<— APRIL 14     APRIL 16 —>

BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENTS:

1862 Elmer (Sy) Sutcliffe
1864 Hub Collins
1865 Mike Lehane
1867 Cinders O’Brien

This O’Brien was a pitcher of some repute for four different teams between 1888 and 1891 (and three different leagues – the NL, AA, and Players League) and who died of pneumonia in 1892.  John F. O’Brien was sometimes confused with a Darby O’Brien, who had a similar career and life trajectory – five years as an outfielder with a couple of different teams, and died in 1893 of tuberculosis, which may have had help from a previous case of typhoid fever.  There was a second Cinders O’Brien who found his way through the low level minors in Ohio and New York during the same time period, but I didn’t see that he had died in his mid-20s.

1871 Bill Gray
1877 Ed Abbaticchio
1886 King Cole
1889 Leroy Grant
1890 Buck Sweeney
1890 Dick Redding
1892 Sam Crawford
1893 Jimmy Oldham
1893 Jack Sheehan
1893 Vern Hughes
1894 Red Gunkel
1894 Chaney White
1896 George (Dutch) Distel
1897 Walt Lynch
1898 A.J. Lockhart
1905 William Lindsay
1910 Eddie Mayo
1915 Joe Hoover
1917 Elmer Gedeon
1920 Cyril Byron
1926 Bill Pierro
1929 Raul Lopez
1931 Ed Bailey
1934 J C Hartman
1940 Willie Davis
1945 Ted Sizemore
1949 Ray Bare
1950 Dick Sharon
1956 Barry Cort
1960 Mike Diaz
1968 Billy Brewer
1969 Jeromy Burnitz
1972 Ricky Otero
1974 Reynaldo Garcia
1977 Paul Phillips
1978 Milton Bradley
1978 Tim Corcoran
1980 Yoel Hernandez
1982 Michael Aubrey
1985 John Danks
1985 Aaron Laffey
1988 Chris Tillman
1989 Adeiny Hechavarria
1992 Henry Ramos
1993 Cody Reed
1993 Daniel Zamora
1994 Trey Wingenter
1995 Jesus Cruz
1995 Danny Jensen
1996 Dauri Moreta
1996 Reiver Sanmartin
1997 Tony Santillan
1997 Luis Madero
1999 Michael Mercado
2003 Eury Perez

OBITUARIES:

1915 Frank Figgemeier

St. Louis native who was given a one game tryout by the Phillies on September 25, 1894. Predictably, it went poorly – Figgemeier, who had pitched for Peoria until the close of the Western Association season, lost 14 – 7 when his pitching wasn’t up to league standards and his teammates weren’t especially interested in playing in the field. (There were few games left and this was the thirteenth game of a seventeen game roadtrip that ended their season.)

Anyway… Figgemeier died one week shy of his 42nd birthday from complications associated with chronic alcoholism, per his Missouri death certificate. According to his SABR bio, Figgemeier struggled with drinking, made worse when his family – parents and siblings – started dying off over the previous several years.

“The Browns Win,” Philadelphia Inquirer, September 26, 1894: 3.
“Yesterday’s Games,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 26, 1894: 7.

1929 Harry Wilson
1937 Emmet McCann
1946 Pete Allen
1954 Chick Holmes
1957 Jack Coombs
1957 Rube Schauer
1957 Ernie Padgett
1957 George Watkins
1959 Win Clark
1961 Nick Cullop
1961 Jess Doyle
1961 Cy Falkenberg
1970 Ripper Collins
1971 Mickey Harris
1974 Buddy Armour
1975 Dutch Schliebner
1976 Floyd Newkirk
1976 George Scales
1983 Bill Sarni
1983 Chuck Wilson
1988 John Hines
1992 Ralph Weigel
1997 Bob Friedrichs
1997 Jim Holloway
1999 Bernie Snyder
2003 Sherwood Brewer
2007 Chip Marshall
2009 Ed Blake
2011 Bobo Osborne
2011 Reno Bertoia

Prior to Dustin Pedroia, the only other major league player to have a last name that rhymed with mine.

2016 Ron Theobald
2020 Damaso Garcia
2020 Dick Hyde
2023 Roger Hambright
2024 Whitey Herzog

YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE!!!

1947 Jackie Robinson makes his debut for the Dodgers, breaking the color barrier (finally!).

I wrote about it here.

1994 Beloit’s Kelly Wunsch strikes out FIVE guys in an inning – the third time it had happened in a professional game.  Two wild pitches on strike three aided the cause.

2000 Cal Ripken’s single off Hector Carrasco marks his 3000th career hit.

2009 Ian Kinsler hits for the cycle – he had six hits – as Texas clobbers Baltimore, 19 – 6.

TRANSACTION WIRE:

1972 Houston sends Scipio Spinks and Lance Clemons to St. Louis for Jerry Reuss.

1979 The Mets sign amateur free agent infielder Jose Oquendo.