many forgot he also had been an All-American halfback at the University of North Carolina.
After being graduated in 1940, he was drafted by the Chicago Cardinals of the National Football League. However, he cast his lot with baseball and signed with the Yankees' organization.
He began his baseball career with Norfolk Tars in the Piedmont League that summer, then was promoted to Newark Bears in the International League before the season's end. He stayed there until 1942.
In 1945, his third year in the majors, Mr. Stirnweiss won the American League batting championship with an average of .309. He also was a prolific base-stealer, leading the league with fifty-five in 1944 and with thirty-three in 1945.
He was in the three world series and was a member of the 1946 All-Star team. Twice he led the league in triples and in fielding averages for a second baseman. In 1948, with only five errors tallied against him, he set a major league fielding record with a .993 average.
The Yankees traded him to the St. Louis Browns in 1950 and the following year he was sold to the Cleveland Indians.
In 1956, after managing minor league teams in Scheneetady and Binghamton, Mr. Stirnweiss entered the banking field as solicitor of new accounts for the Federation Bank and Trust Company. A heart attack in June, 1957, forced him into temporary retirement.
Recently, however, he returned to baseball by taking charge of the sandlot program for The New York Journal-American.
