John Nicholas Pyecha (born November 25, 1931) is an American former professional baseball player. He was a , right-handed pitcher who played six seasons (1950–1955) of minor league baseball, but made only one Major League appearance for the Chicago Cubs. On April 24, 1954, at Crosley Field, Pyecha entered the game in relief of Warren Hacker in the seventh inning with his Cubs trailing the Cincinnati Redlegs 3–2. Pyecha held the Redlegs off the scoreboard in the seventh and eighth innings; meanwhile, Chicago rallied to take a 5–3 lead thanks to home runs by Ralph Kiner and Hank Sauer. Pyecha started the last half of the ninth inning by issuing a walk to Gus Bell, then retired Jim Greengrass and Ted Kluszewski to get within one out of the victory. But Johnny Temple singled to bring the winning run to the plate, and Wally Post hit a three-run walk-off home run to win the game for the Redlegs. In his lone MLB game, Pyecha allowed three runs, all earned, on four hits and two bases on balls, with two strikeouts, in 2⅔ innings pitched. Pyecha spent the remainder of 1954 with the Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League, and retired after the 1955 season having pitched in 154 minor league games. References External links 1931 births Living people Appalachian State Mountaineers baseball players Baseball players from Pennsylvania Chicago Cubs players Elkin Blanketeers players Greensboro Patriots players Los Angeles Angels (minor league) players Macon Peaches players Major League Baseball pitchers People from Aliquippa, Pennsylvania Springfield Cubs players Rutherford County Owls players