Al Papai

{{Short description|American baseball player (1917–1995)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}

{{Infobox baseball biography

|name=Al Papai

|position=Pitcher

|image=Al Papai.jpg

|caption=

|bats=Right

|throws=Right

|birth_date={{Birth date|1917|5|7}}

|birth_place=Divernon, Illinois

|death_date={{death date and age|1995|9|7|1917|5|7}}

|death_place=Springfield, Illinois

|debutleague = MLB

|debutdate=April 24

|debutyear=1948

|debutteam=St. Louis Cardinals

|finalleague = MLB

|finaldate=September 16

|finalyear=1955

|finalteam=Chicago White Sox

|statleague = MLB

|stat1label=Win–loss record

|stat1value=9–14

|stat2label=Earned run average

|stat2value=5.37

|stat3label=Innings pitched

|stat3value={{frac|239|2|3}}

|teams=

• St. Louis Cardinals (1948; 1950)
• St. Louis Browns (1949)
• Boston Red Sox (1950)
• Chicago White Sox (1955)

}}

Alfred Thomas Papai (May 7, 1917 – September 7, 1995) was an American pitcher in Major League Baseball who played between the {{mlby|1948}} and {{mlby|1955}} seasons for the St. Louis Cardinals (1948, 1950), St. Louis Browns (1949), Boston Red Sox (1950) and Chicago White Sox (1955). Listed at {{height|ft=6|in=3}}, 185 lb., Papai batted and threw right-handed. He was born in Divernon, Illinois.

A knuckleballer specialist, Papai was one of 29 players to pitch for both St. Louis clubs. In his only major league full-season he went 4–11 with a 5.06 ERA for the helpless Browns. In parts of four seasons, he posted a 9–14 record with a 5.37 ERA in 88 appearances, including 18 stars, eight complete games, four saves, 70 strikeouts, 138 walks, and {{frac|239|2|3}} innings of work.

Papai also enjoyed a brilliant minor league career as the pitching staff ace for the Houston Buffaloes of the Texas League, posting 20-win seasons for them (1947, 1951–53). He went 21–10, with a 2.45 ERA for the 1947 Dixie Series Champion Buffs and 23–9, with a 2.44 ERA for the 1951 Texas League kings. He also pitched in the Venezuelan Winter League during the 1951–52 and 1952–53 seasons, compiling a 15–16 mark with a 2.25 ERA in 47 appearances.

Papai died in Springfield, Illinois, at the age of 78.