<— DEC 28     DEC 30 —>

BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENTS:

1860 James Morris

Signed from a team in Trenton, Morris played centerfield and then pitched an inning of an 11 – 2 loss to the Cincinnati Unions on September 11, 1884.  Morris’s time with the Baltimore Monumentals lasted just that one game.

“Cuff, a new man from Jersey City, caught for the home team, and Morris, a player from Trenton, guarded centre field and pitched one inning. Neither played well.”

The game summary included the fact that Morris threw two passed balls (and allowed two hits, two walks and two runs – one earned) in his inning of work. Morris took over for the starter, Tom Lee, in the fifth inning and Lee went back to the mound in the sixth.

“The National Game,” Baltimore Sun, September 12, 1884: 4.

Also, “Doing Themselves Proud,” Cincinnati Enquirer, September 12, 1884: 2.

Morris had a productive life of religious service to Passaic, New Jersey – taking over a church and starting a mission there.  When he died of cancer, it was a huge loss to the community – making a bold headline on the front page of the paper.

“City Mourns Death of Rev. J. R. Morris,” Passaic Daily News, July 11, 1925: 1, 3.

1861 Joe Flynn
1882 Frank Delahanty

One of about five Delahanty brothers to play in the big leagues.  Frank had a nice career if you include his time in the American Association, too.

1884 Lou Fiene
1885 Gus Salve

Lefty pitcher with somewhat of a baby face who got a two game (one complete game loss) tryout with the Philadelphia Athletics in 1908. His career is mostly pitching in the south – a few seasons in Richmond, but a few other stops in between. Not bad for a kid from Boston…

1888 Bill McAllester
1890 George Aiton
1891 Dave Skeels

David Skeels was an Addy, Washington native (and Native American) who attended Gonzaga and played college baseball one season there in 1909. He pitched in one game for the Tigers in 1910 after a season playing minor league ball in Western Canada.  As you can imagine, any nicknames assigned to him included his heritage, most frequently being called “Chief”.

1893 Joe Smith
1894 Hank DeBerry
1895 Clyde Barnhart
1904 Bill Sweeney
1911 Bill Knickerbocker
1920 Thomas Favors
1926 Tom Upton
1934 Ramon Conde
1937 George Perez
1941 Bruce Brubaker
1941 John Upham
1946 Ken Rudolph
1952 Dennis Werth
1956 Dave Ford
1959 Mike Brown
1960 Jim Wilson
1962 Devon White
1964 Craig Grebeck
1964 Rod Nichols
1966 Luis de los Santos
1968 James Mouton
1969 Scott Ruffcorn
1972 Jim Brower
1973 Tomas Perez
1974 Richie Sexson
1974 Emil Brown
1975 Jason Pearson
1975 Thomas Jacquez
1975 Jaret Wright
1977 Jimmy Journell
1977 Jack Wilson
1982 Kevin Hart
1982 Brad Davis
1991 Odubel Herrera
1992 Enderson Franco
1993 Chase De Jong
1994 Dustin Fowler
1994 Brian Navarreto
1994 Chris Okey
1995 Sean Guenther
1998 William Woods
2000 Julio Rodriguez

OBITUARIES:

1888 Asa Brainard
1916 Ed Doheny
1924 Bill White
1928 Mort Scanlan

1930 George Stutz

According to his PA death certificate, he died of a degenerative heart valve at the age of 41. His baseball career is interesting if only because he was extraordinarily famous for being an on-field entertainer.

1930 Ginger Shinault
1930 Sandy Piez
1935 Harley Payne
1936 Bill Prough
1937 Willie Spearman
1938 George Blackburn
1947 George Blaeholder
1948 Larry Hoffman
1951 Hi Bithorn
1952 Bob Meinke
1962 Tiny Graham
1965 Alex Main
1977 Jimmy Brown
1978 Walt Alexander
1979 Ed Albrecht
1980 Art Reinholz
1981 Don Plarski
1988 Earl Mossor
1988 John Happenny
2004 Gus Niarhos
2004 Ken Burkhart
2010 Steve Boros
2011 Rosman Garcia
2014 Bob Usher

Another player whose baseball career was messed up with by World War II – but he left baseball to become involved in naval intelligence with the U.S. Navy. According to his obituary, he was a man of somewhat refined tastes and was given a proper mormon burial.

2015 Ed Mayer

Mayer died after a long battle with cancer.

2015 Frank Malzone

Malzone was 85 when he died of natural causes. From 1955 to 1965, he was an anchor at third – and in his prime between 1957 and 1964, he’d hit about .280 with 16 homers and 80+ RBI. He finished his career with California in 1966 before being added to the Red Sox Hall of Fame.

And to think he grew up a Yankee fan.

2016 Chris Cannizzaro

An original 1962 Mets player and the first All-Star in San Diego Padres history, Cannizzaro died of complications associated with lung cancer and COPD.

2019 Neal Watlington

Julius Neal Watlington was a member of the 1953 Philadelphia Athletics where he played catcher or pinch hit in 21 games as a 30 year old rookie (his career was delayed by World War II). Watlington was awarded a French Legion of Honor medal for his service during that war. He died four days after his 97th birthday in his hometown of Yanceyville, North Carolina. His wife of 67 years (!) outlived him – and his life story is rather impressive – as was his orchard…

2024 Lenny Randle

The former “Most Interesting Man in Baseball” was 75.

2024 Jim Campbell

YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE!!!

2002 Riverfront Stadium is demolished.

TRANSACTION WIRE:

1981 St. Louis signs free agent pitcher Joaquin Andujar.

1995 San Diego signs free agent outfielder Rickey Henderson.

2006 San Francisco makes a significant investment in free agent pitcher Barry Zito…

2009 The Mets sign Jason Bay to a four year deal.