St. Lawrence University Athletics

Steve Peek was an outstanding pitcher for St. Lawrence baseball teams in 1934, 1935 and 1936 and went on to sign with the New York Yankees, playing on the 1941 World Series Championship team.

Peek won seven games for the St. Lawrence freshman baseball team in the spring of 1934 and set a freshman strikeout record with 96. He also hit over .300. As a sophomore, he was a mainstay of the pitching staff and played left field when not pitching, leading the team with a .342
batting average. He beat Clarkson three times in the 1935 season,
ncluding a one-hit 3-0 shutout.

During the summers Steve also pitched for the local semi-pro teams the Plattsburgh Majors and the Lyon Mountain Miners. After signing with the Yankees in 1937, Steve returned to St. Lawrence every fall until his graduation in 1939. While playing for the minors, he developed the knuckle curve pitch and was voted best fielding pitcher in the Eastern league. He had a stellar year with the AAA Newark Bears (14-4) and pitched the deciding game in the 1940 Little World Series. He compiled a 73-44 record in 186 minor league games, pitching 974 innings. He played in 17 games with the Yankees in 1941, going 4-2 and helping the team to the American League pennant.

Steve's major league baseball career was interrupted by WWII;
after Pearl Harbor he enlisted and fought as a tank commander in Gen. Patton's 3rd Army. In 1949 he left professional baseball and became the recreation director for Oneida Limited in Sherrill, NY. There he created a youth center so innovative, that it drew other recreational directors from across the country. Steve was very proud of his connection with St. Lawrence University and was instrumental in leading a number of students from the Sherrill area to attend St. Lawrence.