<—MAY 23     MAY 25 —>

BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENTS:

1857 Bill Annis
1858 Sam Barkley
1862 Billy Otterson
1864 John Fogarty
1871 George Flynn
1876 Fred Jacklitsch
1877 Odie Porter
1878 Jack Pfiester
1886 Hi Jasper
1887 Jack Killilay
1891 Pete Sims
1892 Joe Oeschger

Oeschger and Leon Cadore went 26 innings on 5/1/1920 – a game that ended in a 1 – 1 tie. By the way, he also went 20 innings in a tie game in 1919 against Burleigh Grimes.

1892 Oscar Harstad
1895 Gus Felix
1896 Leo Mangum
1898 Dennis Burns
1900 Wally Shaner
1900 Clay Van Alstyne
1900 Al Shealy
1901 Mule Shirley
1903 Jack Berly
1913 Joe Abreu
1915 Ed Wheeler
1919 Jack Phillips
1920 Vern Curtis
1921 Clancy Smyres

Signed out of high school by the Idaho Falls Russetts in 1941 – played there briefly but within weeks was on the suspended list with an injury. Not sure where he was after that – even Baseball-Reference doesn’t mention him until he shows up for spring training with the 1944 Dodgers. Able to play (he was ruled 4-F due to a bad back) during the war years, he had arm issues that kept him from playing initially and for a few weeks he made five appearances for the Dodgers as a pinch runner or pinch hitter.

He batted twice, never got a hit, scored a run (on Paul Waner’s 3,113th career hit) and then was dispatched to Newport News in the Piedmont League. He played well enough to get a brief promotion to Trenton in the Interstate League where he hit .370 in 81 at bats playing for Walter Alston. Smyres had arm surgery in the off-season, then was traded to New Orleans in the Southern Association. After a year with the Pelicans, he was out of baseball at the end of 1945.

Clarence Smyres is most famous for being perhaps the absolutely hardest autograph to get. The lone one in existence was lifted from an old hotel registry. He never signed – refused every request – and even after his death in 2007 his children refused to share items with his signature despite several offers of THOUSANDS of dollars for each signature.

1926 Willy Miranda
1927 Milt Jordan
1939 Jim Duckworth
1941 Bill Wakefield
1946 Ellie Rodriguez
1951 Dave Machemer
1958 Mike Richardt
1965 Greg Briley
1965 Rob Ducey
1967 Carlos Hernandez
1968 Jerry Dipoto
1971 Todd Rizzo
1972 Danny Bautista
1972 Gabe Gonzalez
1973 Bartolo Colon
1974 Masahide Kobayashi
1976 Brandon Larson
1976 Jason Grabowski
1976 Carlos Febles

Came up with the Royals around the same time as Carlos Beltran. Played a mean second base, looked like he might hit some. Was always sad it didn’t work out.

1977 Jae Weong Seo
1978 Dave Pember
1978 Brad Penny

I loved Brad Penny as a pitcher. Threw hard, wasted no time. Just a blast to watch – and still get home in under 3 hours.

1979 Joe Kennedy
1980 Justin Hampson
1982 Kevin Frandsen
1984 Hector Ambriz
1987 Blake Tekotte
1987 Henry Villar
1989 Aaron Wilkerson
1990 Wilmer Font
1990 Adam Conley
1991 Chad Green
1991 Damien Magnifico
1992 Dan Slania
1992 Andrew Toles
1994 Cam Hill
1998 Aaron Ashby

OBITUARIES:

1905 Bill Goodenough

W. B. Goodenough, a former baseball player, died at the city insane asylum Tuesday night after a month’s illness. His wife arrived in the city yesterday morning from Nashville, Tenn., and took charge of the body.

“Former Baseball Player Dies at Insane Asylum,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, May 25, 1905: 5.

1908 Pete Hasney
1918 Chris McFarland

According to the article noting his sudden passing, McFarland was suffering from acute indigestion and was treated for it.  Sounds like a heart attack to me.  Will see if I can find a death certificate.  At the time of his death, he was the superintendent of the New Bedford Dry Goods Company.  McFarland played three games with the Baltimore Monumentals of the Union Association…

“‘Chris’ McFarland Fatally Stricken,” Fall River Evening Herald, May 25, 1918: 11.

1918 Ralph Sharman

Sharman was a Philadelphia Athletic who was called to duty for World War I – and one of the rare casualties.  He didn’t die in battle, though.  He was with the Battalion F, 136th Field Artillery in Montgomery, Alabama when the Cincinnati native was caught up by the Alabama River and drowned, his body being recovered hours later.

“Caught in a Whirlpool,” Chattanooga Daily Times, May 25, 1918: 1.

1922 Charlie Frank
1928 Billy Smith
1933 Phonney Martin
1939 Barney Pelty
1947 Atkins Collins
1949 Joe Callahan
1954 Charlie Biggs
1955 Bob Cone
1962 Rabbit Nill
1962 Barney Norris
1963 Hi West
1968 Lloyd Russell
1970 Bill Lamar
1971 Charlie Grover
1971 Tommy Thompson
1972 Bill Moore
1974 Cliff Markle
1981 Don Richmond
1983 Oscar Levis
1991 Pat Scantlebury
1996 Charlie Hall
2002 Jim McCurine
2010 Rogelio Martinez
2012 John Miles
2020 Biff Pocoroba
2022 Bob Miller

YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE!!!

1884 Al Atkinson tosses a no hitter for Philadelphia (AA) to beat Pittsburgh, 10 – 1…

1918 On Joe Oeschger’s birthday, Stan Coveleski went 19 innings to beat the Yankees, 3 – 2.

1929 On Joe Oeschger’s birthday, Ted Lyons went the distance, all 21 innings, but lost, 6 -5, to Detroit. Lyons allowed 24 hits, setting an AL record (since broken).

1935 Cincinnati tops the Phillies, 2 – 1, in the league’s first night game.

1936 Tony Lazzeri sets an AL record with 11 RBIs in a game thanks to a pair of grand slams – also a first time event. Lazzeri actually hit three homers that day. The Yankees trounced the As 25 – 2.

1936 Sam Leslie, Giants first baseman, goes 5 – 5 and hits for the cycle to help clock the Phillies 13 – 5.

1976 Bert Campaneris ties the AL record set five years earlier by Amos Otis by stealing five bases in a game. He was caught stealing once – in the third inning.

1993 Speaking of getting caught stealing – Luis Polonia tied an AL record by getting pegged three times trying to steal.

TRANSACTION WIRE:

1941 Boston signs struggling (and aging) outfielder Paul Waner who had been released by Brooklyn after starting the season 6 for 35. Waner would hit .279 for the Braves.

1954 The White Sox sign former Cubs first baseman Phil Cavarretta, who was (like Waner) pushing 38 at the time he signed. Cavarretta becomes a quality pinch hitter and fourth outfielder, hitting .316 in 71 games.