Seminick was born in
Pierce, West Virginia to
Lemko immigrant parents, but moved to
Muse, Pennsylvania when Andy was two. Seminick led the
Appalachian League in 1942 with 15
home runs and 202
total bases, and was among the league leaders in
batting average. In , he had a .303 batting average with the
Knoxville Smokies of the Class-A
Southern Association, and was purchased by the Philadelphia Phillies. At the age of 23, Seminick made his major league debut on September 14,
1943. By
1945, the Phillies were using Seminick in a
platoon system alongside veteran catcher
Gus Mancuso. While he could hit for power, his defensive skills were below average, as he led the
National League in
errors in
1946,
1948 and
1949. On June 2, , the Phillies hit five home runs during the eighth
inning in a 12–3 victory over Cincinnati at
Shibe Park, tying the major league mark set by the
1939 New York Giants. Seminick hit two home runs in the inning, while
Del Ennis,
Willie Jones and
Schoolboy Rowe had one each. Jones added a
triple as
Granny Hamner's
double jumped the
extra bases total to 18, still a record. Seminick collected three home runs overall. With his defensive and
pitch calling skills improved, Seminick played an important leadership role during the
1950 "Whiz Kids" championship season. On August 12, 1950, in a game against the Giants, Seminick became irritated after
Eddie Stanky repeatedly waved his arms while Seminick was batting. Stanky was eventually ejected from the game, but Seminick took out his frustrations on
Bill Rigney, Stanky's replacement at second base. After he reached base on an
error in the fourth inning, he slid hard into second base, crashing into Rigney and causing him to fall over. A nearly ten-minute brawl erupted between the teams, which required police intervention and resulted in the ejection of Seminick and Rigney from the game. The Phillies went on to win 4–3. Seminick enjoyed his best season in 1950, hitting for a .288 batting average with 24 home runs and 68 runs batted in. Seminick broke his ankle late in the season, but continued to play with the injury until the Phillies lost to the
New York Yankees in the
World Series. Future
Hall of Fame pitcher,
Robin Roberts said of Seminick,"If you had to pick a guy in the clubhouse who was our leader that year, it would be Andy. He always played hard, and that was his best year by far". He played two more years before ending his playing career at the age of 36 after the
1957 season. ==Career statistics==