Lennie Merullo was honored by the Chicago Cubs at a June 2014 game, throwing out the ceremonial first pitch and leading the crowd in “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” during the seventh-inning stretch, part of the many events marking Wrigley Field’s 100th anniversary.

Even the most long-suffering Cubs fans might have had only vague memories of Merullo. He spent seven seasons as a Cubs infielder, playing mostly during the World War II years when many front-line ballplayers were in military service, and was never an All-Star. But he enjoyed a distinction that would elude hundreds of other Cubs who played at Wrigley in the last seven decades.

Merullo, who died on Saturday at 98 in Reading, Mass., played shortstop for the 1945 Cubs, the franchise’s last pennant winner, and was the last surviving ballplayer to have worn a Cubs uniform in a World Series.

Merullo died of complications following a stroke, his son Rick said.

Merullo was deferred from military service because of color blindness. In 1945, he played for Manager Charlie Grimm in a lineup including first baseman Phil Cavarretta, the National League batting champion, along with third baseman Stan Hack and outfielders Andy Pafko, Bill Nicholson and Peanuts Lowrey.