Appleton played college baseball for the University of Michigan and played professional baseball from 1926 to 1951, including stints as a pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Washington Senators, Chicago White Sox and St. Louis Browns.
[1] Jablonowski attended Terryville High School where he was a star athlete in baseball, basketball, and track.
[1][4] He was selected as an all-state forward in basketball and broke the Connecticut state record with a distance of 39 feet, 4 inches in the shot put.
"[12] On May 31, 1924, he was the winning pitcher and struck out 11 batters in the game that secured the Big Ten championship for Michigan — a 9–0 shutout victory against Wisconsin.
[13] In the final game of the 1924 season, Jablonowski threw a complete-game shutout, allowing only five hits and striking out 13 batters in an 11–0 victory over Japan's championship team from Meiji University.
[15] In the Big Ten Conference opener on May 2, 1925, he threw a one-hitter against Illinois, but lost 1–0 after two throwing errors allowed the Illini to score a run.
[5] As a senior in 1926, Jablonowski helped lead Michigan to another Big Ten Conference baseball championship.
[17] Jablonowski was also a strong batter for Michigan, compiling a .342 batting average in 1926 – the third highest on the team behind William H. Puckelwartz (.441) and Bennie Oosterbaan (.364).
[10] While attending Michigan, Jablonowski lived at Fletcher Hall and was a member of the Polonia Literary Club.
[3][20] In 14 seasons of Major League Baseball, Appleton posted a 57–66 record with 420 strikeouts and a 4.30 ERA in 341 games (71 as a starter).
[3] Jablonowski was also a strong batter early in his career; he compiled a .381 batting average in his two seasons with the Reds.
After the game, a newspaper wrote that Jablonowski studied psychology as a hobby and used it as part of his pitching technique:"'Psych one.'
For when Peter can't strike 'em out, he's got his mind made up to psych 'em out, which after all may be just as good, if it wins ball games.
[3] In late July 1932, the Red Sox traded Jablonowski to the Newark Bears, an International League team affiliated with the New York Yankees, in exchange for John V.
[27] He joined the Yankees in March 1933,[28][29] but he appeared in only one regular-season game for the team, pitching two scoreless innings.
During a road trip, Ruth placed a call to the hotel switchboard and asked the operator to page "any Yankee player that's around down there.
[30] In early June 1933, the Yankees gave Jablonowski an outright release, sending him back to the Newark Bears.
"[6] The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract offered two alternate rationales for the name change.
"[32] Appleton spent the 1934 season in the International League, playing for the Rochester Red Wings and Baltimore Orioles.
[35] Appleton won three games for the Senators in April 1936, the opening month of the 1936 season, including a two-hitter against the defending 1935 World Series champions the Detroit Tigers.
[3] On December 8, 1939, Appleton was traded by the Senators to the Chicago White Sox along with Taffy Wright in exchange for Gee Walker.
[20] In July 1942, Appleton was released by the White Sox and signed as a free agent by the St. Louis Browns.
[40] Appleton was initially assigned to duty in North Carolina where he played for a Navy Pre-Flight baseball team and entertained cadets with his talent as a pianist.
[3] On April 10, 1946, Appleton was released by the Washington Senators, but he continued to pitch in the minor leagues for another six years.
[50] Appleton concluded his playing career in 1951 as a player-manager for the Erie Sailors in the Middle Atlantic League.
He served as a scout and pitching instructor in the Washington Senators/Minnesota Twins organization from the mid-1950s until they assigned him to replace Jack McKeon at the helm of the Atlanta Crackers in June 1964.