Duke Markell
Duke Markell, born Henri Duquesne Makowski on August 17, 1923, in Paris, France, was an American baseball pitcher who mainly played in the minor leagues. He moved to The Bronx, New York, with his family at age seven. He was 6'1" tall, weighed 209 pounds, batted right-handed, and threw right-handed. He was Jewish. Markell’s pro career lasted from 1945 to 1957, with most of his time spent in the minors.
He appeared in five Major League games for the St. Louis Browns in September 1951. In MLB he went 1–1 with a 6.33 ERA in 21⅓ innings. Before his big league call-up, he played for the Oklahoma City Indians in the Texas League in 1951, posting a 2.77 ERA but taking 19 losses.
Markell’s two major league starts were: September 16, 1951, at Shibe Park, a 7–1 loss to the Philadelphia Athletics (seven hits, two homers, seven earned runs); and September 27, 1951, a complete-game 7–4 win over the Detroit Tigers at Sportsman’s Park (eight hits, three earned runs, including a homer by Johnny Groth).
After his brief MLB time, he returned to the minors, appearing in 508 games and compiling a 154–142 record. In the early 1960s, the retired pitcher played outfield for The Free Sons of Israel lodge softball team Mt. Horeb on Randall’s Island in New York City.
Duke Markell died on June 14, 1984, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, at age 60.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 20:50 (CET).