<— NOV 03     NOV 05 —>

BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENTS:

1854 John Abadie
1866 Tom Hernon
1869 Mike Kilroy
1873 Roderick John (Bobby or Rhody) Wallace

20 years ago, I scribbled a few paragraphs together about Bobby Wallace and sent it along to the people who run Baseball-Almanac.com. It’s the first “mini” bio that I wrote and it’s still up on the site. (The first one I wrote was a full, book-length bio of Rube Waddell. You’d think I should have done it in the other direction.) Anyway – it’s got a few sources listed (not in endnote format, sorry), but a lot of it came because Wallace gets some time in my Rube bio – and it was fresh in my head.

Rube and Rhody were teammates with the Browns from 1908 to 1910. Wallace was a bit of a dandy, was well covered by the St. Louis papers (they loved him and was considered the biggest star and best player on the team), and a wonderful baseball player for decades. And he started as a pitcher in the same Cleveland rotation with Cy Young. Finally, Rube and Wallace pitched in the same circles (a few years apart) in Pennsylvania during their teens and early twenties.

1877 Tommy Leach
1885 Clarence Herman (Jack) Enzenroth
1887 Hugh Blackburn
1889 Art Schwind
1889 George O’Brien
1890 Joe Sherman
1893 Bill Leinhauser
1894 Bill Shanner
1895 Bill McCarren
1896 Nolan Swancy
1897 Ted Menze
1901 Bill Henderson
1904 Earl Mattingly
1904 Bubbles Anderson
1905 Bert Johnson
1905 Charles William (Lefty) Willis
1909 James Laverne (Skeeter) Webb
1910 Joe Beggs
1913 Joe Kracher
1914 Les McCrabb
1914 Sig Gryska
1916 Emil Kush
1920 Val Heim
1922 Red Applegate
1922 Eddie Basinski
1924 Ed Finney
1925 Forrest Vandergrift (Spook) Jacobs
1927 Carl Sawatski
1928 Jay Van Noy
1930 Guy (Moose) Morton
1930 Dick Groat
1933 John Patsy (Tito) Francona
1942 Jack Whillock
1943 Dick Selma
1946 Danny Godby
1947 Loyd Colson
1952 Doug Corbett
1953 Roger Slagle
1961 Logan Easley
1961 Argenis Antonio (Angel) Salazar
1961 Mark Bailey
1966 Osvaldo Fernandez
1967 Ryan Thompson
1967 Eric Karros
1967 Chris Bushing
1967 Jon Shave
1968 Carlos Baerga
1968 Domingo Cedeno
1971 Melvin Bunch
1974 Carlos Mendoza
1976 Kevin Frederick
1977 Marcus Gwyn
1977 Larry Bigbie
1978 Carmen Cali
1978 John Grabow
1979 Ezequiel Astacio
1981 Erick Threets
1982 Evan MacLane
1982 Chris Resop
1982 Travis Blackley
1985 Joe Savery
1991 Chad Wallach
1993 Chih-Wei Hu
1993 Steven Duggar
1994 Willie Calhoun
1996 Cody Morris
1997 Gavin Hollowell
1997 Brett de Gaus
1998 Jack Winkler
1999 Johnathan Rodriguez

OBITUARIES:

1900 Robert Stevens

Robert Edward Stevens was a newspaper man in Seattle and other locations along the Pacific coast; his demise was heart failure at 45.  At some point his San Francisco-based family moved to the nation’s capital where he received his schooling.  He appeared in a single game for the 1875 Washington Nationals on May 4 (1 for 4 against Philadelphia in a 21-3 loss), hence his inclusion here.

His father and grandfather were both veterans in the US Army; the grandfather (Edward Dickinson Baker) was a politician and senator – he even beat Abe Lincoln in an election once…  Baker died in an early battle of the Great War for Slavery.

“Robert E. Stevens Dead,” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, November 5, 1900: 6.

1904 Jim Shanley

Shanley, at this point an amputee and invalid, died of heart failure – but based on descriptions (he was fine; dined with family), I’d be inclined to believe it was a heart attack.  He was exactly 50.5 years old.

A Brooklyn native, his major league experience was two games with the Mutuals in 1876.  He worked for the Consolidated Gas Company for 27 years and was a Tammany Hall Democrat…  He left behind a wife, the former Mary Scully, and two sons.

“James H. Shanley Dead,” Brooklyn Eagle, November 7, 1904: 2.

1904 Charlie Reilley

I found his obituary – but it’s for a Charles A. (Augustine) O’Reilly according to the Providence Journal as the death date and age (48) work.  It says he’s the son of Philip and Ann O’Reilly.  Now – as a player, his name was listed as Reilly…

1912 Frank Murphy

Francis Patrick Murphy played one year in the majors – splitting time with Boston (playing the corner outfields and hitting a weak .261) and New York (playing second and left field – but leaving his bat in Boston…) in 1901. To be fair, his lack of hitting in New York may have been related to having the longtime outfielder being moved to second base upon his arrival at the Polo Grounds – he made 18 errors in his 23 games there before returning to the outfield.

At the end of his career, he suffered from paresis and was placed in a sanitarium in hopes he would recover; instead he slowly got worse. Murphy passed to the next league just two years after he put away the spikes and mitt.

1921 Levi Meyerle
1922 John Houseman
1927 Ed Hengel
1928 Ed Kelly
1933 Frank Freund
1939 Pete Henning
1946 John Barthold
1948 Jake Powell
1949 Larry Douglas
1950 Pete Alexander
1955 Cy Young
1959 Lefty Williams
1961 Kid Mohler
1965 Harry Trekell
1965 Johnny Mitchell
1967 Tom Lanning
1968 Vern Stephens
1969 Charlie King
1971 Bud Messenger
1971 Polly McLarry
1971 Dink O’Brien
1971 Logan Hensley
1974 Harry Fritz
1974 Charley Justice
1977 Pinky Pittenger
1979 Johnny Priest
1979 Yank Terry
1981 Albert Merriwether
1983 Clarence Pickrel
1989 Pancho Coimbre
1992 Andy Varga
1993 Cliff Young
1994 George Bradshaw
1997 Johnny Dickshot
2001 Bob Gillespie
2002 Jack Thornton
2004 Dee Phillips
2010 Sparky Anderson
2016 Eddie Carnett
2017 Gene Verble
2020 Johnny Paredes
2024 Don Ferrarese

YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE!!!

2001 Arizona rallies against Mariano Rivera and the Yankees, plating two runs in the ninth – the last off a Luis Gonzalez broken bat hit – wins game seven, 3 – 2.

2009 The Yankees take game six, and top the Phillies to win the World Series. Hideki Matsui drives in a record tying six runs in the game.

TRANSACTION WIRE:

1891 In a period where players jumping contracts was rather common, Roger Connor jumps his contract with the Giants to join the Philadelphia Athletics.

1929 The Giants sign free agent infielder Dave Bancroft.

1963 The Cardinals send George Altman and Bill Wakefield to the Mets for Roger Craig.

1981 The Yankees send Brian Ryder and (later) Freddie Toliver to the Reds for Ken Griffey (SR).

1985 The Padres sign amateur free agent infielder Carlos Baerga.