<— JULY 16     JULY 18 —>

BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENTS:

1847 Hugh Daily
1852 Len Lovett
1856 Eddie Fusselback
1866 Jim Handiboe
1866 Jack Darragh
1870 George Kelb
1873 George Edward (Chummy) Gray
1878 Charles (Bock) Baker
1885 Les Wilson
1888 Guy Tutwiler
1891 Eddie Brown
1892 Charley Lightner
1895 Bill Force
1899 Marvin Harold (Red) Smith
1899 Edward Holtz

It looks like Edward Holtz played under the name Eddie Holt – at last per his death story in the St. Louis Argus.  Holt was just nine days shy of his 25th birthday when he died after a long bout of pneumonia.  To his credit, the young (and not very tall) infielder improved his batting average each year he played in the top level Negro Leagues, batting .175 with the St. Louis Giants in 1920 and climbing to .364 in the early part of 1924 with the St. Louis Stars.  Holt must have been a magnificent fielder, given that he was able to hold his job despite struggling at the plate for two years.

Holt was one of a number of Negro League players who spent his winters working in South Florida hotels and playing in baseball games there to entertain the patrons of those hotels.  Holt worked at the old Royal Poinciana Hotel…

“Palm Beach Baseball Season Opens January 25,” St. Louis Argus, January 25, 1924: 12.
“Eddie Holt, St. Louis Stars Regular Shortstop, Dies at his Home,” St. Louis Argus, July 11, 1924: 7.

1905 John Shackleford
1907 Hank Patterson
1908 Ed Connolly
1909 Jesse Houston
1910 Sammy Holbrook
1910 Leland Foster
1913 Fred (Papa) Williams
1913 Charlie Frye
1916 Fred Chapman
1917 Henry Miller
1917 Lou Boudreau

I have few autographs, but one I do have is Lou Boudreau’s.  A while back, my step-sister Kim was attending a Cubs game when they wished him a happy birthday and the fans sang to Lou.  Kim saw where he was sitting and went down and got his autograph on a scorecard and brought it back to me.

1919 Hal Erickson
1921 Roland Edison (Tex) Hoyle
1929 Roy McMillan
1930 Jerry Lynch
1938 Deron Johnson
1942 Don Kessinger
1945 Greg Riddoch
1949 Herb Hutson
1956 Pete Ladd
1963 Bobby Thigpen
1978 Jason Jennings
1980 Justin Knoedler
1982 Brian Rogers
1983 Steve Delabar
1983 Adam Lind
1987 Nick Christiani
1987 Leonel Campos
1990 Matt Purke
1992 Silvino Bracho
1994 Josh Lester
1996 CJ Alexander
1997 Cole Sands
2002 Jordan Lawlar

OBITUARIES:

1913 Pat Scanlon
1936 Joe Wall
1941 Rube Kisinger
1942 Lefty Johnson
1946 John Fluhrer
1946 Tom Forster
1949 Jack Slattery
1950 Fred Blanding
1960 Pat Duncan
1961 Ty Cobb
1961 Ed Reulbach
1962 Sport McAllister
1968 Norm Lehr
1968 Ken Sears
1972 Al Spohrer
1973 Evar Swanson
1974 Dizzy Dean
1976 Bob Palm
1995 Herb Hippauf
2001 Chief Hogsett
2002 Lee Maye
2005 Jim Pearce
2005 Dick Sipek
2009 Jim Kirby
2019 Pumpsie Green

YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE!!!

1890 Now THIS is trivia… Tim Keefe faces Pud Galvin with both pitchers having reached 300 wins – the first time this had happened.

1903 Dan McClellan, pitching for the Cuban X-Giants, throws a perfect game to beat the York Penn Parks. It’s the first documented time an African American pitcher fired a perfect game (albeit in an exhibition game).

1924 Cardinal ace Jesse Haines beats Boston, 5 – 0, without allowing a hit.

1941 Joe DiMaggio’s 56 game hitting streak ends in Cleveland, in part due to a couple of fine plays by third baseman Ken Keltner.

1978 George (Doc) Medich, prior to the Texas-Orioles game, saves the life of a fan who was having a heart attack in the stands.

1990 Minnesota turns a pair of triple plays in the same game, a 1 – 0 loss to the Red Sox.

TRANSACTION WIRE:

1902 The despicable John McGraw bolts the Baltimore Orioles, sells his shares to John T. Brush of the National League, and takes a few players with him to the Giants and Reds, including Joe McGinnity, Dan McGann, Cy Seymour, Joe Kelley, and Roger Bresnahan.

1947 The Browns signed Negro League stars Willard Brown and Hank Thompson.

1993 Texas sent Robb Nen and Kurt Miller to the Marlins for Cris Carpenter.

2008 Oakland sent Joe Blanton to Philadelphia for Josh Outman, Adrian Cardenas, and minor leaguer Matthew Spencer.