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On the Brink
With a lot of missing ballplayers, the limited information that we have
enables us to pinpoint a prime suspect, so we go ahead and trace that man.
The hope is that an obituary will confirm that he is in fact our ballplayer, but
sometimes even after determining when and where our prime suspect died, we remain unable to find
definitive proof that he is the ballplayer. With good
reason, Biographical Committee chairman Bill Carle requires a high standard of
proof in such cases. So there are quite a few players who have very likely
been found, but who are not yet listed because the evidence is circumstantial.
If you know anything about any of these players or would like more information
about any of them, feel free to contact me.
Here are brief descriptions of these mystery men:
Robert Armstrong. This was a Baltimore player who was described as a lifelong
resident of Baltimore who was born around 1848. There was only one man matching
that description and we traced him until he left town in 1881. We then found
that he had moved to Fort Worth, Texas, and traced him up until his death on
December 3, 1917. An obituary confirmed that he was the man we had been pursuing
but did not make the all-important connection to baseball.
Edward Atkinson. The best good candidate was born in 1850
and lived in Baltimore from 1870 on, dying March 8, 1931. But as with so many
of these Baltimore players, the notes are so sparse that it’s just a
circumstantial case at this point.
Edward P. Beavan. Almost certainly
born Nov 1845 Brooklyn, died December 28, 1920 in Brooklyn.
George Bechtel. It’s highly likely
that the ballplayer died in Philadelphia on April 3, 1921. During the 19th
century, there were several George Bechtels in Philadelphia of about the same
age, making things confusing. But by 1910, all had died or left town
except one, while there were notes that the ballplayer was still alive.
The one surviving George Bechtel died on April 3, 1921, and a death notice in
the Inquirer stated, “Relatives
and friends, A. J. Reach and Co., invited to funeral.”
Since our man had worked for Reach's sporting goods company, I believe this to
be the ballplayer.
William Bestick.
The only man by this name died July
28, 1911 New York, NY.
Eddie Booth. We have
a strong candidate who died in New
York City on December 21, 1928. But unless we find more notes about the
ballplayer, we won’t be able to prove that he’s our man.
Edward P. Brown. He was from
Chicago and there’s a strong circumstantial case that he died there on June 19,
1918. But the direct connection to baseball is lacking.
William H.
French: our prime candidate died in Baltimore on June 1, 1893.
James J. Graham was born in Philadelphia around 1865 and
lived with his mother Martha until 1897. It appears that he got married at
that point and died in Philadelphia on October 9, 1918, but getting proof on
players from Pennsylvania remains impossible due to the state’s
inane policies.
James Hall. Sporting Life ran this obituary in their
2/17/1886 issue: “James Hall, who died recently of consumption in Brooklyn was
at one time shortstop of the Atlantics, having filled that position in 1871 and
1872. He was a younger brother of George Hall, well known for his connection
with the Atlantics, Boston, Athletics and Louisville Club.” However, there is
no death record for a James Hall that matches, and George Hall did not have a
brother named James. He did have a brother named Edwin who was in the Brooklyn
city directories until around 1886 and then vanishes. So was Edwin
“James”? It seems likely, but we can't find a death certificate for him
either. Ahh the pleasures and agonies of baseball research.
James Ralph Johnson. Ralph Johnson was quite a prominent
player at one time. He was born in Canada in December 1856 to William and Mary,
but his family moved to
Chicago in 1865 and he lived there for most of his life. He was married in
the 1880s and had a daughter named Hazel, but his wife and daughter both appear
to have died young. He was still alive in 1920 when his sister died.
A James R. Johnson who died in Chicago on February 26, 1928, is very likely the
ballplayer. Unfortunately, the information on this man’s
death certificate was provided by someone who did not know him well, leaving
some room for doubt.
Joseph S Kernan: A
man who was likely the ballplayer was born in June of 1850 in Baltimore and died
there on February 16, 1911. But no proof has been found.
Samuel H. Landis was born on August 16, 1854, to Abraham and Mary.
He married Ida
Weidner on August 1, 1883, in Reading, but the marriage ended in divorce. He was
last known to be living in Philadelphia in 1892. He is believed to have died in
Philadelphia on Canada Day in 1908.
Larkin (1884): It’s
likely that the Washington player was Patrick A. Larkin of Watervliet, NY who
died April 27, 1911.
Michael Lehane. Lehane was quite a prominent player for a few years, but we
have frustratingly little solid evidence as to his identity. There was a Michael
Lehane of the right approximate age who died in Manhattan on February 28, 1903,
and this is very likely the ballplayer. But proof remains elusive.
McCaffrey (6/15/1885). It’s
likely that the one-game pitcher was William T. McCaffrey, who died in Baltimore
on September 9, 1927. Again, though, notes on the ballplayer are in very short
supply.
McCloskey. There’s a very strong
chance that the unidentified 1875 player was William George McCloskey but it’s
so hard to make a positive identification in cases like this.
“Edward” McKenna. I believe that
the 1874 and 1877 records credited to this player actually belong to different
players named McKenna. The 1874 player was a Philadelphian named F. McKenna,
but nothing more than that is definitely known. The 1877 St. Louis player is
very likely a Patrick J. McKenna who became a policeman and died in St. Louis on
October 27, 1922.
Maurice Moore. The New York Clipper ran an obituary for
this player in its March 26, 1881 issue. It delineated his career very
accurately and noted that he was also a top handball player. It said he had
died on February 24 in New York City. Unfortunately no death certificate has
been found.
Henry Morgan. There is strong circumstantial evidence
pointing to a man who was born on October 17, 1858, lived in Baltimore for most
of his life and died there on July 28, 1938.
“Clarence” Murphy. I think it's very likely that this
one-game player was actually Joe Murphy from St. Louis, an amateur who played for three
other major league teams that year. He was in town that day with the Cincinnati
team, and pitched for them earlier in the series. But he never signed a contract
with them, and I suspect that he was the Murphy who filled in when Louisville
needed a player.
Billy Palmer.
A very strong candidate died on June
11, 1933, in St. Louis. In addition to being the best candidate, he was the
brother-in-law of another major leaguer, Tommy Morrison.
J. E. Pike. Click
here
for the story of this player.
Joe Quinn (1881 player). This man was from Cambridgeport,
Massachusetts, and the best fit is a man who died in Boston on
March 4, 1904. But we have no definitive proof that he is our ballplayer.
Charles J. Ritter. Ritter was a
Buffalo amateur who happened to play one major league game. We’ve traced the
only plausible candidate: Charles Joseph Ritter, born October 1868 Buffalo, died
December 13, 1958 Fort Myers, Florida.
Alexander Skinner. It looks as if he was a Stephen Alexander Skinner who died
in Philadelphia on April 4, 1917.
John Slagle or Schlagle was born in October of 1869 in Lawrence, Indiana,
(near Indianapolis) to Philip and Lizetta. He lived in St. Joseph,
Missouri, but apparently returned to Indianapolis and died there in 1915. On
February 24, 1915, the death of a John Schlagle, age 46, at the City Hospital,
was reported in an Indianapolis newspaper. Unfortunately, no death certificate
has been located.
Robert Stevens. It is very likely that this
ballplayer was
a man named
Robert Edward Stevens who moved from Washington, D.C., to Seattle in the late
1880s and died there on November 4, 1900. Unfortunately, notes on this
player are scarce, making it thus far impossible to be certain.
“James Taylor” I believe that the games credited to this
player actually belong to Live Taylor. Unfortunately, nineteenth-century
newspaper usually referred to ballplayers by their last names only, making it
very difficult to be certain in cases like this.
Z. H. Taylor. The only man who matches is Zachary Hamner
Taylor, who was born on February 21, 1850 and died on November 21, 1917 in
Baltimore.
Fred L. Thomas (Manager). We’ve
traced the only man by that name in Indianapolis at the time: b. 7/31/1855
Indianapolis, Indiana, d. 7/31/1933 Los Angeles. There’s no proof that he’s the
manager, but it seems very likely. The papers identified the manager as a
“splendid business man” and our candidate was working as a merchandise broker at
the time.
John Thornton. A very frustrating player. The ballplayer was born on
May 22, 1869 in Washington, D.C., and had a very long career. He was last known to be living in
Colorado Springs in 1906 with wife Nina. But he cannot be identified on any
census. We have a very strong suspect who died in Washington on April 26, 1935,
but have not found positive proof that he is the ballplayer.
Fred Treacy. Treacy was a
prominent player, yet there were surprisingly few notes that identified him.
The ones that did said he was alive and living in Brooklyn in the 1880s and then
several notes shortly after the turn of the century said he was dead. The
only man who fits is a Frederick B. Treacy who died in Brooklyn on January 26,
1891, and is the perfect age to be the ballplayer. But we don’t have a
“smoking gun.”
John T. Ward: John T. Ward was
from East St. Louis, but is believed to have moved to Kansas City and died there
on June 7, 1899.
George Wetzel:
there’s
strong circumstantial evidence that he was George B. Wetzell, who was born
around 1865 and died in Philadelphia on November 25, 1903.
Edward C. Whiting was born in June of 1856 in West Chester, Pa., to William and Lydia
and married
Jane Stickel in Philadelphia on August 27, 1879. He was not successful after
baseball and moved in and out of Philadelphia. A man who appears to be him died
in Philadelphia on February 1, 1902.
Frederick Llewelyn Wood was born on July 21, 1863, in Hamilton, Ontario, to John Frederick and Mariette
Wood. He married Adelaide Orr in 1884 and became a dentist. He lived in London,
Ontario, until 1935 with wife and two children, but then the whole family moved
to British Columbia. A Fred Wood, age 78, died in Victoria on January 15, 1943,
but he was not the ballplayer.
Yeatman. This ballplayer is
listed as William Suter Yeatman, who played ball in Washington in the mid-1860s.
Around that time, another player named Samuel began playing and William seems to
have retired. It therefore seems very likely that Samuel was the major leaguer.
Samuel died in Washington on December 13, 1905. But with newspapers
generally referring to players by their surnames, it is very hard to be certain
which one was the major leaguer.
William Zay. The only man who
seems to fit what we know was a William G. Zeh who died in the Pittsburgh area on
August 31, 1923, age 66.
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