<— DEC 17     DEC 19 —>

BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENTS:

1860 John Hamill

Three months – nineteen starts – with Washington in the American Association in 1884. He lost 17 of his 19 decisions in part because he gave up more than a run per inning (fielding errors dropped his ERA to 4.48).

1864 Dave Oldfield

Catcher/Outfielder that dropped in and out of the major leagues during the 1880s. He got a tryout as a catcher for Baltimore in the American Association but failed – hitless, three errors, and five passed balls.

He bounced around some good leagues, though – showing up in Brooklyn in both 1885 and 1886, as well as a brief run with the Senators in 1886. He batted exactly .200 in his major league career.

1870 Bobby Rothermel

Longtime minor league infielder out of Lafayette College – small guy (5-6 – 150 pounds, max) – who bounced around all over the various minor leagues and got a single shot with the 1899 Baltimore Orioles for about a month. Had only two hits – he didn’t hit his weight – but drove in three.

1872 Bill Clymer

Philadelphia of the American Association gave this kid a shot – just a teenager when he played in 13 games, three at shortstop, getting all of 11 at bats but no hits (he did walk once and apparently got hit by a pitch).

He didn’t give up, though. Clymer played minor league ball for the better part of a decade and managed in the minors for three decades, finally calling it a career after the 1932 season. This baseball lifer died on Boxing Day in 1936.

1880 Bill Essick

Reasonably accomplished pitcher of the first decade of the last century – got a couple of short visits with the Reds in 1906 and 1907. Also was a long time manager.

He is MOST famous, though, as perhaps the best scout the Yankees had in the 1930s, signing Joe DiMaggio, Joe Gordon, Lefty Gomez and many, many others for New York.

A well-researched essay about Essick was done by Daniel R. Levitt for SABR.

1881 Clay Perry

Wisconsin native who spent a number of years in the Southern Association and Texas Leagues, but got seven games with the Tigers in 1908. One of the first Badgers to play in the bigs…

1883 Oscar Edward (Hub) Knolls

Knolls pitched in relief for Brooklyn in two games durng the 1906 season.

1886 Ty Cobb

Arguably the best baseball player in the days prior to Babe Ruth becoming a Yankee. An intelligent and angry player on the field…

1886 Herbert Cortland “Dummy” Murphy
1889 Buddy Napier
1892 Jimmy Fuller
1893 Rinaldo Williams
1893 Dominic Mulrenan
1897 Lance Richbourg
1899 Sam Barnes
1899 Johnny Jones
1902 Joe Buskey
1902 Les Burke
1902 Ivy Kirksey
1906 Dick Coffman
1908 Jimmy Pattison
1911 Coaker Triplett
1915 Johnny Barrett
1916 Curtis Hollingsworth
1918 Lefty Bowe
1919 Herman Watts
1929 Gino Cimoli
1930 Mike Baxes
1930 Bill “Moose” Skowron

Later in Skowron’s life, he lived in our neighborhood in Schaumburg, Illinois. He read the Sun Times and my friend Joe Carzoli delivered his paper (I delivered the Tribune), but on occasion I would cover for Joe and get to toss a paper on his stoop.

1938 Mike White
1939 Zoilo Versalles
1944 Steve Hovley
1951 Orlando Ramirez
1953 Roy Howell
1955 Jim Clancy
1958 Scott Nielsen
1961 Dave Hengel
1961 Scott Bailes
1963 Jim Czajkowski
1965 Willie Blair
1969 Joe Randa
1970 Mike Gulan
1972 Chris Seelbach
1974 Jose Rodriguez
1974 Lance Carter
1977 Jose Acevedo
1981 Jeremy Accardo
1983 Jordan Brown
1984 Joshua Rodriguez
1986 Chris Carter
1987 Rex Brothers
1987 Rudy Owens
1989 Taylor Jungmann
1990 Micah Johnson
1992 Scott Barlow
1992 Eric Haase
1993 Byron Buxton
1995 Brendan McKay
1995 Luis Liberato
1996 Adonis Medina
1996 Michael Grove
1997 Grant Hartwig
1997 Brandon Marsh
1997 Ronald Acuna, Jr.
1999 Sean Burke
1999 Joey Cantillo

OBITUARIES:

1899 Fred Truax

Truax was likely born in 1867, though the books and sites say 1868.  I say this because he got married in February, 1894 and lists his age as 26.  AND, because the 1870 US Census says he was three years old then.  So, he was born in March (or later) of 1867 – but probably before August 8th, when the census record was taken.  He played in a single game for the Pirates in 1890, facing the Colts in Chicago.  Batting last, the left fielder had a hit in three at bats and drove in a run. And, he played an errorless game in the field.

Anyway – Truax died in Omaha at the age of 32.  Nothing is said in the papers, but there is a note asking people to attend the former forrester’s funeral.

1900 Jim Devlin

Bill Lamb will tell you that this is NOT the Jim Devlin who was tossed out of baseball for throwing games, but a different Jim Devlin.  What they have in common, other than being pitchers, is that they both died at 34.  This Jim Devlin died of typhoid fever.  (And I was a fact-checker on this biography…)

1904 John Clapp

Clapp was a catcher on some great St. Louis Browns teams in the early 1880s.  He died of apoplexy (a stroke or cerebral hemorrhage) moments after assisting another officer with an arrest.

“A peculiar incident connected with the death of Clapp is that on Friday night he accepted the position of sergeant of police in Ithaca and took the position of D. B. Way. Former Sergeant Way committed suicide Friday night. The following night Clapp dropped dead.”

“Great Baseball Player is Dead,” Ithaca Star-Gazette, December 19, 1904: 1.

1918 Ed Mincher
1931 C. V. Matteson

My friend, Paul Winter, tells the story of Matteson – who pitched a single game for St. Louis in the Union Association, but lived a much fuller life outside of baseball.  He died of what was thought to be indigestion after a late dinner.

1933 Fred Robinson
1940 John Kiley
1943 Bill Conway
1951 Joe Ohl
1955 George Caster
1960 Art Nehf
1970 Zell Miles
1974 Harry Hooper
1975 Bob Allen
1976 Ned Harris
1977 Leniel Hooker
1981 Jake Brown
1986 Bill Shanner
1990 Charlie Gibson
1997 Ted Bond
2001 Bill Howerton

His obituary in the Scranton Tribune says the former Cardinal and Pirate spent a number of years as a truck driver before he passed away from a brief illness at 80. 

“William Ray Howerton,” Scranton Tribune, December 20, 2001: B8.

2004 Glenn Vaughan

Nephew of Arky Vaughan, but not as successful in MLB.  Reports say he died of natural causes, but he was just 60.

2010 Phil Cavarretta

He was battling leukemia when the former Cubs star died of complications following a stroke. 

“Cubs’ Cavaretta Dies at Age 94,” Bloomington Pantagraph, December 19, 2010: C5.

2015 Evelio Hernandez

YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE!!!

1975 Oakland signs former White Sox manager Chuck Tanner to help the Athletics. After winning the AL West, but losing to the Red Sox in the ALCS – Tanner got to deal with a shrinking talent pool as Charles O. Finley sold off his best (expensive) players.

1993 Brien Taylor, the Yankees’ #1 overall pick in the 1991 draft, dislocates his left shoulder in a bar fight in Harlowe, NC. An article in the Orlando Sentinel says Taylor claimed he was knocked down and landed on his shoulder; a Yankee official said he was blocking a punch. His shoulder was placed in the capable hands of Dr. Frank Jobe, but he was never the same pitcher after that.

“Yankees Prospect Set For Surgery”, Orlando Sentinel, 28 December 1993, Page 16.

TRANSACTION WIRE:

1918 The Red Sox, in the process of giving all their top talent to the Yankees, send Ernie Short, Dutch Leonard, and Duffy Lewis to the Yankees for Ray Caldwell Frank Gilhooley, Roxy Walters, Slim Love, and $15,000…

1981 Houston sends Cesar Cedeno to Cincinnati for Ray Knight.

2004 Oakland sends Mark Mulder to the Cardinals for Dan Haren, Daric Barton, and Kiko Calero.

2009 In a trade of players needing changes of scenery, Chicago sends Milton Bradley to Seattle for Carlos Silva.

2014 San Diego acquires Matt Kemp, Tim Federozicz and money to help pay Kemp’s salary from the Dodgers for Yasmani Grandal, Joe Wieland, and Zach Elfin.

Free Agent Signings!

1987 Dennis Martinez (Montreal)
1991 Mitch Williams (Philadelphia), Jack Morris (Toronto)
1998 Steve Finley (Arizona)
2000 Charles Johnson (Florida)
2001 Jason Giambi (Yankees)
2002 Jeff Kent (Houston)
2012 Koji Uehara (Boston)
2015 Bartolo Colon (Mets)