All-American pitcher Wyman Carey died at age 86
Dave EminianJournal Star
PEORIA — Wyman Carey lived and died Bradley University baseball.
Lived to pitch for them. Died with the program still in his heart at age 86 on Feb. 13, the day before Valentine's Day.
"He told me a lot about the Bradley experience," said Amy Carey Dejanovich, Wyman Carey's daughter. "Even though he went on to play pros, what he held nearest to his heart was Bradley. He was so appreciative that he was able to go there."
Carey was a left-handed pitcher who led the Braves to the 1956 College World Series and ended up inducted into three halls of fame, and with a seven-year pro career in the Detroit Tigers system.
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How he got to Bradley
Carey's journey started with playing prep ball for Blue Island High School, where he didn't get scouted and didn't get much exposure.
But he pitched some games against an unusual set of opponents.
"They played against prisoners back then in the penitentiary," Carey Dejanovich said. "He always said he never knew if he really wanted to pitch a no-hitter against those guys. He had a great fastball and a very (high velocity) curveball and the high school umpires looked out for him. They wrote letters of testimonial for him."
One day, Carey's father gathered up newspaper clippings of his son's high school pitching exploits, grabbed him and headed to Bradley's campus.
"They just showed up in (Bradley baseball coach) Leo Schrall's office," Carey Dejanovich said. "One of the umpires had reached out to Leo and told him to look at him. They showed Leo the newspaper clippings, and Leo signed him on the spot.
"So Wyman always had such a gratitude for Bradley, so much affection for the coach. He wouldn't have gone to college if not for that because they would not have been able to afford it."
Wyman Fletcher Carey, 1936-2023
Wyman Carey was born to Wyman Hoare Carey and Esther Gertrude DeZuck Carey on November 9, 1936, in Chicago. He met his wife, Carol (Hayden) Carey at Bradley and they married on Feb. 9, 1958. They were married for 61 years when Carol passed in 2019.
He is survived by son Wyman "Clint" (Brook) Carey, and daughters Lisa (Vern) Trainor and Amy (David) Dejanovich; eight grandchildren Wyman "Brandon" Carey, Chelsea (Nick) Valdez, Owen Carey, Jackson Carey, James "Dylan" Trainor, Sean Trainor, David "Hayden" Dejanovich, Danielle Dejanovich; and two great-grandchildren Charlotte Carey and Santiago Valdez.
He was preceded in death by wife Carol, and his sisters Marilyn (John) Collins, Marjorie Boyer, Kathleen (Jack) Haderlein, and Carol (Earle) Heinecke.
After his baseball days, Carey worked in pharmaceuticals and eventually went into medical publishing for 25 years before retiring.
A glorious baseball career
Carey's life in baseball earned him induction into the City of Blue Island Hall of Fame, Bradley University Athletics Hall of Fame, and the Greater Peoria Sports Halls of Fame.
The 5-foot-11 lefty hurler threw three no-hitters in his senior season at Blue Island. He then led Bradley to the 1956 College World Series, where the Braves finished third and were beaten by eventual national champion Minnesota.
"We only had 15 players, almost all the larger schools in it had much more," said Mendel Mearkle, a Bradley reliever and Carey's friend and teammate. "Our uniforms were old and baggy and gray, looked like they were out of the Civil War period.
"We became a crowd favorite there, people rooting for us, the small team with the old uniforms. It was so exciting."
In three seasons at Bradley, Carey sported a record of 24-4 with a 2.06 ERA. In 1956, Carey went 11-2 with a 2.05 ERA and 120 strikeouts in 113 innings.
As a junior in 1957, Carey led the nation with a school-record 0.37 ERA in 73.1 innings, while posting an 8-1 record with 95 strikeouts. That season, Carey earned second-team all-America honors from the American Baseball Coaches Association.
He left Bradley after his junior season and signed with the Detroit Tigers in 1957. He went on to a seven-year pro career through 1963, all in the Tigers system, including stints at Triple-A in all or part of every season. He went 59-52 in his pro career, with 745 strikeouts in 948 innings, but never made it to the majors.
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Meeting Carol and sharing a record
Mearkle knew Wyman Carey well.
"I introduced him to his wife, Carol," Mearkle said. "They had a nice courtship and got married, and that was a fun thing to watch that blossom.
"Wyman was a Theta Chi at Bradley. Carol was in a sorority and I knew her from different mixers. I was with Wyman and we were going down a street, and Carol was walking with an armful of books. We stopped and chatted and that's how he met her. He really connected with people."
On the baseball field, he connected as a hitter, batting better than some of Bradley's regular position players.
"He got along so well with teammates, seldom down," Mearkle said. "From a personal standpoint that was nice. He had a fastball with a hop on the end, set all kinds of records at Bradley."
One of those records was Bradley's career strikeouts mark, which he held at 261 for 54 years. When BU fellow lefty pitcher Joe Bircher broke that record in 2012, Carey was thrilled. They met for lunch at Avanti's in Peoria, and both were honored on the field before a BU game. Carey gave Bircher the ball he had saved from his record-breaking strikeout 54 years earlier. Autographed.
"I’m just overwhelmed," Carey said in a Journal Star story. "The people here at Bradley have been so gracious. This day really meant a lot to me."
Said Bircher that day: "To meet him was pretty cool. I'm just honored to have this chance. He's arguably the best pitcher ever to come through Bradley."
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Playing cards, golfing and a legacy
"As one gets older you remember the past," Mearkle said. "Wyman was a good teammate and a very good player. He got along with everyone, always the same. Had a nice sense of humor. He had the ability to josh around with our coaches — none of the rest of us could do that. He just loved them."
He also loved playing cards with his teammates.
"We played cards on road trips and I played with Wyman for three years before he went off to pro baseball," Mearkle said. "He was a left-handed pitcher, dealt cards left-handed and held them in an unusual manner.
"He held his cards upside-down, his hand on the top edge of the cards and the cards sticking out the bottom."
In 2003, Carey and his wife were in an auto accident in which he suffered vertebrae injuries and partial paralysis. A lifelong terrific athlete, he learned to play golf one-handed after that, and in 2012 notched a hole-in-one on an Illinois course.
"Wyman had so many true and lasting friendships." Mearkle said. "He won't be forgotten."
Dave Eminian is the Journal Star sports columnist, and covers Bradley men's basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. He can be reached at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @icetimecleve.
