1905: Louisville Players Hurt in Wreck

Back in the day, as they say, accidents involving railway cars were fairly common, but it’s still interesting to look back on such events and find out how they impacted the game of baseball during an earlier time.

The header on page 10 of the Louisville Times for Monday, Sept. 4, 1905 read:

WILL SUE FOR HEAVY DAMAGES…Louisville Players Blame Kansas City Street-Car Company for Accident

On Thursday, August 31, 1905, the Louisville Colonels were in Kansas City to play the Blues in another exciting American Association contest. There wasn’t much at stake; Art Irwin‘s Blues were mired in the cellar of the American Association with a record of 45-101 at the time, while the Louisville squad, under their second manager Suter Sullivan, was in fourth-place in the eight team league, with a record of 75-72.

A group of Colonel players boarded a street car that evening, perhaps headed back to their hotel after arresting the Blues, 6-2, at Kansas City’s Association Park earlier that Thursday. As the trolley car was descending a steep hill, the “motorman” lost control as it continued to gather speed. A wreck was the result, after what was described as a collision. There were no fatalities but eight Louisvilleans sustained injuries. Pitcher Ed Kenna was hospitalized for an extended period.

Among the first to report on their condition upon their arrival in Louisville were shortstop Larry Quinlan (who went 3/4 that day against Kansas City’s Walter Justus), outfielder Fred “Hen” Clay (who lost enough skin in the accident to “cover many baseballs” having been dragged 50 feet), second-baseman Roy Brashear and pitcher Charlie Stecher (who was having a fine season with a 14-8 record on the year). A total of eight players were involved in the debacle.

The scheduled game for the following day at Toledo was not played.

However, on Sept. 2, the Mud Hens hosted the depleted Colonels at Armory Park, as Louisville was able to rely upon local amateurs out of Toledo to fill in for the injured players.

An impending law suit against the street car company and the motorman was to be brought, based on the testimony of the players. It was their belief that the operator (or motorman) was not in control of the rail car, and in addition that he’d failed to ring the warning bell which might have prevented the resulting collision.

From the Times report:

“Brashear and Clay, who are only able to walk about with the aid of canes, and who are suffering no little from their injuries, will not be able to play again this season. Stecher thinks that he will be able to take his turn on the slab the latter part of next week, and Quinlan says that he will be able to get back in the game as soon as the team returns to this city [from its trip to Toledo]. All the players feel confident that Kenna will recover from his injuries and be able to play ball again next season but state that he was badly injured in the wreck.

“All the players place the blame for the accident on the motorman, and suits against the street car company will be instituted shortly. They claim that the car was coming down grade at an excessive rate of speed and that the motorman did not ring the bell to give warning of the approach.

“Brashear says that he will never again take such chances as he did in that ride. ‘The next time I find a wagonette going fast where any car lines are near you will find me doing the duck act. Right out of the rear end for me,’ he said.

“Stecher said that he did not know that he was injured until after he had reached the hotel, when he found that he could not walk.”

“Clay says that the first thing he knew was when he was under the fender of of the car. ‘It was then that I grabbed hold of the fender to protect my life. I certainly had an experience that I hope I will never again be so unfortunate as to have. I was dragged over fifty feet, and I was so rapidly losing my strength that if the car had not been brought to a standstill when it was I am certain wthat I would have been killed.'”

The Colonels’ ball club was supplanted by Toledo amateur players Tommy Lovett who covered the short field, Al Daly who played first-base and Joe Smith who took over duties at second-base. In addition, Miller (first name unknown) played in right field during both games of the Sunday doubleheader to close out the series with Toledo. Louisville tried to arrange to have these players travel with the team to Indianapolis, but were not successful.

The first game held after the accident took place Saturday, September 3. According to the Louisville Courier-Journal,

“…with the exception of Daly, they played nice ball. Daly had some stage fright, but Lovett covered short and Smith second in big league style. Lovett drove the ball deep into the field three times, and in the last inning got a hit.

“Kerwin [Dan] captained the team and had his batting eye open, securing a double and a single. Hallman [Bill] and Stoner [Herb], Dunkle [Ed, “Cannon Ball”] and Scott [George] each hit, but the safe drives were all scattered. Dunkle pitched a good game, allowing but five hits. He had the worst of several decisions and was cautioned by Umpire [Brick] Owens not to take advantage of the crippled condition and make any remarks.”

Despite out-hitting the Hens 8-5, the battle-weary Colonels were held scoreless by Toledo pitcher Wylie Piatt who equalled the season’s strikeout record by whiffing 11 would-be hitters. The Friday final: 3-0, Hens.

Ed Grillo‘s Toledoans swept the weekend series. No doubt the Colonels were just happy to have it behind them.

Happy Birthday, Billy Clingman

Today is the birthday of an American Association star. William Frederick Clingman was born November 21, 1869 at Cincinnati, Ohio. The switch-hitting righty stood 5’11, and weighed in at 150. He was 32 years of age in 1902, his first year in the American Association. As club manager and regular shortstop for the sixth-place Milwaukee Brewers that year, he hit a resounding .308 in 530 at-bats, delivering 20 doubles, 7 triples and 3 home runs. By that time, Clingman was a seasoned veteran, starting his major league career in 1890 with the Cincinnati Nationals. Rounding out his tenure in the American Association with the Columbus Senators in 1903, St. Paul Saints in 1904 and Toledo Mud Hens in 1904-06, Clingman found a home in this league, a place where he could utilize his talents while entering into the twilight of his career as a ballplayer. Clingman died at Bethesda Hospital in Cincinnati on May 14, 1958, but he’d lived a good portion of his final years in Louisville, Kentucky where he owned a print shop and an engraving business called Clingman Engraving Company, retiring in 1947. He is buried at Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville. Happy Birthday, Bill.

Fall Almanac Proceeding Apace

Wish I’d been doing a better job keeping current with the blog here, but life intervenes.

On the front burner is work on the American Association Almanac for Fall 2007. It’s another big issue, will wind up at least 31,000 after the death notices are added. There are multiple topics, all dealing with the 1910-12 Minneapolis Millers. I didn’t have room to include 1912 in the Summer issue so the Fall issue starts off with the 1912 team and its offensive characteristics. The pitching of the 1910-12 Millers will occupy the remainder of the issue. For the 1910 team I include a comparison with the league’s top pitching team, the Toledo Mud Hens. While I don’t expect another issue of the Almanac to surpass the Summer issue in overall quality, this will be a very solid issue, maybe a bit heavy on the statistical angles. Either way, it will fill a nice of baseball history that will hopefully lead to further inquiry. Baseball during the deadball era was an especially fascinating subject of American culture that had a host of fascinating aspects.

A few of the starting pitchers that are examined in this issue include “Long Tom” Hughes, Nick Altrock, Roy Patterson and the Big Finn, Lou Fiene, all of whom contributed to the 1910 Miller team. The legendary Chicagoan Hughes led the league in wins (31), winning pct. (.721) and bases on balls (129) and strikeouts (222).

Getting into the Cracks of History

Recently I made cool little discovery using an internet search site called NewspaperArchive.com, a subscription service which has been worth the cost, especially lately. It allows people who are interested in using old newspaper accounts to really get into the cracks of history. This service provides access to many smaller newspapers around the country (The Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette) and some of the larger ones as well (The Wisconsin State Journal, The Indianapolis Star).

As part of my 1910-12 Minneapolis Millers project, I’m studying the performance of the Millers against left-handed starting pitchers. Finding out which pitchers were left-handed was easy for the vast majority of them, but the other 20% weren’t as easy. At first I employed the services of Ray Nemec, a sort of guru of baseball research who assists people with locating files on the more obscure players. Then I learned how to use NewspaperArchive.com to conduct searches on obscure ballplayers, some of whom I don’t even have a first name for. After entering search criteria (which varies, depending on the success I have), a listing of several articles appears. Often, way too many articles are listed, so I refine my search, a process that is made easy on the website.
For example, take the pitcher John Schultz who played for Toledo. He started in one game against the Millers in 1911, performing well, according to local newspaper accounts which did not, however, mention whether Schultz was a lefty or a righty. By default, it is likely that if an article which has any notable discussion of a pitcher in its text does not mention him being left-handed, he probably was not. But this can be a difficult presumption to make. It’s best to find a direct quotation. In the case of Schultz, I was able to find a rare quote stating he was a right-handed pitcher. At the time the article was written (July 11, 1911) Schultz was a star performer for Zanesville (OH) of the Central League, a prominent feeder of the American Association. The irony is that the quote was written with respect to the center fielder of the opposing team who had been in a hitting slump. The article mentions it was a good thing he was facing a right-hand pitcher. I had my evidence. John “Red” Schultz was definitively a righty and I could now enter that elusive “R” into my record. Had I relied only upon references to pitcher Schultz and not read the entire article, I would have missed this vital fact. Another irony in the Schultz case stems from the fact that he was with Toledo. In 1944 Ralph LinWeber published a book containing the complete (and I mean complete) rosters of each Toledo team from 1883 until 1944 called the Toledo Baseball Guide of the Mud Hens. This book was one of my principal motivators for getting started on serious baseball writing. LinWeber has Schultz was listed as a pitcher for 1911, but his throwing arm stats was omitted, the only pitcher of some two dozen pitchers the Mud Hens used all season for whom LinWeber did not provide a record of his lefty or righty persuasion. Ralph!!!!!
Taking the time to go through each article was rewarding. The Schlutz search took roughly an hour. I’ve spent up to two hours on one search. I’ve also had some incredible luck and found the info I was looking for within five minutes. It can actually become very addicting. To date I’ve discovered the throwing arm of virtually all of the 15-20 pitchers who were in question. This has been another “project within a project” and I hope it gives a constructive dimension to my study of the Millers and their three-straight pennant winning years. This allows my research to be as complete as possible, which can only enhance my writing. And besides, it’s fun!

June 18, 1910: A Strange Day in A.A. Baseball

They say things happen in three’s.

Well, who’s to say. But on Saturday, June 18, 1910 there was a concurrence of events in the baseball world suggesting the influence of a cosmic crease.

The day started sadly with the death of former Milwaukee Brewers’ catcher Charles E. Moran. The 23-year-old catcher was struck full force and broadside by a baseball bat the previous day in LaPorte, Indiana. He died the morning of June 18, 1910 while surgeons were attempting to repair his massive internal injuries.

Then an event took place which, although rare enough, did not parallel the gravity of the first tragic occurrence. Californian Gavvy “Cactus” Cravath was the regular left fielder for the front running Minneapolis Millers in 1910. During the second game of a twin bill being played against the Louisville Colonels on June 18, Cravath struck a ball off Frank Decanniere, a young lefty out of Greeley, Kansas. Cravath was known for his long, strong line drives, many of which he turned into home runs and extra bases. One of 13 Miller hits that day, Cravath’s swat in the seventh banged against the Bull Durham Tobacco sign at Nicollet Park. The feat earned him two bags on the diamond and a $50 bonus. He scored two hitters later after Ollie “Dad” Pickering doubled off Decanniere. Cravath’s tally capped the Miller scoring with their seventh run. The first game was decided by the Millers, 7-3 as “Long Tom” Hughes earned the win en route to a sweep over the Louisvilleans.

Thirdly on that memorable Saturday was a game which landed Toledo Mud Hen right-hander Karl Robinson in the American Association’s eternal annals, as he tossed a no-hit, no run game against a veteran Kansas City Blues team. Four Kansas Citians worked Robby for a free pass, and four found the pads via the error route. But the Mud Hens prevailed at Association Park in Kansas City by a score of 8-0 as Robinson achieved his feat with little early run support. All told, the Toledo men racked up 15 hits on the day, scoring their final five runs in the last three innings. The loss put the struggling Blues one notch deeper into the mire with their 33rd loss of the season as “Vinegar Bill” Essick took the loss. Meanwhile, Robby and his Hen teammates were showing the league-leading Millers that they were hot on their tails with their 38th win against 21 losses.

All in all, it was a day containing a variety of dramatic events which directly impacted American Association fans across the midwest during the season of 1910.