<— OCT 15     OCT 17 —>

BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENTS:

1856 George Strief
1866 Fred Lake
1879 Art Devlin
1881 Will Harridge

Harridge is the Baseball Hall of Fame, having served as AL President for nearly three decades and being involved in baseball for sixty years.  His story is literally a rags to riches tale – and worth a quick look.

1881 Mark Garfield (Moxie) Manuel
1883 Lew Groh
1885 Dan Howley
1886 Harry Fanwell
1888 Jake Kafora

Frank Jacob Kafora was a catcher for the Pirates (one game in 1913, 21 games in 1914), but he was equally successful as an American Bowling Congress tournament level bowler. His nickname was “Pickles” and he was a clown of sorts on the lanes; very popular in bowling circles. He died after a short illness at just 39.

“Well-Known Bowler Dies,” Kansas City Times, March 24, 1928: 19.

1890 Milo Allison
1894 Mike Menosky
1895 Bill Skiff
1896 John Brock
1897 Garland Buckeye
1898 Goldie Cephus

Cephus played in a single game for the Newark Dodgers of the Negro National League in 1934. In the one game in which he has been identified as a player, he batted one time and drew a walk… The left fielder was given a tryout after playing that year batting cleanup with the Washington Stars.

That said, I found articles noting that he spent time with the Philadelphia Giants in 1926.

“Eastern Thoughts,” Pittsburgh Courier, August 7, 1926: 15.
“Runnemede Wallops Washington Stars,” Camden Courier-Post, June 28, 1934: 25.

1900 Nick Cullop
1900 Leon Allen (Goose) Goslin
1901 Al Yeargin
1904 Walter William (Boom-Boom) Beck
1907 Bill Breckinridge
1909 Oliver Hill
1912 Jimmy Ford
1915 Murray Watkins
1915 Paul Masterson
1918 Eddie Berry
1919 Ed Bahr
1921 Matt Batts
1924 Bob Cain
1928 Len Yochim
1931 Dave Sisler
1935 Manny Montejo
1936 Jack Baldschun
1940 Dave DeBusschere
1941 Tim McCarver
1942 Pete Lovrich
1949 Don Hood
1950 Jeff Terpko
1950 Hugh Yancy
1953 Rodney Scott
1954 Chris Bourjos
1954 Mike Dimmel
1955 Kurt Seibert
1956 Dan Firova
1959 Kevin McReynolds
1959 Brian Harper
1961 Billy Taylor
1961 Dave Stapleton
1965 Darren Reed
1967 Josias Manzanillo
1969 Matt Ruebel
1970 Scott Davison
1971 Larry Mitchell
1981 Anthony Reyes
1985 Enerio Del Rosario
1990 Kyle Lloyd
1991 Edgar Santana
1991 Jonathan Schoop
1992 Bryce Harper
1992 Rosell Herrera
1995 Jonathan Bermudez
2001 Noelvi Marte

OBITUARIES:

1888 Ed Duffy

Born in Ireland, Duffy came to the United States thanks to the “Great Starvation” brought upon Ireland by the theiving British… Anyway – landing in New York, he took up the growing sport of baseball and played on a number of teams those who read about early baseball might know.  For example, he landed on the Eckfords, which eventually played in the National Association.  Speaking of – Duffy was the regular shortstop for the 1871 Chicago White Stockings, which is how he landed here.  He led the league in errors, however, and that didn’t portend for a long professional career, so he returned to Brooklyn and joined the professional firefighter ranks.  He fell ill in 1888 and a few weeks later died in his Brooklyn home.

“Obituary: Ed Duffy,” Brooklyn Eagle, October 17, 1888: 4.

1894 Ed Conley

Conley the baseball player was the change pitcher for Old Hoss Radbourn for the last ten weeks of the 1884 Providence Grays season – that was the year Old Hoss won 60 games and pitched nearly every game down the stretch.  One reason for this was that Conley, who pitched eight complete games (winning four) struggled with rheumatism, and retired soon after that season ended.  Conley went to Holy Cross prior to his professional pitching days,

Conley’s demise at 30 in Cumberland, Rhode Island was allegedly tied to his rheumatism, but someone noted on Conley’s FindAGrave.com page that he died of tuberculosis.

“Death of Ex-Pitcher Conley,” Boston Globe, October 17, 1894: 1.

1895 Kid Summers

I haven’t found news of his demise, but I did see a note in The Sporting Life (October 19, 1895: 9) that said he was on the reserve list for Milwaukee.  Strange.

1901 Jim Duncan

Duncan was fishing with two friends in the Allegheny River near Foxburg, PA when their overloaded boat capsized.  All three drowned in the river, with Duncan’s body found five days later not too far down river from the accident.

“Tea Table Gossip,” Franklin Evening News, October 22, 1901: 8.
“Evening Echos,” Meadville Evening Republican, October 21, 1901: 4.

1904 Mike Slattery

Slattery, whose baseball career ended abruptly following a leg injury, lost his life equally quickly due to complications tied to a stomach ailment.  He passed away while being treated at the Carney Hospital in Boston.

“Mike Slattery Dead,” Boston Globe, October 18, 1904: 4.

1916 Henry Killeen
1926 Charlie Levis
1932 Frank Eustace

Eustace fell from an embankment along the Pennsylvania Railroad down a cliff onto a highway.  It took a couple of days to identify the dead man; it took a jury listening to various witness accounts to determine his fall was accidental and not suicidal.

“Old Ball Player Ends His Life,” Hazelton Plain Speaker, October 19, 1932: 9.
“Frank Eustace Killed in Fall,” Pottsville Evening Republican, October 21, 1932: 1, 9.
“Accidental Death Verdict in Death of Frank Eustace,” Pottsville Evening Republican, October 26, 1932: 1.

1934 Highball Wilson
1936 Dennis Fitzgerald
1938 Joe Knight
1939 Nick Allen
1945 Hack Eibel
1949 Jack Ryan
1954 Dave Davenport
1959 Frank Okrie
1959 Sled Allen
1959 Herb Bradley
1962 Ray Powell
1968 Ellis Kinder
1969 Larry Boerner
1971 Dave Coble
1972 Johnny Rawlings
1974 Henry Nears
1985 Willis Moody
1993 Jimmie DeShong
1995 Joe Szekely
1998 Frank Carswell
2006 Tony Curry
2009 Jose Herrera
2010 Valmy Thomas
2011 Don Williams
2012 Eddie Yost
2018 Wayne Krenchicki
2018 Dave Hill
2020 Jack McMahan

YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE!!!

1909 Babe Adams wins his third game, an 8 – 0 win over Detroit, to give the Pirates their first World Series championship.

1912 Fred Snodgrass drops a flyball in center field, which allows the tying run to score in game seven as the Red Sox took the Series. The Giants outfielder, right after the error, made a spectacular catch of a Tris Speaker smash, but the error is what people remember…

1962 Giants slugger Willie McCovey crushes a ball – but right at Bobby Richardson – whose catch ends Game 7 in favor of the Yankees.

1969 The Amazing Mets finish off the Orioles to win the World Series in five games.

1985 Cardinal Jack Clark crushes a Tom Niedenfuer pitch to beat the Dodgers and head to the World Series.

2003 Aaron Boone’s 11th inning homer puts the Yankees in the World Series, and crushes the Red Sox, who thought this might be the year they finally broke the Curse of the Bambino.

2014 Travis Ishikawa hits a three-run homer to win the NLCS for the Giants, and eliminating the Cardinals.

TRANSACTION WIRE:

1888 Detroit has a fire sale! Boston picks up Dan Brouthers, Deacon White, Charlie Bennett, Charlie Ganzel, and Hardy Richardson for about $30K; Pittsburgh grabs Pete Conway and Jack Rowe; and Philadelphia snags Sam Thompson for about $5K.

1952 The Browns are busy – sending Duke Markell and $35K to Syracuse for Bobo Holloman, and sending Tommy Byrne and Joe DeMaestri to the White Sox for Hank Edwards and Willy Miranda.

1961 The Yankees purchased Robin Roberts from the Phillies.