Moose Skowron

William Joseph "Moose" Skowron Jr. (born December 18, 1930) is a former Major League Baseball player, primarily a first baseman. He is currently a Community Relations Representative for the White Sox. Skowron was born in Chicago, Illinois, and is of Polish descent. His father was a garbage collector. After his grandfather gave the seven year old Skowron a haircut that looked like the dictator's and his friends jokingly called him "Mussolini", his... more

William Joseph "Moose" Skowron Jr. (born December 18, 1930) is a former Major League Baseball player, primarily a first baseman. He is currently a Community Relations Representative for the White Sox. Skowron was born in Chicago, Illinois, and is of Polish descent. His father was a garbage collector. After his grandfather gave the seven year old Skowron a haircut that looked like the dictator's and his friends jokingly called him "Mussolini", his family shortened the nickname to "Moose." The name stuck throughout his career. "Moose" attended Weber High School on the intersection of Division and Ashland in Chicago. He went to Purdue University on a football scholarship, but found himself better suited to baseball when he hit .500 as a sophomore, a record in the Big Ten Conference that lasted ten years. Signed by the New York Yankees in 1950 as an amateur free agent, he played his first game for the Yankees on April 13, 1954. He wore uniform number 53 in the 1954 season, but switched to... less