Early Years
Appleton was born as Peter Jablonowski in 1904 at Terryville, Connecticut. His father was a foreman at the Eagle Lock Co. in Terryville. Jablonowski attended Terryville High School where he was a star athlete in baseball, basketball, and track. 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. In 1921, he threw a no-hitter and struck out 23 batters in a game against Waterbury High School.
As a youth, Jablonowski was an accomplished classical pianist. He reportedly "horrified his mother when he elected to become a baseball player." A newspaper profile of Jablonowski in 1930 noted: "He plays a mean piano. And no amount of persuasion will induce him to mix jazz with his Chopin and Beethoven. It remains to be seen how many more ball teams will fall for is 'slow music' on the diamond." A 1952 newspaper story noted that, during his time in the major leagues, he was "recognized as the finest piano player in the majors."
Jablonowski had three younger brothers, Joe, John, and Alec, who also played baseball. Joe played baseball at the University of New Hampshire. John played "twilight ball" in Terryville and struck out 16 batters in a game in 1929.
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