<— SEP 25     SEP 27 —>

BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENTS:

1847 Al Martin
1850 Gus Schmelz
1867 John Ricks
1873 Andy Boswell
1878 Tom Asmussen
1878 Jacob Fox
1880 Bert Humphries
1886 Jim Rutherford
1889 George Anderson
1890 Bob Coleman
1891 Tinsley Ginn
1895 Lonnie Torian
1895 Bernie Neis
1904 Jess Cortazzo
1905 Millito Navarro
1905 Steel Arm Tyler
1905 Johnny Hodapp
1905 Pat Caraway
1910 Joe Sullivan
1912 Grey Clarke
1915 Johnny Johnson
1917 Thurman Tucker
1918 Walt Chipple
1921 Clarence Maddern
1924 Eddie Erautt
1924 Clarence Bruce
1925 Bobby Shantz
1926 Enrique Figueroa
1926 Mel McGaha
1928 Al Lary
1933 Roy Wright
1935 Walt Streuli
1945 Dave Duncan
1947 Norm McRae
1950 Bill Moran
1953 Jim Gideon
1957 Doug Sisk
1957 Kelvin Moore
1959 Rich Gedman
1961 Steve Buechele
1963 Calvin Jones
1964 Joe Skalski
1964 Dave Martinez
1965 Doug Piatt
1967 Brian Traxler
1968 Brian Shouse
1969 Brian Looney
1970 Matt Murray
1977 Aaron Myette
1979 Yurendell de Caster
1982 Daniel McCutchen
1983 Scott Lewis
1986 Sean Doolittle
1988 Chris Archer
1989 Colin Walsh
1990 Brooks Pounders
1991 Miguel Aguilar
1993 Wei-Chieh Huang
1993 Jordan Luplow
1995 Albert Abreu
1996 Matt Waldron

OBITUARIES:

1884 Jim Egan

A Connecticut native, Egan made 10 starts for Troy in 1882 but apparently liquor kept getting in the way.  In early 1884, he was sentenced to time in a New Haven jail for robbery and, while serving that sentence, he fell ill and died of “brain fever” in that jail (meningitis or encephalitis).  He was just 26 years old.  “He was a good fellow when he let liquor alone…”

“In General,” Hartford Courant, March 8, 1884: 3.
“Brevities,” Meriden Daily Republican, September 27, 1884: 3.

1890 Jerry Moore
1894 Nick Reeder

Born Nicholas Hershenroeder, Reeder was a long-active minor leaguer (right up until the time of his death) who got a single game at third base with his hometown Louisville Colonels in 1891.  Like Jim Egan (above), he fell ill, was diagnosed with brain fever, and died three weeks later at his Louisville home.  Reeder was 27 when he passed to the next league.

“Nick Reeder Dead,” Louisville Courier-Journal, September 26, 1894: 2.

1896 John Curran

John Henry Curran got three games with the Philadelphia Athletics in 1876 toward the end of that first National League season.  Two of those three games went extra innings, including a 19 inning game where Curran played the entirety of the game in right field.  The other two games he caught.  While he appeared to be a competent hitter (4/12 with a double, five runs…) he struggled in the field – seven errors behind the plate and three more in the outfield.  You can’t make 10 errors in 22 chances and keep a job – and back to the amateurs he went.

Curran got the urge to head west (his brother did, too) and he wound up in Vallejo, California doing odd jobs when not playing baseball.  (One of those jobs was working for the San Francisco Mint…) Things didn’t go as well as planned – baseball friends played a benefit game to raise some money for him, and then he was sitting on an iron railing when he fell off the railing and down a stairwell, his head hitting one of the steps and breaking his neck.

“Base Ball,” Vallejo Evening Chronicle, March 7, 1896: 3.
“Fatal Fall at Vallejo,” San Francisco Call, September 27, 1896: 5.
“The Curran Estate,” Vallejo Evening Chronicle, October 6, 1896: 3

1912 Cherokee Fisher
1915 Ed Cushman

Cushman had been ill for four months before he passed away at his Erie, PA home.

“Ed Cushman, Once Famous Baseball Player, is Dead,” Erie Daily Times, September 27, 1915: 2.

1932 Henry Gruber

Gruber was felled by a heart attack – he was found unconscious on a downtown New Haven, CT street and pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.

“Henry Gruber, Former Big Leaguer, Dead,” Springfield (MA) Daily News, September 27, 1932: 16.

1942 Joe Giannini
1947 John McFarlin
1948 Hosea Allen

Walter Hosea Allen was a journeyman pitcher in the Negro Leagues – just 30 years old when he and a friend went into a bar in Tampa for a postgame celebratory beer.  The Italian tavern owner/bartender, Victor Pinella, wasn’t interested in serving beer on credit so he attempted to retrieve the beer he had just handed to Allen.  Pinella claimed that Allen not only fought for his beer but reached over the bar and began choking him when Pinella tried to call the police.  So, Pinella reached under the bar for his revolver and shot Allen in the chest.  There were witnesses – some were white and some were black and you can probably see where this could go.  Peace Justice Joseph Spicola dismissed the the murder charge as self defense – adding that whites should probably move out and let blacks run businesses in their own neighborhoods.

Very enlightened.  You can probably imagine how the event, decision, and commentary went across the various communities of Tampa, Florida.

Allen left behind a family of six to grieve his unnecessary loss.

“Negro Slain in Bar, Saloon Operator Held,” Tampa Times, September 27, 1948: 2.
“Tavern Keeper Free Under $3000 Bond,” Tampa Times, September 28, 1948: 3.
“White Man Freed in Negro Slaying,” Tampa Times, October 11, 1948: 2.
“Negro Ball Player Is Murdered By White Bartender,” California Eagle, November 4, 1948: 5.
“Spicola Cleared by Directed Verdict; Milian Freed by Jury,” Tampa Tribune, June 19, 1952: 1.

1948 Elmer Leifer
1950 John Scheneberg
1953 Bill Cunningham
1958 Raleigh Aitchison
1961 Vern Hughes
1964 Paul Zahniser
1968 Bud Clancy
1970 Art Hancock
1972 Jesse Baker
1974 Lefty Stewart
1976 Buddy Crump
1976 Rip Russell
1977 Ernie Lombardi
1980 Andy O’Connor
1984 Walt Bashore
1997 Woody English
2002 Al Kvasnak
2004 Victor Cruz
2020 Jay Johnstone
2020 Hal Raether
2023 Brooks Robinson

YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE!!!

1961 Roger Maris ties Babe Ruth’s single season home run mark (*) with a shot off of Oriole pitcher Jack Fisher.

1981 Nolan Ryan fires his fifth no-hitter, as the Astros blank the Dodgers, 5 – 0.

1983 Bob Forsch tops the Expos, 3 – 0, without allowing Montreal a hit – the second time the Cardinal pitcher threw a no-hitter.

TRANSACTION WIRE:

1896 Pittsburgh drafts Jesse Tannehill from Richmond in the Virginia League using the Rule 5 Draft.

1958 Kansas City purchases Diego Segui from Tucson in the Arizona-Mexico League.

1977 The Mets selected Doc Medich off the waiver wire after his release by Seattle.