Wayne Ambler

In 1937, Ambler signed with the Philadelphia Athletics, going directly to the major leagues. He made his major league debut on June 4, 1937, against the St. Louis Browns, getting one hit in four at-bats.[4] In his first 16 plate appearances, Ambler got nine hits.[1] During a game against the Chicago White Sox on June 7, Ambler jammed his finger, forcing him to leave the game.[1] Ambler later sustained another, more severe injury. On July 18, in a double-header against the St. Louis Browns, Ambler collided head-to-head with Browns' catcher Ben Huffman after a play at second base.[1] Both players were knocked unconscious at the time of the injury.[1] On the train to Cleveland after the game, Ambler complained that his jaw felt sore and doctors took x-rays the next morning to find that he had suffered a break on his jaw.[1] Ambler recalled in a 1997 interview that he "didn't remember a thing" after sustaining the initial injury.[1] He was sent back home to recover, but within six weeks he was back on the Athletics roster.[1] Ambler batted .216 with three runs, 35 hits, five doubles and 11 runs batted in (RBIs) in 56 games during his first season in the majors. On the defensive side, Ambler played all of his 56 games at second base, committing 12 errors in 268 total chances, giving him a .955 fielding percentage.

While the team was in spring training in 1938, Connie Mack, the manager of the Athletics at the time, alerted Ambler that he would report to the minor leagues for the start of the season.[1] However, after he reported to the Williamsport Grays of the Eastern League on Mack's orders, Ambler received a telegraph from Mack telling him to report back to the majors.[1] The reason being Mack needed a back-up shortstop going into the season after their other shortstop suffered an injury.[1] Ambler later revealed that before Mack called on him to play shortstop, he had not played the position since high school.[1] In 1938, Ambler's contract was worth US$1,500.[1] Due to his financial situation, Ambler was forced to ride the bus and subway to Shibe Park from his family's house.[1] On May 13, 1938, in a game against the New York Yankees, Ambler went five-for-five, a career high single-game hits total.[5] On the season, Ambler batted .234 with 42 runs, 92 hits, 21 doubles, two triples and 38 RBIs in 120 games played. Unlike the season before, Ambler played the majority of the season at shortstop (116 games), while still playing limited time at second base (four games). In 1939, Ambler re-signed with the Athletics and signed a contract worth US$2,500.[1] During the season, he batted .211 with 15 runs, 48 hits, 13 doubles and 24 RBIs.

After the 1939 season, the Athletics sold Ambler to the New York Giants, who assigned him to the Jersey City Giants of the International League for the 1940 season.[3] With Jersey City, he batted .218 with 46 hits, 14 doubles and one home run in 83 games played. Ambler was used as a second baseman with Jersey City, playing 48 games at that position and committing seven errors in 233 total chances. In 1941, the Giants traded Ambler for pitcher Milt Shoffner who was a member of the Cincinnati Reds.[1] Ambler attended spring training with the Reds that season and was assigned to the Double-A Indianapolis Indians for the regular season.[3] In his final season in professional baseball, Ambler batted .245 with 126 hits, 10 doubles, three triples and two home runs in 139 games played. The Indians used Ambler as a shortstop, playing all of his 139 games at that position, committing 31 errors in 702 total chances.