Lonnie Warneke (/ˈwɔːrnəki/ WOR-nə-kee; March 28, 1909 – June 23, 1976), nicknamed "The Arkansas Hummingbird", was a Major League Baseball player, Major League umpire, county judge, and businessman from Montgomery County, Arkansas, whose career won-loss record as a pitcher for the Chicago Cubs (1930–36, 1942–43, 1945) and St. Louis Cardinals (1937–42) was 192–121.

[2] Luke Warneke (who stood 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)) had homesteaded 160 acres[3] and was a successful farmer in the farming community of Owley, which consisted of fifteen families.

He loves hunting dogs and good guns, the trails and loneliness of the wilderness in the rugged mountains surrounding his old home.

In Spring 1928, Warneke approached the president of the Houston Buffaloes, a Texas League baseball team in the St. Louis Cardinals organization, and asked for a tryout as a first baseman.

[5] At camp, Buffaloes manager Frank "Pancho" Snyder (former catcher for the Cardinals and New York Giants) took a look at Warneke and told the nineteen-year-old that he had the arm of a pitcher.

Due to Warneke's ensuing major league success, the St. Louis Cardinals later instituted a policy such that "any decision to release a player who possesse[s] even one major-league skill (speed, arm, defense, hitting, power) must be made by more than one person" of their organization.

As a converted pitcher in his first professional season, Warneke posted a 1928 combined record for Laurel and Alexandria of 6 wins, 14 losses, with a 5.32 ERA in 176 innings pitched.

[1]: 14 Whatever the figure, Lonnie "Country" Warneke reported to the Chicago Cubs spring training facilities on Santa Catalina Island, California in late-February 1930, a month before his twenty-first birthday.

Among his teammates on Reading was infielder Billy Jurges, who would play in the major leagues for seventeen years, including six seasons (1931–36) with Warneke as a Cub.

His major league debut was on the fourth day of the season, Friday, April 18, at Sportsman's Park, St. Louis versus the Cardinals with 6000 in attendance.

In all, Warneke faced eleven batters, walked five of them, surrendered two hits and allowed five earned runs and a wild pitch in 1+1⁄3 innings.

Rogers Hornsby, future Hall of Famer, took over managing the Cubs from Joe McCarthy with four games left in the 1930 season.

This time he took the mound on the fifth day of the season, Saturday, April 18, 1931, before 30,000 at Wrigley Field in Chicago versus the visiting Cardinals.

He again showed signs of wildness, walking three of six batters faced, allowing a hit and two earned runs, and lasting two thirds of the inning before getting pulled.

In two games, a year apart, Warneke's major league record was 0–1, 2 innings pitched, allowing seven earned runs on three hits and eight walks, for an ERA of 31.50 and a WHIP of 5.50.

Warneke lost his next two starts, versus the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Philadelphia Phillies, before recording his first major league win.

The Chicago Tribune wrote: "Of great importance in yesterday's game was Lon Warneke, another of the [player-manager, Rogers] Hornsby debutants who may be heard from in the future.

Although official rules and league umpires were used, results and statistics, just as those for the World Series, were not added to regular season totals.

Warneke played in Game 1 of the 1931 Chicago City Series, in which 43-year-old Urban (Red) Faber of the White Sox shut out the Cubs 9–0 at Wrigley Field before a crowd of 15,000.

After the 1931 season, Warneke returned home to the family farm in Owley and invested part of his summer pay in 200 feeder cattle at $2.00 a head.

"[1]: 14 [10] In 1932, Cubs manager, Rogers Hornsby credited veteran backup catcher Zack Taylor with helping correct a flaw in Warneke's pitching delivery.

[12] Warneke rose to the top of a pitching staff that included Guy Bush (19–11), Charlie Root (15–10), and Pat Malone, another 15-game winner.

On August 11, Warneke started, but did not win, a 3–2 extra inning victory in which the Cubs leapfrogged over the Pirates into first place,[17] where they remained for the last 47 games of the season.

Led by sluggers Babe Ruth (.341–41–137), Lou Gehrig (.349–34–151), Tony Lazzeri (.300–15–113), Bill Dickey (.310–15–84), and Ben Chapman (.299–10–107), the team was never shut out all season.

Warneke suffered early game jitters, walking the first two batters he faced (both scored) before striking out Babe Ruth.

In October 1936 the Cubs traded Warneke to the St. Louis Cardinals for infielder Ripper Collins and pitcher Roy Parmelee.

With the Cardinals, Warneke played guitar and banjo and sang as a member of teammate John "Pepper" Martin's "Mississippi Mudcats" band.

"[28] As a civilian director, Warneke was put in charge of recreation at the Shumaker Naval Ammunition Depot near Camden, Arkansas, where he organized, managed, and pitched in a baseball league comprising teams from nearby cities, colleges, and military facilities.

[29] Many civilians worked in supporting positions during World War II, and Warneke's role was consistent with President Roosevelt's 1942 statement that baseball was a morale booster.

[32] A game on April 23 between the Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals had been postponed, and when it was about to be played at Crosley Field on May 13, it was found that no umpires had been assigned by the National League.