<— JANUARY 15     JANUARY 17 —>

BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENTS:

1855 Jimmy Macullar

Just starting a biography – but the basics are there.  Macullar was a Bostson native but mostly a Baltimore guy.  His claim to fame?  He’s the left handed thrower who played the most games at shortstop (325).  The practice ended by the end of the 19th century, though for a decade you might see someone play there.  Lou Gehrig did it once in 1934.  Did you know that the last player to get credit for a third of an inning as a lefty shortstop was back in 1954 when Nino Escalara was forced to play there?  (A ball wasn’t put in play – Stan Musial fanned.)  Macullar played at least three years as a regular at short for Baltimore and is one of only two players to log 100 games in a season there.  He later played at Des Moines, where they won a minor league pennant, then managed them.  He returned home to Baltimore and after trying his hand in dry goods wound up working at the City Jail as an assistant warden…

1858 Art Whitney

Fine fielding third baseman who kept a major league job for some eleven seasons during the 1880s and 1890s despite failing to hit .200 on the season in about half of them.

1863 Lem Hunter

Robert Lemuel Hunter appeared in a single game for Cleveland in 1883. He started in right field, but when Chicago put up eleven runs in the third, Hugh Daily was removed and Hunter took over. In his 6.1 innings of work, Hunter gave up another seven runs but only one was earned; he fanned four and walked a pair.

Hunter’s life extended a long way from that lone 1883 game. He was but 20 then; he had about 73 years ahead of him, making him the seventh oldest living player to have played in the major leagues at the time of his death in 1956.

“Sporting Gossip,” Cleveland Leader, September 3, 1883: 3.
“Sporting,” Chicago Tribune, September 2, 1883: 8.

1870 Jimmy Collins

Hall of Fame third baseman known for his fielding prowess (especially on bunts) and his offensive prowess. Once led the NL in homers and another season he led in RBIs. Also, Collins was a jumper – leaving the NL Boston franchise for the new AL version in 1901.

There are a few out there that would give Hall of Fame consideration to Collin’s contemporary, Lave Cross. Superficially, Cross had the longer career and better counting numbers (Cross was fifth all-time in hits when he retired in 1907, for example). Collins had the better seasons though, a better OPS, and a far better reputation in their time.

1873 Tom Hess

Hess caught a single game for Baltimore in 1892 – he came in to relieve another player, then left the game after taking a pitch in his unprotected knee. The game is somewhat famous for being the first time a sitting president, Benjamin Harrison, took in a baseball game in person.

Anyway – it’s hard to say if this is his real birthdate. According to his SABR Bio written by Stephen V. Rice, the January 16, 1873 date was recorded on Hess’s US World War I registration form, but there are probably a half-dozen dates out there that may or not be his actual birthdate.

1877 Lou Bruce
1878 Jim Murray
1885 Joe Kutina
1886 Allie Moulton
1888 Brad Kocher
1889 Ray Jansen
1890 Erskine Mayer
1891 Ferdie Schupp
1891 Marv Goodwin
1892 Fred Bratschi
1894 Edward George “Moxie” Divis
1895 Lou Guisto
1899 George Aloys “Showboat” Fisher
1900 Joe Rabbitt
1902 Joe Connell
1902 Horace Levering “Pip” Koehler
1904 Jo-Jo Morrissey
1906 Jim Williams
1907 Baxter Byerly “Buck” Jordan
1908 Johnny Watson
1910 Jay Hanna “Dizzy” Dean
1911 Hank McDonald
1917 Bob Ramazzotti
1920 Ray Poole
1920 Roy Talcott
1923 Dick Sipek
1924 Earl Hazwell “Junior” Wooten
1924 Luther Clifford
1934 Jim Owens
1937 Moe Morhardt
1938 Ron Herbel
1940 Rod Miller
1940 Bob Baird
1941 Joe Bonikowski
1944 Gene Stone
1953 Dennis DeBarr
1954 Dave Stapleton
1957 Steve Balboni
1957 Marty Castillo
1959 Kevin Buckley
1966 Jack McDowell
1970 Ron Villone
1975 Lee Gardner
1977 Colter Bean
1978 Alfredo Amezaga
1979 Jack Cust
1980 Albert Pujols
1980 Brooks Conrad
1981 Mitch Stetter
1983 Eider Torres
1984 Matt Maloney
1985 Jeff Manship
1985 Junior Guerra
1986 Reid Brignac
1986 Mark Trumbo
1987 Zelous Wheeler
1990 Warwick Saupold
1992 Daniel Ponce de Leon
1994 Austin Allen
1996 Garrett Hill
1997 TJ Hopkins
1997 Thaddeus Ward
1997 Brendon Donovan
1998 Duke Ellis
1999 Andres Munoz
2025 Chase Burns

OBITUARIES:

1907 Jake Evans

Evans died of uremia; he was walking to his back gate when he collapsed and died almost immediately. The article noting his passing failed to mention what he was doing for a living at the time, but did say that he never married.

As a ballplayer, he had one of the finest throwing arms of his day, remembered for his unique ability to know when he could field a ball hit to right field and throw out the batter at first. He led the NL in assists in 1882 with 31, and he also had 31 assists in 1881, 30 assists in 1879, and 29 more in 1883 . Those assist numbers are stunning – and he did that playing between 68 and 86 games in the outfield those seasons. (The National League played 84 scheduled games until moving to 98 in 1884.)

He allegedly threw a ball so hard he dislocated his shoulder, which led to the end of his career. From what I gather, the injury occurred in 1884, bothered him on and off that season, and gave out on him in 1885.

“The Cleveland Team’s Ill Luck,” Cleveland Leader, May 15, 1884: 6.
“Sporting News,” Cleveland Leader, June 17, 1884: 7.
“The Field of Sport,” Baltimore Sun, March 28, 1885: 1.
“‘Jake’ Evans Drops Dead,” Baltimore Sun, January 18, 1907: 11.
“Present Day Fielders Slow,” Chicago Daily Inter Ocean, January 7, 1907: 9.

1913 Tom Dolan

Tom Dolan died of complications associated with dropsy a week after his 58th birthday. Dolan was a pretty good catcher, but his hitting came and went (as it does with a lot of catchers), which made him expendable. He played in all three leagues of his era, and on six different teams…

“Tom Dolan, Star Browns’ Catcher, Is Called ‘Out,’” St. Louis Star and Times, January 17, 1913: 8.

1917 Charlie Geggus

Geggus fell ill with pneumonia and he died rather quickly. As a player, he’s in your encyclopedia because he made 23 appearances as a pitcher for the Union Association’s Washington Nationals. He also appeared in 21 other games as an outfielder, shortstop or second baseman. He spent two seasons out east; just one as a major leaguer.

His greater baseball fame came in California, whether for early local bay area teams, or in early minor league teams, and eventually as a manager for Sacramento.

“Chas. Geggus Passes Away,” San Francisco Examiner, January 17, 1917: 11.

1925 George Bignell

Bignell was a minor league catcher of some repute in the 1880s. When he died after a month-long illness in Providence, Rhode Island, reports included a note about Bignell having set a record for putouts in a game. Charlie Bevis, author of Bignell’s SABR bio, found the game in question and noted that the record was not for putouts, but for chances.

On October 3, 1884, catching for Milwaukee in a 5 – 4 loss to Boston, Bignell had putouts on 17 of Henry Porter’s 18 strikeouts, 6 assists, two errors, and two passed balls (one of them on that other strikeout). Only two other catchers have had 25 (or more) chances and both of them needed 17 innings – nearly TWO games – to do it. Bignell did it in nine innings…

By the way, Bignell only caught in four major league games for Milwaukee. That team joined the Union Association late in the season after its own league collapsed and they joined the UA as that league was in its final weeks. Without that invitation being handed to Milwaukee, Bignell would not be in your baseball encyclopedia.

“Knocked Out by O’Brien,” Milwaukee Journal, October 4, 1884: 4.

1928 Claude Rossman
1934 Wiley Dunham
1938 Earl Clark
1938 Joe Sommer
1950 Rudy Hulswitt
1951 Pid Purdy
1954 Clay Perry
1954 Fred Payne
1963 Carl (Tommy) Thompson
1964 Howard Baker
1965 Jimmy Williams
1968 Liz Funk
1976 Chick Autry
1977 Jim Hamilton
1977 Baby Doll Jacobson
1985 Ken Chase
1988 Dutch Kemner
1989 Frank Trechock
1990 Earl Naylor
2003 Phil McCullough
2006 Willie Smith
2009 Craig Stimac
2019 Tom Hausman
2022 Ethan Blackaby
2022 Gale Wade
2023 Frank Thomas
2024 Johnny Jeter
2025 Bob Uecker

According to his obit in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Uecker was battling small cell lung cancer for the last several months. He was ten days shy of his 91st birthday when Uecker passed to the next league.

YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE!!!

1886 The Washington Nationals are admitted into the National League. This version of Washington baseball lasted just four seasons.

1964 The American League votes to prevent Charlie Finley from moving the Kansas City Athletics to Louisville.

TRANSACTION WIRE:

1986 New York sends Billy Beane, Bill Latham, and Joe Klink to the Twins for Tim Teufel and Pat Crosby.

2013 Three Team Deal! Oakland sends A. J. Cole, Blake Treinen and Ian Krol (in March) to Washington. Seattle sent John Jason to Oakland. Washington sent Mike Morse to Seattle.

Not a big day for blockbuster trades…