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Potentially Misidentified Players
Even when a date of death appears in the encyclopedia, the work of the
Biographical Committee is not always done. Here is a list of players whose
current listing has been called into question:
Atkinson: The
1895 player listed as Henry Adkinson was in fact a Missourian named Harry
Atkinson. He is almost certainly John Harry Atkinson (1874-1953).
Charles
“Bock” Baker: The listed birth information belongs to a different man. The death
information could be right but there’s no proof.
Blauvelt: I'm
convinced that the listed man is not the ballplayer. The real ballplayer was
Harvey Blauvelt, who was living in Tompkins, New York, and may have died in the
late 1920s.
Brooks (deb.
7/24/1886): I'm convinced that the listed man was not the ballplayer. The right
man is Frederick H. Mauer, who was born in Wayne County, Pa., around 1862 and
probably died in Pennsylvania in the early 1920s.
Delos Brown:
There is some doubt that he was the 1914 major leaguer.
Charles Cady:
There is reason to think that his catching games may belong to Michael Cady.
Campbell (deb.
10/11/1890): The listing of Samuel for the one-game second baseman is very
unlikely, as Samuel Campbell was a catcher. The missing player is most likely
Peter “Bunty” Campbell (1869-1914).
Connally (deb.
7/1/1886): The man listed is an umpire who was not the two-game major leaguer.
The right man is an ambidextrous infielder named David Connelly, or perhaps J.
Connelly, who may be from St. Louis.
Dick Cramer: The
man currently listed was a ballplayer but it’s unlikely he was the major
leaguer. The actual major leaguer was a Brooklyn resident whose name was
probably Ed Cramer or Kramer.
Fred Crane: Fred
Crane was a prominent player of the 1860s, but was long retired by 1873. It’s
unlikely that he was the 1873 player and very clear that he wasn’t the 1875
player.
George Crawford:
It’s not clear that George was his first name.
George Crosby:
There’s some doubt that the man who died in San Francisco was the ballplayer.
Diven (9/29/1886
game): Originally a man named Walter Devine was credited with playing two games
in 1883 and one in 1886. The games were reassigned to Frank Diven, who
definitely played the 1883 games. But the 1886 game appears to belong instead to
a player from Long Island who usually played catcher.
James Donnelly:
There were two ballplaying James Donnellys from New Haven – longtime major
leaguer James B. and another man named James Patrick Donnelly (1856-1928). Most
of James B.’s record is correct, but the 1884 record with Indianapolis is less
clear.
Peter Donnelly
(1871, 1873-1874): The death listed is for an amateur Jersey City player who was
not the major leaguer. The 1871 record is believed to belong to a Peter Donnelly from
Philadelphia, who died there on December 8, 1878. The 1873 and 1874 record may
also belong to Peter or it may belong to his brother John.
Michael Jeremiah
Dorsey (deb. 7/9/1884): This listing is incorrect. The actual player had
pitched for Trenton before his one major league game but even his first name is
unknown.
David Drew: There
is no known basis for the listed first name.
William H. Dugan:
The listed death is not the ballplayer. The actual player was the brother of
battery mate Ed Dugan, but both men are missing.
Jack Dwyer: The
listed first name is that of a well-known minor leaguer, but it’s unlikely that
he played the game in question.
Edwards (1915):
There is no persuasive evidence for listing him as Ralph Strunk Edwards. The
actual ballplayer was a semipro from Chicago.
Eland: This name
is not correct. He was one of several Baltimore ballplaying brothers named Ehlen; the
question is which one.
Harry Ely: It’s
not clear that Harry was his first name.
William Farrell
(deb. 5/3/1882): The correct player is most likely a Californian named John
Farrell.
James Foran: The
ballplayer moved to California, but what happened to him there remains in doubt.
He seems to have spent time in prison and the listed death date is questionable.
Gilligan: The 1875
record credited to Barney belongs to someone else, likely a man named Hugh
Gilgan.
James Hyndman
(deb. 7/23/1886): James Hyndman was a minor league ballplayer, but the one-game
major leaguer was a different ballplayer named William Hyndman.
Abe Johnson:
There’s no basis for the first name; someone confused him with Abbie Johnson.
It’s possible that the player is longtime umpire James Johnstone but notes are
so vague that he’ll probably never be identified.
William Jones: The
first name is questionable.
John F. Lindemann:
Very confusing case; we list John F. “Bob” Lindemann as the ballplayer but the
cds make it look as though he had a brother named Robert who was a ballplayer.
But Robert doesn’t show up in the census, so it is likely a case of confusion.
If so, the ballplayer is older than listed.
Jacob Livingston:
There’s no known evidence that supports the current listing.
Charles Lowe: This
listing is all wrong; the ballplayer was from Brooklyn and his first name was
likely Thomas.
John Lowry: The
ballplayer was John Lawrie from Washington. I believe he died in 1879.
Macey: There’s a
good chance that this player was Patrick Henry Mullay.
Maloney (deb.
9/15/1876): The first name is not proven; it may actually be Robert Maloney.
McDermott: There’s
no evidence that umpire Sandy McDermott was the 1885 player and it’s unlikely
that he was.
James McDonald:
The evidence points to him being someone other than James, perhaps a policeman
named Malcolm McDonald.
McDoolan: Likely a
typo, probably for McDonald.
Christopher
McFarland: The basis for this listing is not known.
Frank McKee:
There’s no evidence that supports the first name. Sporting Life described him as
a Philadelphian and gave his name as McGee.
Edward McKenna:
This is three separate players; 1874 F. McKenna from Philadelphia, 1877 P.
McKenna from St. Louis and 1884 Ed McKenna from DC.
McRemer: This
“player” is probably a typo and could be J. Edward Reeder.
Cyclone Miller:
There’s a good chance that the game on October 9, 1884, for Philadelphia that is
credited to “Cyclone” Miller in fact belongs to Henry Miller, a pitcher from
Camden/Philadelphia.
Joe Miller: It is
highly unlikely that the 1872 record belongs to him; the actual player was
probably a Washington player named William Miller.
John Mullen: No
known basis for first name; probably just a guess.
Clarence Murphy:
There’s no known basis for the first name. There’s a decent chance the player is
Joe Murphy, who pitched on the day before. One newspaper account stated that Joe
was going to leave town after that game, which is a problem, but perhaps he
changed his plans.
John O’Connor: The
listing for the 1916 player may be right but has not been substantiated.
Louis Paul: No
known basis for the first name.
Preston Maurice
Pierce: Notes suggest that the ballplayer was from Baltimore, which points to
George F. Pierce (1859-1926) as a likely candidate.
George Popplein:
There were several ball-playing Popplein brothers. Based on age and years of
career, it is more likely that Joseph Popplein (1849?-1927) was the major
leaguer.
Frank Shaffer: I
believe he should have part of the Altoona 1884 record credited to Taylor
Shaffer.
John Francis
Shannon: There are doubts that we have the right man.
John Siegel (deb.
6/9/1884): What little information we have on this guy is wrong. John Siegel
from York, Pa., was a minor leaguer who was playing for Portsmouth while the
mystery major leaguer was playing for Philadelphia. So we are looking for a
no-first-name amateur, probably from Philadelphia’s W.J. Bailey Club.
Harry W. Smith:
There’s some doubt that the 1889 Louisville game was correctly assigned.
Tommy Smith:
There’s no basis for crediting the 1875 games to him; the account in the Clipper
identified him as A. Smith of the Concord Club of Brooklyn.
Spencer (deb.
6/3/1872): All we have on this guy is a surname but even that is very likely
wrong as it was listed in quotations in the box scores, signifying an alias.
He’s probably somebody already in the encyclopedia and could be eliminated if we
could figure out which one.
Harry Stanton: As
explained in the June 2002 Mystery of the Month, he’s a very confusing player
and could, among other possibilities, be 1904 one-gamer Tom Stanton.
Harry C. Stine: A
questionable listing; a wildly exaggerated obituary said that he was a pitcher
but his playing record seems to have been exclusively as an infielder.
Thomas Sullivan:
There is overwhelming evidence that the game pitched for St. Louis on 5/29/1884
was by a man named William Sullivan.
Andrew Thompson:
The 1875 Washington catcher is not Andrew; he was described as a professional
who later played for the T. B. F. U. S. club of Bridgeport. Most likely it was
Frank Thompson, but for now should just be listed as a no-first-name player.
Robert Valentine:
There is no known basis for first name.
Ward: The 1883
game credited to Frank “Piggy” Ward belongs to a no-first-name Philadelphia
amateur.
Joseph Woerlin:
This man’s age makes it very unlikely he was the ballplayer, who was described
as a “St. Louis youth.” There were brothers named Gus and Oscar Woehrlin of
appropriate age and one of them is likely the ballplayer.
James Woodhead:
The 1873 part of Woodhead’s record looks very suspicious, since the 1873
Marylands were just a bunch of Baltimore amateurs, but in fact the evidence
seems to confirm it.
Wyman: There’s
serious doubt that Frank Wyman was the major leaguer, who more likely was from
Kansas City.
William Suter
Yeatman: the evidence suggests that Samuel M. Yeatman, who died 12/13/1905, was
actually the ballplayer.
August Yost:
There’s no basis for the first name.
Henry Zeiher: I
believe that some if not all of the 1886 games credited to Ed Whiting belong to
Henry Zeiher, born April 11, 1862, died October 14, 1951 Philadelphia
George J. Ziegler:
The listed death is for a different ballplayer; the man we’re looking for was
born in Cincinnati in September of 1866.
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