On May 4, 1871, Art Allison was the first player to strike out in a major league game when the Forest City Club of Cleveland faced the Kekiongas of Fort Wayne on Opening Day.  Leading off the second inning, he missed three straight pitches from Bobby Matthews, but reached first base because of a dropped third strike error.

Arthur Algernon Allison was born on January 29, 1849 in Philadelphia to John and Elizabeth (Clark) Allison, the youngest of eight children.  The seventh child was Doug Allison, famous as the catcher of the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings among other major league teams.  According to North America Family Histories (accessed via Ancestry.com), John Allison came to the US from Halifax, England around 1827 and was engaged in the cotton and wool industries.  That same book tells us that Elizabeth’s father was in the English army and once served on St. Helena when Napolean was imprisoned there.

Art was an outfielder and could play first base in a pinch.  He first played major league ball with the Forest City club of Cleveland.  He had been with the Forest City club even before the National Association became a “major league” – I found an article noting his being a member of that team in 1870. In his two major league seasons, he proved to be a slap hitter producing few extra base hits.  He then joined the Resolutes of Elizabethtown for 1873 where he had perhaps his best offensive season, batting .320, but with only two extra base hits (both doubles) and no walks.  It was also the first time that both Allison brothers played on the same team – Art in the outfield and Doug behind the plate (and managing).  However, the Resolutes closed up shop before the season ended – Jersey fans stopped supporting a team that was 2 – 21 on the season.  As such, Art joined a semi-professional team called The Eastons for a season, then returned to the National Association in 1875 where he signed with the Washington Olympics.  Weeks later, however, Washington folded and he signed with Hartford where he would be teammates with his brother again. His reputation as an honest egg was confirmed when he was used as an umpire during the 1875 season in a league game between Boston and New Haven.

When the National League formed, he was with Louisville – but a far cry from the hitter he had been from 1871 to 1873.  On the other hand, it’s with Louisville we learn that Allison was a rather lean 6′ 0″ and 168 pounds. We digress… After that he spent a year with the St. Paul Red Caps, the first professional team in that city.  He had a team photo from that team (which would be fun to find – something in the neighborhood can be seen here). Also worth noting, at various points in his career Allison served as a reporter of sorts for the newspapers.

After his season with the Red Caps, he signed with a club in Auburn, NY for 1878.  He didn’t stay long with Auburn – he was released in early May and called a “Jonah” (bad luck; jinx) in the local newspapers.   By June he was playing in the International League with the Forest City Club of Cleveland again. Soon after, however, he was out of professional baseball and working in the nation’s capital.

Allison took a government job in Washington D.C. – he spent some 25 years as a typesetter in a government printing office.  His brother, Doug, also clerked in the nation’s capital. Along the way, he married Nellie (Ellen) Stanley, an English immigrant herself, and they had two sons, Albert and John.  (John had an interesting life himself, first in manufacturing, and then later in the military, having joined the Army in 1934 and becoming a commander in the US Naval Reserves until his retirement.)

Allison was crossing the street after leaving work on February 25, 1916 – it was a blinding snow – and he was accidentally hit and run over by a large truck.  His crushed body was taken to a nearby drug store until an ambulance could take him to a hospital, but he died in transit.  He’s buried in Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington.

Notes:

US Census Data (1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1890. 1900, 1910)
FindAGrave.com
Baseball-Reference.com

“Base Ball,” Philadelphia Inquirer, August 8, 1870: 8
“The Finest Game on Record,” New York Clipper, May 13, 1871.
“Base Ball Notes,” Brooklyn Union, January 15, 1874: 2.
“Base Ball Notes,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, February 23, 1876: 4.
“The Louisvilles,” Chicago Tribune, April 16, 1876: 6.
“Their Whereabouts,” Harrisburg Telegraph, March 19, 1878: 4.
“Contracts and Releases,” Chicago Tribune, May 5, 1878: 7.
“The Clevelanders Win,” Cincinnati Enquirer, June 4, 1878: 8.
“Auto Accident Fatal to Arthur A. Allison,” Washington D.C. Evening Star, February 26, 1916: 12.
Obit, Petersburg, Va. Progress-Index, October 3, 1958: 15.

Like some animals found at the Tulsa Zoo where he once worked, Tom Evanoff was a unique species.  Evanoff was unusually intelligent, possessed of both left- and right-brained tendencies, and comfortable in structured and unstructured worlds.  On January 5, 2024, Evanoff passed away due to complications associated with dementia in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.  He was 81.

Thomas Alexander Evanoff arrived in this world on September 6, 1942 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the second of three children born to Henry James and Alberta Kathleen (Knight) Evanoff.  Henry was the son of Yugoslavian immigrants whose family stopped in Indiana on the way to Iowa; Alberta’s family had been in Iowa a generation – she grew up in Belle Plaine.  Tom grew up with interests in science and art, especially the magic of animation.  His love of things Disney began at an early age.

After graduating from Washington High School in Cedar Rapids, Tom attended the University of Iowa, where he paid for school using scholarships he earned from various local businesses.  He graduated with degrees in math and physics, but he was equally interested in art.  When Tom later returned to graduate school at the University of Tulsa, he earned a master’s degree in art.

Unfortunately, the United States was expanding war efforts in Vietnam.  Despite repeated interviews with the Walt Disney Corporation for a position in their animation department, Evanoff knew he was about to be drafted.  To avoid being told what his role would be, he enlisted in the United States Navy; soon after he graduated from officer candidate school in Newport, Rhode Island.  A job offer from Disney came too late for Tom to avoid service.

About this time, the Navy found out that Evanoff took college courses to speak Russian.  At first, the Navy chose to investigate Tom for Communist Russia sympathies.  Tom subscribed to Russian magazines, but only to better translate the language.  The Navy, confident Evanoff was a patriot, offered to train Tom to become a spy, but espionage was not in his nature.  Tom wanted to serve on a submarine or fly planes.

Ensign Evanoff attended pilot training in Pensacola, Florida where he became a navigator for reconnaissance missions.  Toward the end of his service, his squadron performed reconnaissance over Laos at a time when President Richard Nixon said the United States was not in Laotian air space.  In fact, a plane in his squadron was shot down over Laos; he would lose his best friend, Ramey Carpenter, to a remote jungle not to be found for more than 30 years.  Carpenter left behind a wife, the former Kay Irene King, and their daughter, Stacia (now Stacia Green).  Tom returned to his naval base and looked after Kay and Stacia.  Tom loved both of them; he would marry Kay and adopt Stacia as his own daughter.  A year later, Tom and Kay welcomed a second daughter, Jeanne (now Jeanne Proia), to the family and they moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where Tom would take a job as the Director of Exhibits for the Tulsa Zoo.

The Tulsa Zoo was perfect for a man of Tom Evanoff’s many talents. For three decades, Evanoff supervised building construction and exhibit designs as the Tulsa Zoo expanded its public halls and animal encounters. He built complex displays that allowed zoo visitors to learn how elephants used their trunks or how dinosaurs could perform various physical functions. His unique art skills contributed to fun and informative signs as well as creative backdrops for animal enclosures. His sense of humor, equal parts inventive and editorial, can still be seen in various displays in the zoo some twenty years after his retirement. He earned regular citations, mostly for exemplary work, but occasionally for a playful willingness to bend rules or challenge government bureaucracy.

His zoo career gave Tom freedom to be a wonderful husband and father. He doted on Kay, becoming an expert cook and taking care of a busy home. Together, they assembled a large collection of Disney artwork and collectibles covering eighty years of Americana. Tom was the coolest dad – building unique Halloween costumes, helping with school projects, or bringing home domesticated zoo animals to stay at their home for short periods. He loved both roles – he enjoyed being Kay’s husband, and he loved being a father to two girls. Though he generally eschewed most social situations, Tom was always good company to his family and friends.

Tom continued creating art during his retirement. He designed and decorated their home in Alabama. A remarkable sculptor working with discarded items and different types of clays and paints, he created unique toys and personalized toy boxes for his grandson, Casey Proia.

Evanoff retired to Orange Beach, AL – a short drive from the naval pilot training center he attended 35 years earlier. Recently, he and Kay moved to Tennessee to be closer to family.

In lieu of flowers or gifts, please consider donating to the Tulsa Zoo in Tom Evanoff’s name using one of the following methods:

Tulsa Zoo Donation Website

Email Contact: development@tulsazoo.org

Tulsa Zoo
Attention: Development
6421 E. 36th St. North
Tulsa, OK 74115.

Ed Eiteljorg had just turned one year old when his family disembarked from their ship Main at Ellis Island in 1872. Soon after landing in the United States, the family settled in Indiana where Eiteljorg learned the ways of America, including the national pastime of baseball.

Born on October 14, 1871 in Berlin, Germany to Carl Heinrich and Augusta (Baisenberg) Eiteljorg, Edward Henry was the third of four sons born to the farmer and his wife. The fourth was born in Greencastle, Indiana – the home the Eiteljorg’s would make their own not long after coming to America. Carl took up shoemaking in Greencastle and his children all appear to have finished high school, save for one.  Albert became a dentist in Indianapolis and Charles was a successful businessman.  The youngest son, Henry, died as a toddler in 1880.

After high school, Eiteljorg enrolled at Depauw University and was a student there when he began pitching for Terre Haute in the Interstate League for 1889. This team won 20 of 25 games – and one paper said his name alone was intimidating. “Terre Haute has a pitcher named Eiteljorg. Printed in big letters on the scoreboard, it alone gives rival teams the horrors.”  In the photo of the 1889 Terre Haute team below, Ed is seated at the lower right.  Joe Cantillon, years before his greater fame, sits behind Eiteljorg’s right shoulder.

At the end of the season, Eiteljorg earned a tryout with Indianapolis, where he would sign a contract for 1890. He defeated both Kansas City and Columbus in exhibition games. After beating Kansas City, an Indianapolis reporter wrote, “He is only eighteen years of age, but he pitched like a veteran, and after he had finished the game he could have put his name to a contract with either Manager (Jack) Glasscock or Watkins.”  However, Indianapolis chose to close up shop as 1890 began, selling off player rights and other assets. The Chicago Colts purchased the rights to Eiteljorg and brought him to Hot Springs, Arkansas for spring training.

“He is a big, strapping fellow and comes with a great reputation secured with several good semi-professional teams… He is big and heavy and needs considerable work to get him in shape.” Baseball-Reference.com lists Eiteljorg at 6′ 2″ and 190 pounds. When he first pitched for the Cubs, the Chicago Inter Ocean listed his size as 5′ 10″ and 186. It also suggested that his ethnicity was Scandinavian (because of the J in his last name? The pronunciation?), even though Ed was born in Berlin. Calling Eiteljorg Scandianavian happened somewhat frequently over his early baseball career. As for his pitching technique, a later article in the Kansas City Times noted that, “He has a very rapid and very quick delivery and fields his position passably well.” He was a pretty fair athlete – he won a 100 yard dash while with Kansas City in 1892.

After easy wins over Pittsburgh in an early series, Cap Anson decided to give Eiteljorge a start against the Pirates on May 2, 1890. Eiteljorg got through the first inning without a scratch, but the second inning got out of hand pretty quickly. Pittsburgh scored five runs, with John Kelty’s triple being the big hit of the inning. When Eiteljorg gave up a single and a walk to open the third, Anson pulled Eiteljorg for a reliever. (By the way, Eiteljorg is given credit for having faced twelve batters on Baseball-Reference.com, but it’s actually 14 batters…)

Within days, Eiteljorg was sent out for more professional experience. The Colts farmed him out to Evansville of the Interstate League – which caused a little disturbance as some teams felt it was unfair for a player who signed a contract with a major league team to play for a minor league club. Eiteljorge pitched remarkably well for Evansville, winning 22 of 30 decisions, completing all 30 of his starts, and pitching in relief three other times.

As the season ended in the Interstate League, Eiteljorg didn’t return to the Colts. Rather, he signed with Omaha of the Western Association. Eiteljorg pitched well enough in a handful of starts to get a contract for the 1891 season. Along the way, Eiteljorg participated in a rare triple header on September 28, 1890 between Omaha and St. Paul. In the first game, Eiteljorg played centefrield and got a hit in a 7 – 5 Omaha win. In game two, he pitched a complete game (though sloppy), 15 – 7 win. He added a hit and a run to his batting totals in that game, too. Then, in game three, he had four hits including a home run – while starting the game in right field before taking the mound and earning the win relief of a game called by darkness with Omaha leading 16 – 11.

A couple of interesting stories about Eiteljorg can be found. In one of his first starts for Omaha, he was pitching in Minneapolis when the crowd called him “Idle George” and asked him if his mother knew he was out playing. The MIllers got out to an early lead, but Eiteljorg settled in. While his teammates rallied to take the lead (Ed himself had two hits), Eiteljorg fanned eight batters in the last five innings to earn the win.

An odder story of Eiterjorg’s playing days was told in 1922. According to lore, during a tie ball game with a runner at third base, Eiteljorg chose to give a pass to Jack Pickett. Pickett had a reputation as a hard hitter and with the winning run on third, Pickett worked the count such that Eiteljorg thought he had a better chance to pick him off first base than get Pickett out with a pitch. So, Pickett drew the walk. Eiteljorg had a good move to first, but not good enough this game and Pickett realized he was in Eiteljorg’s head. So, he started yelling things at Eiteljorg and eventually walked toward him as if to fight. Eiteljorg left the mound toward Pickett – and at some point, he calmly tagged Pickett out.

Pickett started laughing. The catcher had been yelling, “Throw the ball home!” With Eiteljorg not paying attention, the runner at third started running and easily scored the winning run.

(I have looked through the papers from 1890 to 1892 when this game could have happened and haven’t found an article to confirm it happened as described more than three decades later.)

Eiteljorg pitched well for Omaha, however, winning 18 of 26 decisions with an excellent 1.68 ERA. However, the team disbanded in July. As Washington was near the bottom of the American Association standings, they signed the young prospect for the remainder of the 1891 season.

Here, the husky right hander struggled on a poor team. He won just once, losing five other decisions, in his eight appearances (seven starts) with Washington. His 6.16 ERA was bad enough, but he allowed 67 runs in his 61.1 innings and he walked nearly twice as many batters as he struck out. Eiteljorg’s explanation for his poor pitching was that he was immediately discouraged by watching Washington lose. “I was there a week before I went in the box and a week’s watching of the kind of baseball the ‘senators’ played was enough for me. It was something awful. They gave a pitcher no support at all. When I went into the box I had no heart, knew I couldn’t win and, as a rule, I didn’t.”

He did have one successful start, however. On August 22, 1891, he beat Baltimore in eleven innings, 3 – 2. In that game, he allowed but 5 hits though he walked seven. Unfortunately, only 648 fans witnessed the game that gave Eiteljorg his lone major league victory.

Omaha reorganized for the 1892 season and demanded that all of their players return to Omaha for that season. Eiteljorg was one of many players who refused to go to Omaha and, at least for a short period of time, he was blacklisted. At some point, his ability to play was restored and he landed with Kansas City in the Western League for 1892. When the locals first met Eiteljorg, he made a wonderful impression.

“Eddie Eiteljorg, the young man who is expected to be Kansas City’s mainstay in the box, is perhaps the nicest looking ball player who steps on a Western League diamond… He is a tall well-formed fellow and looks rather young. He has great speed and is the master of an excellent set of curves… It is pleasant to hear that he thinks Kansas City is the best town in the Western League, and that he would rather play here than in any of the western cities.”

Kansas City Times, April 1, 1892: 2. (The title of the article is obscured by age.)

Here, Eiteljorg was good but not good enough on a poor team, finishing with a 7-13 record in 21 starts and one relief appearance, despite a 2.33 ERA. Most of his problems were tied to his wildness. In one start against Toledo, for example, he walked a dozen batters. A few weeks later, the Kansas City Star said of Eiteljorg, “Eiteljorg was as erratic in his delivery as usual, and when he did get the balls over the plate, the Toledos rapped him hard… Eiteljorg was expected to be the star pitcher of the Blues, but his work has been very disappointing of late, and a little lay off without pay would probably have a good effect in putting into pitching form.” In that game, he walked eleven batters and served up two homers. At that point, Eiteljorg was moved to left field. “And, by the way, that’s where Eiteljorg ought to play whenever it is convenient,” wrote the Kansas City Times. “The way he used his bat yesterday showed what a desirable man he is to have about. He made a two bagger and a home run. His home run hit was a terrific drive over the left field fence between left and center field. He made two other long drives which were caught. It certainly cannot hurt the outfield to let Eiteljorg play there, for, as consituted now, Kansas City has the worst outfield on the face of the earth, bar none. (Art) Sunday alone plays the game.”

For what it’s worth, Eiteljorg tied for the team lead in home runs with three on the season (he batted .243 with the fourth highest slugging percentage on the team), and his control got better in the final weeks of the season. He even pitched a four-hit shutout to beat Omaha in June. However, Kansas City folded in July and Eiteljorg didn’t sign with another team for the season. For the near future, Eiteljorg’s pitching would be in lower level minor league or amateur teams.

The summer of 1893 saw Eiteljorg pitching with Muncie in the Indiana-Illinois League, despite rumors of his signing to pitch in the south or the east. However, for the most part Eiteljorg would spend much of 1893 and 1894 playing some amateur baseball and working a family farm.

In 1895, Eiteljorg started the season playing for Terre Haute – either pitching or playing in the outfield. By mid-summer, he was pitching for an amateur team in the small town of Kansas, Illinois – which happens to be about the same distance west of Terre Haute, IN as Greencastle, IN is east of Terre Haute. “Eiteljorg… has had a little League experience, but at the time he was tried out by the major organization was a raw, green, undeveloped boy. Since then he has developed into a splendid specimen of the strong, trim, clean-built athlete. Under the tutelage of an intelligent manager he would undoubtably blossom into a fine pitcher.” That Kansas team went undefeated with Eiteljorg pitching in every game, leading to a brief resurgence of his professional career.

Eiteljorg was picked up by Grand Rapids of the Western League. He didn’t impress in his first start, a loss to Columbus where Eiteljorg was removed in the third inning, leading to comments that he wouldn’t last the season in the Western League. Part of the problem was erratic control. On a May 14, 1896 start against Minneapolis, Eiteljorg walked a dozen batters – even though the game was called in the seventh inning because of rain. When not on the mound, he would play right field as needed. By late May, his arm was bothering him; by late June, predictions of Eiteljorg’s demise were correct. He was released and signed to pitch for Terre Haute in the Indiana-Illinois League. He would pitch there on and off between 1896 and 1899. With that, his days as a professional would end – he would pitch or play in amateur games and make a living as a farmer.

Starting in 1902, Eiteljorg – who had umpired games as early as his late teens in local events – started umpiring collegiate baseball. He’s seen behind the plate for games between many of the Indiana based universities, including Notre Dame, Purdue, Indiana, and his hometown DePauw. He had to take a brief break in 1903, however, when Purdue hired him as an assistant coach to help turn around a losing streak.

On August 9, 1893, Ed married Virginia Richmond Hammond. Living and working on a local farm, he and Virginia would have three children: Charlotte, Charles, and Edward. For some period of time around the turn of the century he also worked as a salesman at a local store.

Somewhere after his baseball days were over, Eiteljorg became Eiteljorge. And, Ed Eiteljorge became more active in civic matters. He served as a Greencastle township trustee and secretary of the library board. More importantly, he served as a deputy and later the sheriff of Putnam County for a handful of years. In one story, his wife Virginia heard the scratching of a key along the floor, catching a prisoner trying to use an improvised hook to steal the jail key – requiring that her husband find a new location to hang the extra key.

Late in 1942 Eiteljorge began showing signs of decline due to arteriosclerosis. On December 5, he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage; he passed to the next league that afternoon. He is buried in Forest Hill Cemetery in Greencastle next to his wife, Virginia, who preceded him in death in 1936.

NOTES:

1880, 1900, 1910, 1930, 1940 US Census
Ellis Island Arrivals and Crew Lists
Indiana Death Certificates (Edward, Augusta)
Indiana Marriage Index

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/e/eiteled01.shtml
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/26084038/edward-henry-eiteljorge

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1061837964409761 (Video shows the Terre Haute team image with names of players.)

https://www.ebay.com/itm/185026498574 (1889 Terre Haute team image on EBay)

“In the World of Sport,” Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, June 30, 1889: 2.

“A Coming Young Pitcher,” Indianapolis News, October 17, 1889: 2.

“Indian Summer Sports,” Buffalo Commercial Advertiser, October 21, 1889: 3.

“Eiteljorg Reports,” Chicago Tribune, April 3, 1890: 6.

“Hecker Slightly Happy,” Chicago Inter Ocean, May 3, 1890: 3.

“Won the Last of the Series,” Chicago Tribune, May 3, 1890: 6.

“The Quincys Downed,” Evansville Courier, May 14, 1890: 4.

“Fell From Grace,” Minneapolis Daily Times, September 6, 1890: 1.

“Omaha, 7-15-16; St. Paul, 5-7-11,” Sioux City Journal, September 29, 1890: 2.

“Athletics Were Pie for Washington,” Philadelphia Inquirer, July 29, 1891: 3.

“Made It Three Straight,” Philadelphia Inquirer, August 23, 1891: 3.

“Pitcher Edward Eiteljorg,” Topeka Capital, September 24, 1891: 3.

“Will Not Take Chances,” Boston Globe, January 24, 1892: 16.

“Composition of the Teams,” Kansas City Times, March 18, 1892: 5.

Kansas City Times, April 1, 1892: 2.

“Warm Welcome For Pears,” Kansas City Times, April 28, 1892: 2.

“A Game in Rain and Mud,” Kansas City Star, May 14, 1892: 3.

“Won By Very Hard Hitting,” Kansas City Times, May 27, 1892: 2.

“Two Games From Omaha,” Kansas City Times, June 4, 1892: 2.

“Eiteljorg The Fastest Man,” Kansas City Times, July 18, 1892: 3.

“The Blues Scattering,” Kansas City Star, July 25, 1892: 3.

“Retrieved,” Muncie Morning News, June 21, 1893: 8.

“The Pitcher Was Amusing,” Indianapolis Journal, April 13, 1895: 3.

“A Tip for Diddlebock,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 19, 1896: 5.

“Baseball,” Muncie Evening Press, April 23, 1896: 3.

“Baseball Notes,” Indianapolis Journal, April 24, 1896: 3.

“A Pitcher Squelched,” Indianapolis Journal, April 26, 1896: 3.

“Too Soft to Miss,” St. Paul Globe, May 15, 1896: 6.

“Blues Batted Out Victory,” Kansas City Times, May 24, 1896: 3.

“An Error Saved Shut-Out for Muncie,” Indianapolis Journal, June 23, 1899: 6.

“Could Not Stop Them, Indianapolis Journal, May 3, 1902: 2.

“New Coach at Purdue,” Indianapolis Journal, May 23, 1903: 2.

“Aided by Errors, I. U. Defeated Purdue,” Indianapolis Journal, May 24, 1904: 8.

“Depauw Gets Game by Forfeit,” Chicago Tribune, June 7, 1904: 8.

E. J. Bartley, “Baseball Freak Plays,” Pittsburgh Post, December 10, 1922: Section 3, Page 9.

“Prisoners Try to Hook Key,” Indianapolis Times, May 24, 1929: 36.

Photo of Eiteljorge – Indianapolis Star, June 11, 1929: 3.

“Rites Held for Mary Morgan,” Indianapolis News, October 10, 1936: 9.

“Legal Status of Board is Questioned,” The Daily Reporter (Martinsville, IN), March 19, 1937: 1.

John Gilbert was a Pottstown, Pennsylvania man, born and died in his hometown some thirty-nine years apart.  But for one day, he was the starting shortstop for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Born January 8, 1864 to Jesse B. and Lavina Guldin Gilbert, John G. (possibly Guldin) Gilbert was the fifth of nine children born to the stagecoach owner/driver and his busy wife.  Gilbert very nearly wasn’t headed to local baseball fame.  As a four-year-old, his hand got caught in a feed cutting machine.  However, a doctor was able to stitch it up and it healed nearly completely.  Nearly twenty-five years later, dealing with a sore hand, doctors found pieces of the original stitching and removed it from Gilbert’s ailing paw.

While working as a local laborer, Gilbert took up the growing sport of baseball.  He wasn’t alone – his younger brother Harry also took up the sport.  By the late 1880s, the Gilberts would play games against each other.  In 1890, they played on the same Pottstown amateur club.  Both earned some reputation such that in the early summer of 1890, the Pirates were in need of middle infielders and chose to give both John and Harry Gilbert a tryout.

On June 23, 1890, the Gilberts were penciled in as the starting shortstop and second baseman (John at short, Harry at second) for both ends of a doubleheader against Philadelphia.  Harry got two hits in the second game, but John went hitless in his eight at bats. A reporter with the Pittsburgh Dispatch noted, “It is no luscious snap for amateurs to make their debuts in the big professional leagues. Despite this they did very well, especially in the field.”  Neither player made an error in the field.

In the box scores, John Gilbert was listed as N. Gilbert.  The “N” represented his nickname, Nan, given to him while playing in his amateur games.  At the time, Nan was a nickname for players named Jonathan.

For some time, John managed a hotel and also ran a restaurant in Pottstown.  He married Ida S. Dellicker on March 17, 1888.  They had two daughters and a son that lived to adulthood: Clara; Jennie (or Jean); and Jesse.  They also had a son, Charles, who died as a young child in 1898.

Like his professional baseball career, Gilbert’s life was unfortunately short.  He died on November 12, 1903.  His obituary noted Gilbert’s baseball career and his time as a sprinter of some local note.  His spirit may be playing ball in the next league, but his earthly remains are buried in Pottstown Cemetery in a family plot.

Notes:

1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900 US Census
1898 Norristown, PA City Directory
PA Death Certificates, Jean Schroeder (daughter) and Jeremiah (brother).
PA County Marriage Records
US Civil War Draft Registration Records

Baseball-Reference (John)
Baseball-Reference (Harry)
FindaGrave.com

“Pottstown Affairs,” Reading Daily Times and Dispatch, August 18, 1882: 4.

“Pottstown Affairs,” Reading Daily Times and Dispatch, April 19, 1883: 4.

“Amateur Happenings,” Philadelphia Times, April 21, 189: 16.

“They Broke Even,” Pittsburgh Dispatch, June 24, 1890: 5.

“Rather Disappointing,” Philadelphia Times, July 13, 1890: 2. (Source of Nan nickname.)

“Stitches in His Finger,” Wilkes-Barre Daily News-Dealer, November 18, 1892: 3.

“Former Baseball Player Dead,” Canonsburg Daily Notes, November 13, 1903: 3.

“In the course of a conversation recently with Lynch, of the Nationals of Washington, we were informed that Charles Bierman, formerly first baseman of the Mutuals of [New York], and a popular player of a bygone era, has died… His career on the ball field was ended years ago. Nevertheless, many will hear with regret of his reported demise. It is not merely that he was a popular favorite, as many others of his class have been, but he was, so to speak, the low comedian of the ball field, and the patrons of the game in this city will recall with a cordial and friendly recollection his antics and drollery, and the quaint, ungainly but effectual manner in which he played his position. It seems rather singular that a professional once so well known and popular should have passed away without any reference made to it at the time.”

“Charley Bierman’s Death,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, December 21, 1879: 13. (Reprinted from the New York Clipper that was published on December 13, 1879.)

Charles Bierman played just a single association game with the Kekiongas of Fort Wayne in 1871, but had been a professional in the years before the National Association became the major league. His days with the New York Mutuals, based on box scores found in the New York Clipper, were in 1866 and 1867.

Bierman arrived and left this world in Hoboken, New Jersey.  (The Mutuals of New York actually played home games on the Elysian Fields in Hoboken when Bierman was their first baseman.)  His parents were John and Lucy Beerman (a produce huckster and his wife), and Charles was the third child and second son, arriving on November 24, 1843.

Bierman served with the Union Army (Company A, 95th NY Infantry) in the Civil War. According to registration records, he joined his brigade shortly after Lee was chased out of Pennsylvania and participated in that chase though Virginia under U.S. Grant until Lee finally surrendered in 1865.  Along the way he was noted as missing in action after the battle of Weldon Railroad in 1864 but he rejoined his corps and mustered out with an honorable discharge days after the traitorous general surrendered at Appomattox.  His professional baseball career started soon after his war responsibilities ended with the Union Army.

The 1871 Kekiongas of Fort Wayne weren’t a stable club and the Chicago Tribune listed a number of ballplayers who had been hired on the fly, tried out for the Kekiongas, and then weren’t paid. Bierman, listed as Bearman in the box scores, played for the Kekiongas for a week (I see one league game and two other games in the New York Clipper); according to the Tribune, he wasn’t paid.

Bierman died of tuberculosis (phthisis pulmonalis, per the 1880 US Census).  His New Jersey death record says he was single and a professional musician at the time he passed on August 4, 1879.  That he was a performer might explain why he was seen as a bit of a ham on the diamond as well.

Notes:

Baseball-Reference.com
FindAGrave.com
1850, 1860, 1870, 1880 US Census
United Methodist Church Records
New Jersey Death Records
Civil War Registration Records
Box Scores in the New York Clipper (1866, 1867)

“Charley Bierman’s Death,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, December 21, 1879: 13.
“Base Ball,” Chicago Tribune, July 28, 1871: 4.

Philip Andrew Saylor arrived January 2, 1871 to John Ware and Lucinda (Shafer) Saylor when the family of four lived in West Alexandria, Ohio. After spending years as a carpenter, John ran a farm and his two sons worked that farm well into their teens. Philip attended the local schools and graduated from West Alexandria High School in 1888. He then attended classes at Ohio Wesleyan and Buchtel College in Akron. After graduating he worked in the canning business. After some time he chose to study law and earned his law degree from the University of Cincinnati in 1905. Soon after he passed the bar and partnered with James Gilmore, which lasted until Gilmore’s death in 1914. He later joined the law firm of Saylor and Bittle; he would work there the rest of his life.

At some point, Saylor picked up the game of baseball. He played in college; he’s listed as the shortstop and change pitcher for Buchtel in the spring of 1891 – though he hadn’t transferred from Ohio Wesleyan yet. What is more impressive about Saylor playing shortstop is that he was left handed. After the college baseball season ended, Saylor was signed by the Philadelphia Phillies in early July – he met the team when the Phillies headed to Cleveland.

Saylor’s only opportunity to pitch came in Pittsburgh on July 11, 1891. The Pirates swatted around John Thornton over six innings, so Harry Wright gave Saylor the ball for the last three. Saylor got eight straight outs, but Jake Beckley reached on a single and Frank Shugart the drove one to left for a home run before the last out of the ninth inning could be made. Saylor’s career line includes no decisions, three innings and a 6.00 ERA. (Baseball Reference says Saylor didn’t strike out any batters, but the Philadephia Times box score gives Saylor credit for a strikeout.) Saylor did get a couple of future Hall of Famer managers out – Ned Hanlon failed to reach base and Connie Mack was thrown out trying to steal second on the rookie battery after being hit by a pitch. Unfortunately the Phillies’ hitters were shut out easily that day – including Saylor, who failed to get a hit in his only plate appearance.

Saylor married Bertha Huggins in 1899; they had a daughter, Martha, soon after.

A lifelong Democrat, Saylor was next elected the prosecuting attorney for Preble County, and later he served in the state assembly. Along the way, he became a Mason and joined other social and political organizations. And, he taught school in Twin, Ohio for a period of time. He was the Mayor of West Alexander from 1902 to 1905.

Following a long illness Saylor died at his home in West Alexander, Ohio on July 23, 1937; he was 66. His soul is likely practicing law in the next world, but his earthly remains lie in Fairview Cemetery of his hometown.

Notes:

Baseball-Reference.com
Findagrave.com

R. E. Lowry, “History of Preble County, Ohio: Her People, Industries, and Institutions” (1915)

“In College Corridors,” Akron Beacon Journal, March 7, 1891: 2.
“The Phillies Westward Bound,” Philadelphia Inquirer, July 3, 1891: 3.
“National League,” Philadelphia Times, July 12, 1891: 14.
“Phillies Whitewashed,” Pittsburgh Press, July 12, 1891: 6.
“Buchtel College Notes,” Akron Beacon Journal, April 29, 1893: 3.
“Philip Saylor, 66, Dies in West Alex,” Dayton Herald, July 23, 1937: 19.

Stonewall Jackson Beach was born around 1862 in Alexandria, VA to James and Jane (Cook) Beach – though, to be honest, I’m not completely certain that 1862 is the right year.  In the 1870 US Census, he’s listed as 10 years old.  His Virginia death record shows his age at death due to meningitis as 33; the Alexandria Gazette cited below says he died of Bright’s Disease at the age of 34 (the day before, it said he died of consumption). Stonewall Jackson wasn’t truly revered by his southern brethren until he won a few battles in the Great War for Slavery – so an 1862 birth year makes a certain amount of sense.  Let’s just go with that. Anyway – he was the middle child of seven born to a laborer and his very busy wife.  His dad suffered from tuberculosis by 1880; by that year Jackson was working as a carpenter to help support the family.

In March, 1884, Beach married Margaret Ann (Annie) Upton; a few weeks later he would become a major league baseball player.  In 1890, they had a daughter, Ruby Thelma.

Jack Beach was a catcher – he played for local teams in Alexandria, Lynchburg, Danville, and Roanoke before and after his major league career ended – in later years he was the one organizing teams to play other teams throughout Virginia.  The Virginia State League was a lower level minor league in the 1880s – he played there, too.  His professional career accounts for just a six week period of his life, though the people he met on the Washington Nationals of the American Association attended his wedding. Signed as a backup catcher to John Humphries, Beach played just eight games for Washington, getting three hits (.097 batting average), of which two were doubles.  He scored three runs.  Most of his professional excitement came on opening day in a win over Brooklyn on May 1, 1884.  At bat, he recorded both doubles and scored a run off Sam Kimber.  In the field Beach made five putouts and threw a baserunner out – six of his twelve successful chances came in his first game.

However, Beach never caught for Washington.  He played seven games in right field and one other in left field (by my count, using box scores in the New York Clipper, he had at least two games in left field).  Beach had eighteen chances to get a batter or runner out.  In six of those chances, he made an error. By mid-June, Beach was returned home to play amateur and state league ball. (Washington didn’t finish the 1884 season either, with the remnants of the team heading to Richmond to close out the season.)

When Beach passed on July 23, 1896, he left behind his wife and daughter and was buried in Bethel Cemetery; the gravesite is unmarked.  His wife, however, left behind eight lines of poetry to commemorate his passing in the Alexandria Gazette.

“My husband is sleeping so free from all pain,
Oh wake him not sweet spirit, to suffer again,
He slumbers so soundly, oh let him sleep on,
His sickness is ended and troubles all gone,
Oh think how he suffered and moaned with pain,
In the long night hours I soothed him in vain,
Till God, in his mercy, sent down from above
An angel that whispered a message of love.

BY HIS WIFE”

Notes:
Washington DC Marriage Records
Virginia Marriage Records
Virginia Death Records
Baseball-Reference.com
FindAGrave.com
1870, 1880 US Censuses

“Alexandria Affairs,” The Washington Critic, March 21, 1884: 3.
“Died,” Alexandria Gazette, July 24, 1896: 3.
Box Scores from The New York Clipper, May 10, 1884, May 17, 1884, June 14, 1884, and June 21, 1884.

Frank Kreeger played in just one game, pitching for Kansas City in the Union Association on July 28, 1884 against St. Louis.  Kreeger pitched tolerably well through seven innings.  Then, after giving up a pair of singles and a walk to open the eighth frame, his arm became so sore he was relieved and finished the game as the center fielder.  Oh – the Kansas City papers’ box scores had his last name as Kriger.  In looking for something about Kreeger/Kriger, I found this tidbit in the Kansas City Times:

“Kriger, of Pana, Ills., a young player of some reputation in the Sucker State, is here, and will be given a trial by Manager (Ted) Sullivan on his return here Saturday next.”

“Short Stops,” Kansas City Times, July 23, 1884: 5.

I had never heard of Illinois being referred to as the Sucker State.  And I grew up in the Chicago suburbs…  Turns out that when the first mines were created near Galena, IL, people would travel up the Mississippi River to work the mines in the spring, returning in the late fall.  People in Missouri began calling people from Illinois “Suckers”, comparing these migrating mine workers with the sucker fish that also migrate up the Mississipi River each spring.  (In retaliation, Illinois folks called people from Missouri who came to Illinois “Pukes” – as in Missouri was regurgitating their worst people to come work in Illinois.  Good times.)

Anyway, Kreeger and his sore arm returned to the family farm in Pana, Illniois.

Originally born in Ohio in 1860 (his actual birthdate isn’t actually known yet), Edward Frank Kreeger was one of five children born to Peter William and Mary A. (Madden) Kreeger.  Peter was a former soldier in the Mexican War turned farmer and then railroad foreman whose family kept moving west.  (Peter was born in North Carolina, moved to Ohio, then Indiana, then Illinois.)  Before becoming an amateur baseball prospect, Frank was a laborer in Pana. Another Kansas City Unions ballplayer, Nin Alexander, hailed from Pana – perhaps he was in Sullivan’s ear and got Frank his tryout.

Frank was swimming in the Kaskaskia River (sometimes called the Okaw River) in Shelby County, IL when he drowned at the age 35.  His remains are in the family plot at Linwood Cemetery in Pana.

FindaGrave.com
1850, 1870, 1880 US Census
Iowa Death Certificates