Wineapple was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and was Jewish. He attended
Syracuse University for his college freshman year, then transferred to
Providence College, where he was a star basketball player for three years. A first-team
All-American his senior year, he led the 1928–29 team to a 17–3 record and was the second-leading scorer in the nation. His lone major league appearance came on September 15, 1929, in the Senators' 16–2 loss to the
Detroit Tigers at
Griffith Stadium. He took the mound in the sixth inning with the Tigers already holding a 12–2 lead, entering the game as part of a
double switch in which he took the place of
Baseball Hall of Fame shortstop
Joe Cronin in the Washington lineup. Wineapple hurled the final four
innings in relief, giving up four runs (two earned) on seven hits, walking three and striking out one against a Tigers lineup that featured Hall of Famer
Charlie Gehringer. From 1928 to 1931, he played summer baseball in the
Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL), where it was reported that Wineapple "seems to play baseball as he does basketball...with his heart in it all the time. He is pitching and hitting exceptionally well." Wineapple played for the CCBL's
Osterville town team from 1928 to 1930, and for the
Orleans team in 1931. Wineapple was inducted into the Providence College sports hall of fame as part if its inaugural class of 1970. He died in
Delray Beach, Florida in 1996 at age 90. ==References==