<— NOV 10     NOV 12 —>

BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENTS:

1853 Joe Battin
1858 Bob Leadley

Leadley managed in Detroit and Cleveland between 1888 and 1891… When he died in Los Angeles in 1936, I couldn’t find a single obit article.

1858 Tony Suck

Charles Anthony Suck was a catcher of some skill, but not major league skill. He played briefly with Buffalo in the NL in 1883 and a bunch of games with the Chicago/Pittsburgh franchise of the Union Association, batting all of .151 in that season. (I’m leaving out three games with Baltimore in the UA, too.) He would play some local ball and then became a locally known umpire in his hometown Chicago city leagues. He came down with pneumonia as 1894 turned to 1895, passing to the next league January 29, 1895. Suck left behind his wife, the former Cora Launder, and two children.

Obit, Chicago Tribune, January 31, 1895: 8.

1859 Mert Hackett

Cambridge, MA native who had a brother who played, and a bunch of cousins who played major league baseball.  Hackett was a catcher on the Boston team that won the National League championship in 1883, then spent two years with the franchise that started in Kansas City before moving to Indianapolis (1886-87).  Hackett was a popular guy in his home town – when his baseball career was over he became a police officer and did that for 42 years.

1866 George Treadway
1869 Bert Abbey
1870 Charlie Hastings
1875 Freddy Parent
1878 Jimmy Mathison
1883 Harry Billiard
1884 Frank Jude
1885 Jack Ness
1887 Bill Steen
1891 Walter James Vincent (Rabbit) Maranville
1892 Al Schacht
1895 Cy Morgan
1898 Harold Joseph (Pie) Traynor
1899 Bill Vargus
1900 Joseph Chester (Boob) Fowler
1902 Ownie Carroll
1906 George Detore
1907 Hank Erickson
1912 Al Wright
1912 Hal Trosky
1913 Melzar Anderson
1915 Bill LeFebvre
1915 George Case
1917 Pat Scantlebury
1919 Glenn Elliott
1920 Orinthal Anderson
1920 Joe Murray
1923 Lee Howard
1929 Ivan (Ike) Delock
1931 Henry John (Dutch) Dotterer
1933 Ken Walters
1937 Dave Hill
1954 Ron Musselman
1954 Bob Long
1955 John Hobbs
1956 Jeff Byrd
1956 Scott Loucks
1957 Wil Culmer
1960 Jeff Ransom
1961 Scott May
1961 Pete Coachman
1962 Cory Snyder
1963 Rey Quinones
1964 Roberto Hernandez
1966 Dave Telgheder
1967 Noe Munoz
1967 Jose Munoz
1969 Damion Easley
1970 Jeff Ware
1971 Roland de la Maza
1971 Ryan Hancock
1972 Danny Rios
1976 Juan Melo
1976 Jason Grilli
1977 Mike Bacsik
1979 J. R. House
1987 Kyle McPherson
1990 Vinnie Nittoli
1993 P.J. Conlon
1996 Nick Fortes
1997 Carson Spiers
2001 Kyren Paris

OBITUARIES:

1912 John Rainey

Rainey, third baseman for New York in 1887 and and outfielder/utility player for Syracuse in 1890, worked in meat packing in Chicago after his baseball days ended. The bachelor returned home to the Detroit area to stay with family until he died of tuberculosis.

MI Death Certficates
“Famous Player Passes Away,” Detroit Free Press, November 12, 1912: 10.

1922 Dave Pierson

Pierson was a catcher/outfielder for the Cincinnati Reds in 1876, but his career continued in lower levels for a few years after that. He also umpired and managed teams, including one of the earlier semi-professional clubs in Newark. When Pierson fell ill for the last time he was working at a prison in Trenton, New Jersey. He died following surgery in Newark that hoped to solve what seemed to be an incurable condition.

David P. Pierson was the fifth of seven children born August 20, 1855 to Nathaniel and Esther (Stagg) Pierson – a jeweler and his very busy homemaker bride. In fact, the last two sons would grow up to be major league baseball players. Younger brother Edmund (Dick) Pierson played three games for the New York Metropolitans in 1885. Nathaniel likely knew that David had athletic talent, but didn’t live long enough to see David sign his MLB contract.

Though Pierson was expected to do a lot of catching in his lone major league season, it was thought that he could pitch if the regular pitchers got injured. That 1876 Cincinnati club wasn’t very good, finishing in last place with a 9 – 56 record in that first National League season. Ouch. Pierson (frequently spelled as Pearson in Cincinnati papers) often batted at or near the top of the order – his reputation being stronger than his batting average suggested (.239). Thankfully, Pierson had a decent side job – he was a jeweler for some time and then a machinist before taking his position in a Trenton area penitentiary.

Pierson left behind a wife, the former Abby Kent, to whom he was wedded in 1876. They had a son and daughter (Stephen and Mabel). He was buried in Newark’s Fairmount Cemetery.

1860, 1870, 1880 US Census
1884 Newark City Directory
Baseball-Reference
FindaGrave.com
“Red Stockings Vs. Stars,” Cincinnati Enquirer, April 15, 1876: 8.
“Base-Ball,” Cincinnati Enquirer, October 8, 1877: 5.
“Base Ball Notes,” Wilkes-Barre Sunday Leader, June 24, 1888: 6.
“Old Jersey Baseball Star Dies at Newark,” Camden Times, November 14, 1922: 16.

1928 Oyster Burns

Thomas Burns was an interesting bloke – a member of the 1889 and 1890 Brooklyn champs and a former umpire. Actually – a catcher deliberately missed a fastball aimed at Burns’ head, and Burns took the advice and decided to retire…

He was known as a bully on the field, a lively drinking buddy, and… He loved flowers. Burns ran a cafe and then he sold cigars. His last employer, as it was with many ballplayers, was in a local government role. Who told better stories than this guy – or knew so many people? He must have been a great dinner companion.

Burns suffered a stroke a month earlier, leaving him partially paralyzed – he sank quickly from there.

“Tom Burns, Noted Player of the 90’s, Dies at Age of 64,” Brooklyn Eagle, November 12, 1928: 4A.

1929 Sam White

White (left) played a single game for the Boston Braves on September 8, 1919. In his three innings, he batted once – but, as the catcher, had two assists including throwing out a base stealer. The image here was when White was a kid playing for a minor league outfit in Battle Creek, Michigan. His SABR bio was written by a skilled baseball historian I happen to know, Justin McKinney. You can read his whole story here.

He died from blood clots.

Photo: Battle Creek Enquirer, March 29, 1914.

1938 Fred Hartman
1939 Frank Abercrombie
1945 William Stein
1946 Art Reinhart
1951 Jim Neher
1960 Red Causey
1964 Oscar Stanage
1965 J. H. Hamilton
1969 Stump Edington
1976 Jimmy O’Connell
1976 Ken Crawford
1985 Frank Mulroney
1985 Roy Lee
1991 Collins Jones
1991 Heinz Becker
1994 Ed Madjeski
1996 Lum Harris
1997 Sammy Haynes
2008 Herb Score
2011 Charlie Lea
2011 Nick Strincevich
2017 Rance Pless

Pless did two years with the Navy in the Pacific theater of World War II. Afterwards, the Giants gave him a chance and he started a long career as a pretty good outfielder in the minors. Except, of course, the Giants were loaded with good young outfielders. Finally, at 30, he got a shot with the Kansas City Athletics where he did nothing to prove that he wasn’t a major league hitter. He didn’t show much power there, but he had a decent average and a .354 OBP in his 48 games. He spent more than two decades as a scout after hanging up the cleats after the 1960 season. Pless was 91 when he advanced to the next league.

2023 Dave Stenhouse

The Rhode Island legend (baseball and basketball – as a player and coach) died at 90.

YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE!!!

1990 In an exhibition game in Japan, Chuck Finley and Randy Johnson combine to throw a no-hitter against a Japanese All-Star team.

TRANSACTION WIRE:

1896 Baltimore sends Steve Brodie and Jim Donnelly to the Pirates for Jake Stenzel, Elmer Horton, Tom O’Brien, and Harry Truby.

1928 St. Louis signs free agent Rick Ferrell.

1940 Brooklyn wants Phillies pitcher Kirbe Higby, so it sends Bill Crouch, Vito Tamulis, and Mickey Livingston (and $100K) to Philadelphia to acquire Higby.

1997 The Marlin send Moises Alou to Houston for Oscar Henriquez, Manual Barrios and (later) Mark Johnson. Let the fire sale begin!

1998 The White Sox send Mike Cameron to the Reds for Paul Konerko.