<— DEC 27     DEC 29 —>

BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENTS:

1847 Count Sensenderfer

“The centre fielder, Sensenderfer, is a sure catch, and a very skillful player.”

“Base Ball.” Buffalo Commercial, 29 June 1868, Page 3.

His real name was John Phillips Jenkins Sensenderfer.  They called him Count because of his mustache and his bearing (and, according to Major League Baseball Profiles: 1871 – 1900, Volume 1, because he was excellent with the piano and the ladies).  An alternate opinion could be gleaned from an article describing a Sensenderfer family reunion.  Click the link to read more!

1860 Cal Broughton

Catcher for many teams of the 1880s, and later a locally famous police chief in Evansville, Wisconsin.

According to his obituary in the Green Bay Press-Gazette, he was born on his parent’s farm in Magnolia, Wisconsin, then served as the Evansville Police chief from 1900 to 1916. Arthritis contributed to his demise – he spent the last three years of his life confined to a bed at the home of his nephew before passing away on March 15, 1939.

“Old Baseball Star Passes”, Green Bay Press-Gazette, 16 March 1939, Page 24.

Broughton gave up his post for private interests, but was called back to duty and won an election for Chief of Police in Evansville in 1928.

“Diamond Star Elected”, Eau Claire Leader, 05 April 1928, Page 15.

1864 Charlie Kalbfus

Played on the Washington Nationals in 1883 and 1884, but only one of those games counts as a major league game (a Union League game in 1884).

1875 Bill Karns
1887 Pete Henning
1891 Ralph Arthur “Doc” Carroll
1898 Bill Kelly
1900 Ted Lyons
1900 Joe Ranson
1901 Roscoe Albert “Wattie” Holm

Wattie Holm, Ex-Big Leaguer, Kills Wife, Self

Roscoe Albert (Wattie) Holm, 48, a former St. Louis Cardinals baseball player, fatally shot his wife and then himself Friday in what Clay county Coroner Lyle Frink termed a murder and suicide.

Holm, who played every position but was essentially an outfielder, participated in the 1926 and 1928 World Series with the Cards.  He left the major leagues shortly afterwards because of a bad arm and for years managed the Storm Lake Whitecaps, a semi-pro team.

Frink said Holm also shot and injured his daughter, Margaret, a recent 8th grade graduate.  She was hospitalized in Spencer.

The Holms lived in an upstairs apartment in the home of Fred Sindt and were preparing to move when the shooting occurred.  Frink said he had not been able to determine a motive.

Holm recently had been working at Sportsmen’s Inc., a sporting goods store in spencer.  He had been living in Everly about a year.

Sindt told authorities he heard several shots about 8:30 a.m. and that in a few minutes Margaret came running down the stairs screaming.  Holm’s body was found at the bottom of the stairs; Mrs. Holm’s body was upstairs.  Frink said Holm used a .38 caliber revolver.  Everly is about 12 miles northwest of Spencer.

Mason City (IA) Globe-Gazette, 19 May 1950, Page 1.

1905 Cocaina Garcia
1906 Tommy Bridges

His real name was Thomas Jefferson Davis Bridges.

1912 Otto Denning
1913 Ollie West
1915 Harry Sweeney
1919 Douglas Sydnor
1920 Leycester Doyle “Tex” Aulds

Leycester may actually have been Leslie, but his family called him Doyle.  Tex Aulds scored the opening touchdown for the Randolph Ramblers in the 1944 Cotton Bowl, a game that ended in a 7 – 7 tie with the Texas Longhorns.  He was a corporal during World War II, and the Pampa, TX native (actually born in Louisiana, but moved to Pampa) also was a fine catcher who made it to the Red Sox in May, 1947.

1921 Nelson Burbrink
1923 Don Thompson
1923 Frederic Clinton “Tony” Daniels
1924 Stanislaw “Steve” Kuczek
1946 Bill Lee
1947 Aurelio Rodriguez
1949 John Milner
1950 Steve Lawson
1952 Ray Knight
1952 Jose Sosa
1960 Zane Smith
1960 Carl Willis
1963 Mel Stottlemyre
1971 Benny Agbayani
1971 Melvin Nieves
1972 Einar Diaz
1975 B. J. Ryan
1979 Bill Hall
1984 Barret Browning
1987 Shawn O’Malley
1989 Austin Barnes
1989 Austin Nola
1991 Myles Jaye
1992 Carlos Estevez
1993 Scott Effross
1994 Mitch White
1994 Dario Agrazal
1995 Dylan Cease
1995 Corbin Martin

OBITUARIES:

1901 George Flynn
1935 Jack Corcoran
1941 Jack Hickey
1943 Steve Evans
1944 Bill Bowman
1952 Deacon Jones
1963 Ray Keating
1967 Bill Pertica
1968 Roosevelt Davis
1970 Doc Ozmer
1974 Jack Salveson
1979 Red Tramback
1979 Jim Mosolf
1979 Hank Butcher
1981 John Bischoff
1986 Harry Else
1992 Sal Maglie

“The Barber” died of pneumonia. – “Sal Maglie Dies of Pneumonia,” Rutland Daily Herald, December 29, 1992: 17.

1993 Augie Galan

Aneurysm took him at 81.  Did you know he set a record by playing in every game without hitting into a double play?  He’s also the first NL player to hit homers from both sides of the plate in the same game. – “Augie Galan, 81; played outfield for Philadelphia A’s and others,” Philadelphia Inquirer, December 30, 1993: 22

1995 Hippolito Arenas
2000 Cotton Williams
2011 Don Mueller
2017 Al Luplow
2017 Ken Poulsen

YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE!!!!

1944 Senator Buddy Lewis was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his service in the Burma Theater of World War II.

TRANSACTION WIRE:

1957 Cincinnati trades Ted Kluszewski to Pittsburgh for Dee Fondy.

1994 San Diego sends six players (including Derek Bell) to Houston for Ken Caminiti, Steve Finley and four others.

1995 Chicago sends Tim Raines to the Yankees for a player to be named later (Blaise Kozeniewski).

1998 Detroit sends Luis Gonzalez to the Diamondbacks for Karim Garcia.  That worked out amazingly well for Arizona…

2011 Oakland sends Andrew Bailey and Ryan Sweeney to the Red Sox for Josh Reddick, Raul Alcantara, and Miles Head.

2015 Cincinnati acquires four prospects (sort of) from the Yankees for reliever Aroldis Chapman.