<— DEC 03     DEC 05 —>

BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENTS:

1859 Bill Higgins
1860 Anton Falch
1865 Jay Budd
1867 Ed Mars
1868 Jesse Burkett
1870 Geroge C. (Scoops) Carey
1875 Joe Corbett

His brother was more famous (Heavyweight champion Gentleman Jim Corbett), but Joe was a key pitcher on a very good Baltimore team in 1897 and had a fairly nice career.

1876 John Farrell
1876 Henry Krug
1878 William Denton (Dolly) Gray
1878 Sam Hope
1878 Frank Mahar
1883 Jim Moroney
1884 Victor Joseph (Biff) Schlitzer
1885 Jerry D’Arcy
1885 John Francis (Shano) Collins
1890 Bob Shawkey
1892 Johnny Meador
1893 Luke Nelson
1896 Allen Conkwright
1898 William Capers (Doc) Bass
1902 Chuck Corgan
1916 Ray Sanders
1916 William Sumrall
1917 Carlos Colas
1918 William Metzig
1923 Dick Strahs
1930 Harvey Kuenn
1933 Dick Ricketts
1938 Billy Bryan
1942 Dick Billings
1944 Lee Bales
1953 Charlie Beamon
1954 Tucker Ashford
1956 Barbaro Garbey
1957 Lee Smith
1957 Pat Sheridan
1957 Mike Couchee
1960 David Green
1961 Alexis Infante
1962 Stan Jefferson
1963 Bernardo Brito
1966 Darrell Sherman
1974 Tadahito Iguchi
1975 Ed Yarnall
1980 Gustavo Chacin
1981 Jerome Williams
1982 Matt Fox
1985 Carlos Gomez
1985 Andrew Brackman
1990 Angel Nesbitt
1992 Joe Musgrove
1992 Jake Cave
1992 Scott Heineman
1992 Blake Snell
1992 Raul Alcantara
1993 Paul Blackburn
1995 Jake Bird
1996 Ford Proctor
1996 Daniel Duarte
1997 Levi Stoudt
2003 Jackson Holliday

OBITUARIES:

1902 Mike Mansell

Mansell, whose brothers Tom and John also played the outfield in the majors, died in his hometown of Auburn, NY from pneumonia.

1915 Oscar Purner

Purner was living in Arizona and working in a copper mine when he died after a short illness.  One complication?  He had changed his name to George Berner after a breakup with a woman in San Antonio went haywire.  Anyway – the details AFTER his death are more interesting than those before it (and certainly more interesting than his one game baseball career).

1919 Joe Peitz

Brother of Heinie Peitz, both of St. Louis… Joe played for St. Louis for a week in 1894.  He hit – 11 for 27 with six extra base hits and ten runs scored in seven games – but his four errors in the field probably didn’t help.

Peitz was 50, living with his sister, and working as a bartender when tuberculosis took him. 

Missouri Death Certficate

1926 Abel Lizotte

Born and raised in Lewiston, Maine…  Three months after marrying Alice Conner, he played seven games as a first baseman with the Pirates in 1896; he didn’t hit (3 for 29) and that ended his major league career.  Spent a number of years either playing or managing in Wilkes-Barre, PA and decided to make a home there.  In the minors, he was known as a power hitting catcher, but after his tryout with the Pirates, Connie Mack told him to try the outfield instead.  Lizotte (more likely Lezotte, based on documents and his obit) later worked at a railroad yard after rheumatism sapped him of his playing ability. 

Kidney disease sent him to the next league.

“Lezotte is ‘Called Out,’” Wilkes-Barre Record, December 6, 1926: 22.
PA Death Certificate

1944 Roger Bresnahan

A heart attack felled the “Duke of Tralee;” by then he had been out of baseball for more than a decade.  However, in the 35 years he was involved, he played multiple positions, invented catching gear, won a World Series, managed major and minor league teams, and owned the Toledo Mud Hens.

1954 William Madigan

When I first assembled this list, his first name was listed as Tony.  Maybe he was hiding his identity, given that he was a 17-year-old pitching for Washington in 1886.  He made 13 starts and one relief appearance, winning just one decision and losing 13.

The son of Irish immigrants, Madigan married Margaret Riordan and had a son, Francis Raymond.  After his wife died in 1904, her younger sister Nora lived with Madigan until Madigan’s death – a relationship that lasted something like 50 years… 

Washington DC Marriage records,
1900, 1910, 1930, 1940, 1950 US Census Records

1957 Jimmy Jordan

Born in South Carolina; died in North Carolina… Played for the Brooklyn Dodgers, a useful infielder with a good glove reputation.  Jordan died from internal bleeding caused by a duodenal ulcer.

North Carolina Death Certificates

1958 Red Murray

Arguably the two greatest right fielders in New York Giants history died within a fortnight in 1958. Mel Ott died in an automobile accident and then Murray, who played with the Giants from 1909 to 1915, died of acute leukemia in Elmira, New York. The red haired, gum chewing Murray spent more than two decades after his baseball career working with Elmira’s recreation department, giving kids the chance to play baseball and softball (both men’s and women’s teams).

“Al Mallette, John J. (Red) Murray,” Elmira Star-Gazette, December 5. 1958: 19.

1962 Ben Cantwell
1962 Jack Smith
1966 Joe Willis
1967 Monchile Concepcion

Played one documented game for the Philadelphia Bacharach Giants; Ramon Concepcion was a native of Puerto Rico…

1968 Emil Yde
1968 Fats Jenkins
1971 Walter Ockey
1972 John Henry Russell
1973 Frank Duncan
1974 Dick Luebke
1977 Johnny Rizzo
1979 Bert Delmas
1979 Pedro Dibut
1981 Stan Hollmig
1982 Duke Sedgwick
1987 Carlos Colas
1989 Steve Lembo
1991 Dan McGee
1991 Herb Thomas
1994 Russ Scarritt
1997 Pepper Sharpe
2001 Eddie Popowski

If you don’t remember him as a player, maybe you might remember him as an interim manager on the Red Sox in 1969 and 1973, where he won six of his ten games at the helm.

2010 Ken Lehman
2016 Stu Locklin
2016 Gideon Applegate
2021 Mike Page
2021 Ron Blazier
2024 Al Fitzmorris

YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE!!!

1943 MLB suspends Phillies owner William Cox for betting on his team’s games. Kennesaw Mountain Landis had a no-tolerance policy – Cox was out for life.

1957 The Bonus Baby rule is nixed. The rule forced players who got bonuses greater than $4000 to spend two seasons on the MLB roster. The problem, of course, is that most of the kids were resented by veterans and, being unprepared for the majors, lost two years that could have been better spent building a resume and getting experience in the minors…

TRANSACTION WIRE:

1931 Washington sends Bump Hadley, Sad Sam Jones and Jackies Hayes to the White Sox for Carl Reynolds and John Kerr.

1940 Brooklyn sends Gus Mancuso, John Pintar and $65K to the Cardinals for Mickey Owen.

1950 Brooklyn drafted Roy Face from Philadelphia in the Minor League draft.

1952 Detroit sends Virgil Trucks, Hal White and Johnny Groth to the Browns for Owen Friend, Bob Nieman, and Jay Porter.

1957 Cleveland sends Early Wynn and Al Smith to the White Sox for Minnie Minoso and Fred Hatfield.

1964 Washington sends Claude Osteen, John Kennedy and $100K to the Dodgers for Frank Howard, Ken McMullen, Pete Reichart, Phil Ortega and (later) Dick Nen.

1968 Houston sends Mike Cuellar and Enzo Hernandez to the Orioles for Curt Blefary and John Mason.

1974 Montreal sends Ken Singleton and Mike Torrez to the Orioles for Dave McNally, Rich Coggins, and Bill Kirkpatrick.

1989 Minnesota drafts Shane Mack from the Padres in the Rule 5 Draft.

2002 Los Angeles sends Mark Grudzielanek and Eric Karros to the Cubs for Todd Hundley and Chad Hermansen.

2007 Florida sends Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis to the Tigers for Cameron Maybin, Andrew Miller, Burke Badenhop, Frankie De La Cruz, Mike Rabelo, and Dallas Trahern.

Quick story about this. I told my son, Casey – who was just four at the time – about this trade. In looking at the players it turns out that Burke Badenhop has the same birthday as my son. When I told him that, Casey declared that Badenhop was the best player on the Marlins. I have been a fan and rooted for Burke ever since.