<— FEBRUARY 8     FEBRUARY 10 —>

BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENTS:

1852 Lyman Drake
1863 Charley Bassett
1867 John McCarty
1867 Sumner Bowman
1870 Arhtur Clifford (Hi) Ladd
1887 Heinie Zimmerman
1893 Cecil Johnson
1895 Wally Hood
1895 John Cason
1897 Adrian Lynch
1898 C. L. Taylor
1899 George (Specs) Toporcer
1900 Tom Gee
1902 Don Hankins
1902 Julie Wera

Teammate of Babe Ruth. True story – years later, someone pretending to be Julie Wera (might have been a second or third cousin) was on the lam from Minnesota and wound up in northern California where he used his fake identity to land a GM job running a low-level minor league team. Among the stories he told were getting scarred and burned while serving in WWII, requiring plastic surgery… Near the end of the season, under significant duress, the man committed suicide and the papers reported Wera’s death. However, Wera was actually still alive and well, working as a butcher in Minnesota. Red Sox management, the parent team of the affected minor league franchise, was embarrassed for being fooled and not having done enough homework when hiring the fake Wera.

1904 Roy Mahaffey
1908 Ralph Francis (Buzz) Boyle
1913 Tony Robello
1914 Bill Veeck
1915 Harvey Green
1916 Tex Hughson
1916 Freddy Schmidt
1917 Ford Parker (Moon) Mullen
1925 Vic Wertz
1928 Erv Palica
1934 Ted Wills
1937 Clete Boyer
1942 Hal Gilson
1944 Jim Campanis
1944 Randy Schwartz
1945 Jim Nash
1949 John Andrews
1949 John Young
1951 Eddie Solomon
1955 John Urrea
1956 Mookie Wilson
1957 Pat Underwood
1958 Pete O’Brien
1961 John Kruk
1964 Ed Whited
1965 Doug Linton
1967 Todd Pratt
1968 Brad Holman
1968 Robert Eenhoorn
1969 Ramon Garcia
1970 John Burke
1975 Vladimir Guerrero
1977 Napoleon Calzado
1979 Akinori Iwamura
1979 Mike Tonis
1984 Dioner Navarro
1986 Josh Judy
1989 Daniel Muno
1989 Jake Smolinski
1990 Randall Delgado
1990 Henry Rodriguez
1990 O’Koyea Dickson
1995 Bruce Zimmerman
1996 Brewer Hicklen
1998 Vidal Brujan
2000 Logan O’Hoppe

OBITUARIES:

1914 Buster Brown

Less than one year removed from his last MLB appearance, Charles Brown had a growth removed from under his arm.  In time he developed blood poisoning, which likely contributed to what another source described as an acute dilation of his heart (a ventricle was inflamed and eventually thickened and failed).  When he died at his home in Sioux City, Iowa, the news report also blamed over-training for his demise.  He left behind a wife and 6-month old son.

“Baseball Pitcher Dead,” Sioux City Journal, February 10, 1914: 5.
“Buster Brown Dies at Home,” Muscatine News-Journal, February 21, 1914: 2.

1914 Jack Farrell

Farrell died at the hospital in which he was employed as a nurse.  He was a teammate of Old Hoss Radbourn when both played with Providence in the early 1880s and had a long career as a second baseman.  His batting average fell off in 1884, but he played five more seasons because his reputation as a fielder and baserunner outweighed his batting statistics.

“Farrell, ‘King of the Second Basemen’, Dies,” Newark Evening Star, February 10, 1914: 1.

1915 John (Red) Waller

Waller died after a long illness at 31 in his Secaucas home.  Tuberculosis?

“Red Waller, Nutmeg Star, Succumbs to Long Illness,” The Day, February 13, 1915: 1.

1916 John Bickerton

Bickerton is listed as the manager of Washington’s Union Association entry for a single game in 1884, which is how he is included here.

1928 Bill Farmer
1936 Trick McSorley
1938 Charlie Daniels
1942 John Fischer
1944 Johnnie Johnson
1954 Raymond Taylor
1958 Cowboy Jones
1962 Tex Burnett
1962 Bernie Duffy
1963 Ray Starr
1967 Billy Burke
1968 Lou Bruce
1972 Chico Ruiz
1976 Ziggy Hasbrook
1977 Roy Hansen
1977 Ollie Klee
1978 Dozier Hood
1981 Henry McHenry
1983 Jackie Hayes
1987 Larry French
1994 Ray Lamanno
1994 Joe Mowry
1994 Sam Parrilla
1998 Gene Collins
1998 Bill Froats
1998 Elbert Eatmon
2002 Chris Vierira
2003 Billy Parker
2007 Hank Bauer
2018 Wally Moon
2019 Milt Welch

Welch played a single game for the Tigers in 1945; he was a catcher – and lived a long, full life.

2019 Jerry Casale

In his later days, he suffered a stroke, dealt with heart disease and a broken hip and even prostate cancer, per an email from Jimmy Casale to the author of Casale’s SABR bio.

2022 Jeremy Giambi

Giambi died in his parents’ home; later discovered to be a suicide.

YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE!!!

1946 Preacher Roe is coaching a high school basketball game when he gets into an altercation with a referee. Somehow, Roe is tossed to the floor where he suffers a fractured skull, possibly derailing his career in Pittsburgh (he pitched two not-so-good seasons and was traded to the Dodgers where he became a legend).  The injury was initially reported as a concussion…

“Witnesses said Roe was knocked to the floor by a jab in the face and that he struck his head against a railing as he fell. He was unconscious for three hours.”  The referee, Guthrie Goodwin, was released on $500 bond pending his trial on charges of aggravated assault.

(I found the note about this on NationalPastime.com, then found the article noted here.)

‘Roe’s Injury Fractured Skull,’ Pittsburgh Press, February 13, 1946: 22.

1971 Satchel Paige is the first Negro League star selected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

TRANSACTION WIRE:

1927 New York sends George Kelly to Cincinnati for Edd Roush.

1953 Boston sends Vern Stephens to the White Sox for Bill Kennedy, Marv Grissom, and Hal Brown.

1988 St. Louis sends Lance Johnson, Ricky Horton and cash to the White Sox for Jose DeLeon.