<— MAY 20     MAY 22 —>

BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENTS:

1859 Fred Dunlap
1867 Fred Clement
1874 Sandy McDougal
1877 Sam Brown
1881 Charlie Loudenslager
1883 Eddie Grant
1884 Carl Spongberg
1891 Bunny Hearn
1891 Doc Ayers
1893 Herold Juul
1900 Sam Langford
1902 Earl Averill
1906 Hank Johnson
1909 Mace Brown
1909 Dick Ward
1910 Larry Rosenthal
1911 Irv Stein
1911 J.C. Segraves
1912 Monty Stratton
1918 Neb Stewart
1918 Stan Goletz
1924 Ed FitzGerald
1926 Elmer Sexauer
1927 El Tappe
1930 Rudy Regalado
1932 Earl Hersh
1934 Moe Thacker
1936 Barry Latman
1941 Bobby Cox
1950 Bob Molinaro
1950 Hank Webb
1955 Eddie Milner
1958 Paul Runge
1960 Kent Hrbek
1961 Greg Tabor
1963 Jose Roman
1968 Greg O’Halloran
1968 Steve Pegues
1970 Bryce Florie
1970 Tom Martin
1971 Chris Widger
1973 Tommy Davis
1974 Mark Quinn
1976 Travis Harper
1976 Rocky Biddle
1978 Ricardo Rodriguez
1981 Josh Hamilton
1982 Ed Lucas
1985 Andrew Miller
1986 Matt Wieters
1987 Allan Dykstra
1991 Joey Rickard
1991 Jacob Turner
1991 Williams Perez
1991 Joe Hudson
1993 Joe Ross
1995 Jose Alvarado
1999 Rodolfo Castro
1999 Tyler Freeman

OBITUARIES:

1886 David Lenz

There are a lot of missing parts to the David Lenz story.  For starters, we know he was born in Germany, but when he applied for citizenship, he left his birthdate out.  When he arrived with his parents (David and Salome – who brought their two kids, also named David and Salome), he was listed as 5 years old – which means the birthdate on Baseball-Reference.com, January 1, 1851, is likely wrong.  Lenz was a catcher who played amateur ball in the New York City area and got four games with the Eckfords in 1872, the year he applied for citizenship,  His days with the Eckford were short – just four games in May.  And a particularly poor game against Boston, lost 20 – 0, probably cost him his job.  New York box scores spelled his name Lentz, rather than Lenz.  After his last game, you can’t find David Lenz in the newspapers.  The NY Death Record Index notes no reason of death and an obituary hasn’t been found.

This requires more research than can be done from my couch.

1891 Jim Whitney

Whitney, who pitched for Philadelphia in 1890, died of tuberculosis. He was forced to retire due to failing health.  – “Pitcher ‘Jim’ Whitney Dead,” San Francisco Examiner, May 22, 1891: 8.

1892 Hub Collins

Collins was in his 20s…  The previous May he was in an oufield collision that knocked him out for the season.  In the spring of 1892, he rejoined his Brooklyn teammates until he caught typhoid fever, which took him two weeks later.  – “Death Was the Umpire,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, May 23, 1892: 7.

1933 Charlie Osterhout

A Syracuse man – born and died there – died at his home.  Records don’t list his birthdate (June, 1856) but know that he played two games for the Syracuse Stars as a major leaguer amongst hundreds of minor league games in the northeast.  He also served as the head coach of the Union College baseball nine. – “Old-time Ballplayer Dies,” Buffalo News, May 22, 1933: 18.

1937 Jack McAdams

Couldn’t find an obit with details of his demise, but I did see an advertisement in a paper that year saying that he took something called Van-Tage to fix problems with his kidneys.  George Decalve McAdams was 50 – died in San Francisco, but was buried in a family plot in Bryant, AR.

1938 Sam Childs
1947 Dan Kennard
1959 Carter Elliott
1960 George Cochran
1960 Leo Birdine
1961 Ben Koehler
1969 Dennis Burns
1970 Les Fusselman
1970 Jack Farmer
1973 Herm Wehmeier
1974 Bob King
1976 John Karst
1980 Frank Croucher
1985 Archie McKain
1985 Grover Powell
1989 Harry Cozart
1995 Sylvester Snead
1997 Piper Davis
2001 Joe Campini
2001 Mel Hoderlein
2002 Bob Poser
2011 Jim Pyburn
2013 Cot Deal
2014 Johnny Gray
2015 Fred Gladding
2019 Freddie Velazquez
2022 Gordie Windhorn
2024 Hank Foiles

YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE!!!

2013 Mike Trout hits for the cycle, adding five RBIs in the game.

2022 Brian Serven, in his first game as a major leaguer, homers in both his first and second at bats – the first player to homer in his first two at bats in the same game.  (That means someone out there homered in his first two at bats, but in different games.  Must find that answer.)

TRANSACTION WIRE:

1888 Philadelphia purchases Ed Delahanty from Wheeling of the Tri-State League.

1913 Milwaukee agrees to send Nemo Leibold to Cleveland for a player named later – Johnny Beall. According to Baseball-Reference.com, the trade was later voided.

1919 New York sends Jim Thorpe to the Boston Braves.

1935 Washington purchases Bobo Newsom from the Browns for $40,000.

1936 Philadelphia reacquires Chuck Klein from the Cubs (along with Fabian
Kowalik) for Ethan Allen and Curt Davis.

1972 Montreal signs free agent hitter Larry Parrish.