<— APRIL 24     APRIL 26 —>

BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENTS:

1864 Tom Quinn
1866 Dick Conway
1867 Jim Sullivan
1883 Russ Ford
1884 John Henry “Pop” Lloyd
1885 Hack Spencer
1886 Ralph Good
1887 Lee Dashner

In 1912, Lee Dashner signed a contract to play with the Cincinnati Invaders franchise in the United States Baseball League, which had dreams of becoming another major league.  It didn’t take long for the league to fold and suddenly the left handed pitcher was scrambling for a gig (like many of his teammates), securing a tryout with the Reds.

“Fourteen Suits Entered By U.S. League Players”, Cincinnati Enquirer, 05 June 1912, Page 8.

It didn’t work out – after finishing the season with Columbia in the SALLY League, he wound up pitching in two Kentucky cities and finally with Toledo in the American Association for 1913.

(He successfully sued the Invaders’ owners for lost wages.)

As the season closed, he got a tryout with the Cleveland Naps, tossed 1.2 innings of relief at the end of a game, getting a couple of strikeouts and then was banished back to the minors.

His SABR biography, surprisingly entertaining (the content was good, the writing was better), was written by Chris Rainey.

1890 Red Bird
1890 Lloyd Bishop
1890 Henry Smoyer

Got in a handful of games with the St. Louis Browns in 1912.  Had originally played minor league ball after going to Albright College, then was scooped up by Cleveland and dispatched to Harrisburg for seasoning.  For some reason (not yet located), the Browns got him (briefly) and gave him a shot.

“Signs Nap Contract”, Reading Times, 05 August 1911, Page 5.

1892 James Patrick “Snipe” Conley

I enjoyed the research of this guy – the last player who was legally allowed to throw the spitball in a professional game.

1892 Pete Standridge
1895 George Lowe
1896 Fred Haney
1896 Marty Shay
1898 Red Thomas
1900 Jake Freeze
1900 George Fiall
1903 Otis Henry
1903 John Wilson
1905 Belve Bean
1907 Roy Parmelee
1910 Jimmy Brown
1911 Bobby Estalella
1911 Connie Marrero
1913 Woody Davis
1917 John Dagenhard
1918 Tex Shirley
1924 Art Schallock
1941 Chuck Harrison
1943 Lew Krausse
1943 Bob Johnson
1944 Joe Hague
1944 Ken Tatum
1950 Bill Greif
1954 Craig Minetto
1954 Greg Wells
1956 Larry Pashnick
1958 Dave Owen
1959 Tony Phillips
1964 Blaine Beatty
1966 Darren Holmes
1966 Erik Pappas
1970 Sean Mulligan
1971 Brad Clontz
1972 Micah Franklin
1975 Jacque Jones
1978 The Phillie Phanatic (Originally played by Dave Raymond)
1980 Kazuhito Tadano
1980 Mike Rouse
1981 Sean White
1982 Brian Barton
1983 Garrett Mock
1983 Juan Miranda
1983 J. P. Howell
1984 Robert Andino
1987 Danny Espinosa
1992 Wei-Chung Wang
1992 Luis Cessa
1993 Daniel Norris
1994 Cody Ponce
1995 A.J. Puk

OBITUARIES:

1890 Charlie Hodnett
1905 Jackie Hayes
1910 Jim Carleton
1911 Jack Rowe
1918 Dave Williams
1919 Bill Higgins
1937 George Gilham
1944 Tony Mullane
1945 Jim Murray
1947 John Walsh
1948 Bert Hunter
1950 Offa Neal
1957 Lazaro Salazar
1963 Hal Elliott
1966 Art Decatur
1968 Billy Kelsey
1970 Gene Steinbrenner
1971 Max West
1975 Bruce Edwards
1979 Lew Carpenter
1980 Cliff Lee
1982 Norman Cross
1983 Carlos Paula
1986 Enrique Figueroa
1992 Bob Hazle
1994 Gordon Jones
1994 Mike Kreevich
1996 Tommy Irwin
2011 Bobby Thompson
2013 Rick Camp
2015 Jim Fanning

YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE!

1876 Your National League Chicago Cubs – then known as the White Stockings – beat the Louisville Grays in their first game.  Ross Barnes hit the first NL home run…

1933 Dick Bartell goes four for four with four doubles…

1952 Hoyt Wilhelm tripled in his second major league at bat.  A couple of days earlier, he homered in his first at bat.  Wilhelm would appear in more than 1000 games after that and never get another homer or triple.

1976 Cubs centerfielder Rick Monday prevents two Puerto Rican men (a father and his teen son) from setting fire to an American Flag in the outfield.  Monday’s patriotic play is the stuff of legend.  (He was also my brother’s favorite player.)

TRANSACTION WIRE:

1961 Kansas City signs undrafted free agent Bert Campaneris.

1967 The Cubs trade cash and a player to be named later to Cleveland for Dick Radatz.  Bob “Shorty” Raudman – more famous in these parts for wrecking Ike Futch‘s knee – was the PTBNL.

1969 San Diego sends Dick Selma to the Cubs for Joe Niekro, Gary Ross, and Frankie Libran.

2001 Colorado signs undrafted free agent Ubaldo Jimenez.