Bushnell- Illinois Born “Boys of Summer” Series- Earl Sheely 6th in MVP voting

Tom Knuppel Sports, History

 

Continuing our series on Illinois Born “Boys of Summer”.

 

SheelyEarl

 

 

Earl Homer Sheely was born on February 12, 1893 in Bushnell, Illinois.

 

 

He went into baseball as a first basman and made his debut for the Chicago White Sox on April 14, 1921. He was a major leaguer for 10 seasons with eight of them for the White Sox.

Sheely finished sixth in voting for the 1925 American League MVP, playing in 153 games with having 600 at-bats, 93 runs, 189 hits, 43 doubles, 3 triples, 9 home runs, 111 RBI, 3 stolen bases, 68 walks, .315 batting average, .389 on-base percentage, .442 slugging percentage, 265 total bases and 26 sacrifice hits.

He currently ranks 92nd on the MLB list for career sacrifice hits (189).

Over nine seasons, Sheely played in 1,234 games and had 4,471 at-bats, 572 runs, 1,340 hits, 244 doubles, 27 triples, 48 home runs, 747 RBI, 33 stolen bases, 563 walks, .300 batting average, .383 on-base percentage, .399 slugging percentage, 1,782 total bases and 189 sacrifice hits.

 

 

Where is Bushnell, Illinois?

Bushnell is a city in McDonough County, Illinois, United States. The population was 3,221 at the 2000 census.

According to the 2010 census, Bushnell has a total area of 2.138 square miles (5.54 km2), of which 2.13 square miles (5.52 km2) (or 99.63%) is land and 0.008 square miles (0.02 km2) (or 0.37%) is water.
The town was founded in 1854 when the Northern Cross Railroad built a line through the area. Nehemiah Bushnell was the President of the Railroad, and townspeople honored him by naming their community after him. The railroad later became part of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, which continues to operate through Bushnell under the name Burlington Northern Santa Fe. Bushnell was also served by the Toledo, Peoria and Western Railway, now the Keokuk Junction Railway. Amtrak trains pass through the city but do not stop.

Beginning in 1908, the Truman Pioneer Stud Farm in Bushnell was home to one of the largest horse shows in the Midwest. The show was well known for imported European horses. The Bushnell Horse Show returned in 2004 and has become one of the better draft horse hitch shows in the tri-state region. The Bushnell Horse Show features some of the best Belgian and Percheron hitches in the country. Teams have come from many different states and Canada to compet

The Nagel Brothers of Bushnell were the first to invent a process of making rolled oats without having to steam the oats. Up until this time, the oats were first steamed to separate the groat from the hull. The patent for this new process was later sold to the Quaker Company.

Bushnell is home to Vaughan & Bushnell hammer factory and Kitchen Cooked Potato Chips.

Olney– Illinois Born “Boys of Summer” Series

Tom Knuppel Sports, History

 

Continuing with my series on Illinois Born major league players we find four from Olney, Illinois which is the home of the White Squirrel. Be sure to check that information out at the bottom of the article.

 

Illinois Born- OLNEY

 

Glenn Brummer

Glennbrummer

 

Glenn Edward Brummer (born November 23, 1954, in Olney, Illinois) is a former Major League Baseball catcher.

Signed by the St. Louis Cardinals as an amateur free agent in 1974, Brummer made his Major League Baseball debut with the St. Louis Cardinals on May 25, 1981, and appeared in his final major league game on October 6, 1985.

He played in 178 games with 347 at bats and collected 8 hits and 27 runs batted in for a .251 batting average. He had four career stolen bases but no more remembered than on August 22, 1982 he stole home with two outs in the bottom of the 12th inning to give the Cardinals a 5-4 win over the Giants.

Brummer was a member of the St. Louis Cardinals team that defeated the Milwaukee Brewers in the 1982 World Series.

 

 

Ollie Pickering

OlliePickering   Oliver Daniel Pickering (April 9, 1870 – January 20, 1952), was a professional baseball player and is noted as the first batter in American League history while playing for the Cleveland Blues in 1901. (NOTE: The 1901 season was the first season that the American League (AL) was classified as a “major league”) He went on that season to hit .309 and scored 102 runs for Cleveland. He played outfielder, primarily in center field, in the Major Leagues from 1896 to 1908. He would play for the Philadelphia Athletics, Louisville Colonels, Cleveland Spiders, Cleveland Indians, Washington Senators, and St. Louis Browns. Upon his retirement from playing the game, he became an umpire and later retired in Vincennes, Indiana.

The term “Texas Leaguer” is often attributed to the debut of Ollie Pickering, either in the majors or the Texas League, who came to bat and proceeded to run off a string of seven straight bloop hits leading fans and writers to say, “Well, there goes Pickering with another one of those “Texas Leaguers”.

A Texas Leaguer (or Texas League single) is a weakly hit fly ball that drops in for a single between an infielder and an outfielder. These are now more commonly referred to as flares, bloopers or “bloop single.” Most colorfully called a ‘gork shot’. 

 

Dummy Murphy

DummyMurphy  Herbert Courtland “Dummy” Murphy (December 18, 1886 – August 10, 1962) was a shortstop in Major League Baseball. He played for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1914.
Murphy started his professional baseball career in 1912. The following season, with the Thomasville Hornets of the Empire State League, he batted .338 and was drafted by the Phillies in September. He started 1914 as a major league regular. However, he batted just .154 in nine games and made eight errors in the field. He was released in May and went to the Jersey City Skeeters, where he batted .235 the rest of the season.

Murphy spent the next few years in the minor leagues, mostly in the Pacific Coast League. In 1920, he was a player-manager for the South Atlantic League’s Charlotte Hornets. He retired soon afterwards.

 

 

Stan Royer

RoyerStan Stanley Dean Royer was born August 31, 1967 in Olney, Illinois and attended Charleston High School in Charleston Illinois. He was drafted by the Atlanta Braves coming out of high school but chose to attend Eastern Illinois University. and recieved ab economics degree, In 1988, he was draft by the Oakland Athletics. He was traded in 1991 along with Felix Jose and a minor league player to the Cardinals for Willie McGee.

He played first base and third base for St. Louis from 1991 through 1994. In a four season career, Royer was a .250 hitter (41-for-164) with 21 RBI in 89 games, including four home runs, 10 doubles, and 14 runs scored. He also played in the Oakland, St. Louis and Boston minor league systems from 1988–1994, hitting .270 with 72 home runs and 417 RBI in 707 games.

Royer is President of Claris Advisors, an investment advising and wealth management firm based in St. Louis.

 

Where is Olney, Illinois?

 

WIKIPEDIA ENTRY:

Olney is a city in Richland County, Illinois, United States. The population was 8,631 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Richland County.

According to the 2010 census, Olney has a total area of 6.664 square miles (17.26 km2), of which 6.66 square miles (17.25 km2) (or 99.94%) is land and 0.004 square miles (0.01 km2) (or 0.06%) is water.
As of the census of 2000, there were 8,631 people, 3,755 households, and 2,301 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,498.4 people per square mile.

 

White Squirrels

Olney is known for its population of white squirrels. There are two hypotheses about how there came to be white squirrels in Olney.

The first is that in 1902 William Stroup was out hunting and shot a gray female squirrel. The shot knocked the two babies out of a nest, and he brought them home to his children. They were later sold to Jasper Banks, who put them on display in front of his saloon.

The second is that George W. Ridgely and John Robinson captured a cream colored squirrel and then raised several litters of them before bringing a pair to Olney in 1902. Mr. Ridgely sold the pair to Jasper C. Banks for $5 each. Mr. Banks made a green box for his albinos and displayed them in his saloon window.

In 1910, the Illinois legislature passed a law prohibiting the confinement of wildlife, and they were released into the woods.

In 1925, the city passed a law that disallowed dogs from running at large. In 1943, the squirrel population reached its peak at 1000, but now the population holds steady at around 200.

In the mid-1970s, John Stencel, instructor at Olney Central College, received a small grant from the Illinois Academy of Science to study the white squirrels.

A squirrel count is held each fall. Both white and gray squirrels are counted in addition to cats. The number of squirrels has dropped causing concern. When the white squirrels dip below 100, they are concerned about genetic drift, or changes in allele (gene) frequency, which may reduce genetic variation and therefore speed up the extinction of a small population.

In 1997, the Olney City Council amended its ordinance which disallowed dogs from running at large to include cats. The 1997 squirrel count realized a decrease in cats. They are hopeful this will have a positive effect on the white squirrel population.

White squirrels have the right-of-way on all public streets, sidewalks, and thoroughfares in Olney, and there is a $750 fine for running one over. The police department’s badge even has a picture of a white squirrel on it. The white squirrel has proved to be an enduring symbol of Olnean pride, and stands as Olney’s most defining feature.

The population of white squirrels makes Illinois the only state to have populations of white as well as black squirrels, the latter residing in the Quad Cities area.

Born in Petersburg and Cantrall- Illinois Born “Boys of Summer” Series

Tom Knuppel Sports, History , , , ,

Continuing with my series, today I focus in the Springfield area and find a few small towns with major league players in their history. I am making a conscious effort to stay away from the Chicago area and focus more on the small town and a few of the larger downstate cities and their history.

 

 

Krieg_bill

 

 

 

 

William “Bill” Krieg

 

 

 

 

Born in Menard County

 

William Frederick Krieg (January 29, 1859 – March 25. 1930) was a Major League Baseball player from 1884 to 1887.
Krieg was born in Petersburg, Illinois. He played college baseball at the University of Notre Dame and then started his professional baseball career in 1883, in the Northwestern League. In 1884, Krieg played in the Union Association, which is now considered a “major league.” and made his professional debut on April 20, 1884 and  he batted .247. During the following season, he had short stints with four different ballclubs: two minor league teams based in Hartford and the major league Chicago White Stockings and Brooklyn Grays. In 1886, he split time with the Washington Nationals and the Eastern League’s Hartford Dark Blues.

Krieg started 1887 with Washington. On opening day, he hit a home run, however, he batted just .253 in 25 games and was released in midseason. He played his final major league game on June 15, 1887. In his career, he played in 141 games with 535 at bats, 127 hits, 29 doubles4 home runs, 37 runs batted in and 4 stolen bases along with a .237 batting average  Afterwards, he joined the Northwestern League’s Minneapolis Millers and batted .402, which was the second-best total in the circuit.

Krieg played in the Western Association in 1888 and would remain in that league for most of the following decade. In 1889, he batted .326 and then joined Milwaukee in 1890.In 1892, he won his first batting title while playing in Milwaukee. Krieg had a career season with Rockford in 1895. During that campaign, he batted a robust .452, with 237 hits, 14 triples, and 11 home runs to lead the Western Association in all four categories. He won another batting title the following year, at .350. In 1897, he hit .340. In 1898, he became the player-manager for the Burlington Hawkeyes, but his batting average slipped to .297. In 1899, he was player-manager for the Bloomington Blues.

Krieg’s playing career ended in 1901, when he was 42 years old. The following season, he managed in the Southern Association and then retired from the game. Early in his career, he had been a catcher, outfielder, and first baseman – he played the majority of his MLB games as a catcher – but he ended up being primarily a first baseman later in his career. He won three batting titles in the minor leagues. Krieg’s lifetime minor league batting average was .335, and Bill James considered him to be the best minor league baseball player of the 1880s.

Krieg died on March 25, 1930, at the age of 71 and is buried in Chillicothe, Illinois.

 

Where is Petersburg, Illinois? Here is the wikipedia entry:

Petersburg is a city in Menard County, Illinois, United States, on the bluffs and part of the floodplain overlooking the Sangamon River. It is part of the Springfield, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,299 at the 2000 census, and 2,185 at a 2009 estimate. It is the county seat of Menard County.Petersburg is located approximately two miles north of New Salem, the original settlement where Abraham Lincoln first settled when he came to Illinois.

Other notables from Petersburg:

William Taylor Davidson, newspaper editor; born in Petersburg
Edgar Lee Masters, lawyer and author (Spoon River Anthology); boyhood home is still preserved and open for visits
William B. McKinley, United States Senator from Illinois
Ann Rutledge, allegedly Abraham Lincoln’s first love; buried in Petersburg’s Oakland Cemetery

 

 

Vandagrift

 

Carl Vandagrift

 

 

 

Born in Sangamon County

 

Born in Cantrall, Illinois, Vandagrift attended the University of Illinois before his entrance into the baseball world. The 5’8″ infielder got his chance at age 31 to play professional baseball with the Indianapolis Hoosiers with his debut on May 19, 1914 as a second baseman. He appeared in 43 games and accumulated 136 at bats with 34 hits for a .250 batting average along with 4 doubles and no triples or homers. He walked 9 times and struck out 15 at bats. In th field, he was a butcher with 10 errors in 28 games at second base. They moved him to third and short for the other fifteen games and he had 4 errors for a total of 14 in 43 games. He played his last game on October 5, 1914. His life was short as he died on October 9, 1920 at the age of 37. He is buried in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

 

 

So if he played for the Indianapolis Hoosiers, How can we say he played in the major leagues? Here’s your answer.

 

When the Federal League opened for business in 1914 as a challenger to the two major leagues, one franchise was placed in Indianapolis. Primarily owned by oil magnate Harry F. Sinclair, this team won the Federal League championship in 1914 with an 88–65 record. The team played at Federal League Park. The team’s roster included future Baseball Hall of Fame members Edd Roush and Bill McKechnie.

Although the Federal League had placed a team (the Tip-Tops) in Brooklyn, from the outset Federal League officials felt they could more effectively compete commercially against the American and National leagues by placing a team in Manhattan. All attempts were effectively blocked by principals of the two existing Manhattan teams (the New York Giants and the New York Yankees). Federal League executives decided to relocate the Indianapolis franchise to a major city in the New York metropolitan area, and Newark was chosen. Although the team was named the Newark Peppers, the team actually played at Harrison Park, in the town of Harrison, New Jersey, across the Passaic River from downtown Newark. (As part of the franchise transfer, Indianapolis outfielder Benny Kauff, who was the Federal League batting champ in 1914, was placed with the Tip-Tops.)

The team finished in 5th place with a won–loss record of 80–72. The Peppers were disbanded when the Federal League went out of business after two seasons.

Interesting sidenote: Team infielder Rupert Mills “played” the non-existent 1916 “season.” A clause in his 1915 contract guaranteed him a salary for the following year as long as he continued to show up at the park, suited and ready to play for the team. Mills fulfilled his contractual obligation, coming to the empty park each day and performing a physical workout to remain in playing condition.

 

Where is Cantrall, Illinois? This is the wikipedia entry for Cantrall.

As of the census of 2000, there were 139 people, 53 households, and 40 families residing in the village. The population density was 545.3 people per square mile (214.7/km²). There were 55 housing units at an average density of 215.8 per square mile (84.9/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 99.28% White, and 0.72% Asian.

There were 53 households out of which 43.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 66.0% were married couples living together, 3.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.5% were non-families. 22.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.62 and the average family size was 3.08.

In the village the age distribution of the population shows 25.2% under the age of 18, 5.8% from 18 to 24, 30.9% from 25 to 44, 20.1% from 45 to 64, and 18.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 113.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.0 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $45,000, and the median income for a family was $45,417. Males had a median income of $49,375 versus $21,719 for females. The per capita income for the village was $21,610. There were none of the families and 1.4% of the population living below the poverty line, including no under eighteens and none of those over 64.

Peoria Born “Boys of Summer” – George Whiteman – Peoria Born

Tom Knuppel Sports, History

Hope you enjoy Illinois Born “Boys of Summer” Series

George_Whiteman

 

George Whiteman

Started Over Babe Ruth

George (Lucky) Whiteman was born in Peoria, Illinois on December 23, 1882 the child of a German immigrant mother and father formerly from  New York . Early in his life as a teenager he felt the urge to move around and see the country. He and a partner began touring the United States as a diving acrobat team to make money and travel. That was a fine life until his partner died from a dive and Whiteman quit immediately and began looking for a different career.

Instead of writing this, I found a very well written article about Whiteman from the SABR biographies written by Jon Daly.  HERE is the article.

Enjoy.

Illinois Born “Boys of Summer” Series- Zach Monroe, Hank O’Day, George Moriarty and More

Tom Knuppel Sports

 

Continuing the series.

 

 

George Moriarty

George Joseph Moriarty was bon on July 7, 1884 in Chicago near the Union Stock Yards. He went on to become a major legue third baseman along with an umpire and manager in the major leagues. He made his debut on September 7, 1903 at the age of 19 for the Chicago Cubs. In his career, he played for four teams with 248 career stolen bases which included 11 of home plate. He played his last game with the White Sox on May 4, 1916.

He then turned to umpiring from 1917-1940 except in 1927-1928 he was the manager of the Tigers. He was one of the AL’s most highly regarded umpires in his era, working in the 1921, 1925, 1930, 1933 & 1935 World Series (as crew chief in 1930 & 1935), as well as the second All-Star Game in 1934.
On a memorable Memorial Day in 1932, Moriarty worked behind the plate for a Cleveland Indians home game against the White Sox. When several Chicago players took exception to his calls, he challenged them to settle the dispute under the stands of League Park after the game. Pitcher Milt Gaston took him on first but Moriarty knocked him flat, breaking his hand. Several White Sox, including manager Lew Fonseca and catcher and future AL umpire Charlie Berry, took him on in turn. The next day, AL president Will Harridge issued numerous fines and a 10-day suspension for Gaston.

 

 

 

John Romonosky 

Born in Harrisburg, Illinois on July 7, 1929,  John Romonosky became a right-handed pitcher for three seasons in Major League Baseball, appearing in 32 games for the 1953 St. Louis Cardinals and the 1958–59 Washington Senators. His minor league baseball career spanned 13 seasons between 1949 and 1961.

After his first recall from the minor leagues, Romonosky started two games for the Cardinals at the end of the 1953 campaign, earning no decisions. In fact, in his Major League debut against the Milwaukee Braves, the second game of a Sunday doubleheader at County Stadium, the game ended in a 3–3 tie after eight innings of play. Romonosky allowed three earned runs and seven hits in six innings, with two bases on balls and three strikeouts.

Sent back to the minors by St. Louis for the 1954 season, Romonosky didn’t return to the majors until July 1958 as a member of the Senators. He started five games during that month, but won only one game (losing the other four) and he worked out of the bullpen for the remainder of the 1958 campaign, appearing in 18 total MLB games. He began the next season with Washington, and worked in 12 more contests, two as a starter. He posted a career-best 3.29 earned run average that season, but did not pitch in a big-league game after July 27 and spent part of the season with the Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts. However, in his final Major League game in September 1959, he pinch-ran for Senators’ slugger Roy Sievers in the eighth inning and scored the winning run in a 5–4 win over the Cleveland Indians at Griffith Stadium. In his career, he  yielded 97 hits and 51 bases on balls in 101⅓ major league innings, with 63 strikeouts.

 

 

Salty Parker

Francis James “Salty” Parker was born in East St. Louis, Illinois on July 8, 1912. Parker played in the Major Leagues for one month from August 13, 1936 through September 16, 1936. He appeared in 11 games, 7 at shortstop, for the Detroit Tigers, collecting seven hits and four RBIs for a .280 batting average and a .333 on-base percentage. Parker was sent to the Tigers on December 2, 1936 in a trade with Indianapolis American Association that also brought Dizzy Trout to the Tigers. Though Parker only played a month, Trout was a Major League pitcher for years, and eventually the Tigers’ ace.

After a lengthy minor league managerial career, including a stint managing Leones de Escogido in the Dominican Republic (1957–59), Parker coached for the San Francisco Giants (1958–61), Cleveland Indians (1962), Los Angeles/California Angels (1964–66; 1973–74), New York Mets (1967) and Houston Astros (1968–72) and served brief stints as manager of the Mets, where he had a 4–7 record in 11 games in 1967, and the Astros, where he had a 1–0 record in 1 game in 1972.[1] After his MLB coaching career, Parker scouted for the Angels and remained active in Houston-area baseball, coaching in the Karl Young League for many years.

 

 

Zach Monroe 

Zachary Charles Monroe was born on July 8, 1931 in Peoria, Illinois.  He was a pitcher over parts of 2 seasons in Major League Baseball (1958–59) with the New York Yankees. He made his debut on June 27, 1958 for the Yankees where he pitched 3.1 innings and allowed no earned runs with four walks and three strikeouts. BOXSCORE  He was a member of the 1958 World Series champion Yankees. An alumnus of Bradley University, for his career he compiled an 4–2 record with a 3.38 earned run average and 19 strikeouts in 24 appearance

 

 

Hank O’Day (Chicago)

Henry M. O’Day (July 8, 1859[2] – July 2, 1935), nicknamed “The Reverend”, was an American right-handed pitcher and later an umpire and manager in Major League Baseball. After a seven-year major league playing career, he worked as a National League (NL) umpire for 30 seasons between 1895 and 1927.

O’Day umpired in ten World Series – second only to Bill Klem’s total of 18 – including five of the first seven played, and was behind the plate for the first modern World Series game in 1903. Retiring at age 68 years, 2 months, he remains the oldest umpire in major league history – a fact which was not known until recently, as he routinely shaved five to seven years from his true age throughout his career. His 3,986 total games as an umpire ranked third in major league history when he retired, and his 2,710 games as the plate umpire still rank second in major league history to Klem’s total of 3,544. He is largely known for his controversial decision in a pivotal 1908 game, a ruling that still causes debate today. O’Day interrupted his umpiring career twice for single seasons as a manager, leading the Cincinnati Reds in 1912 and the Chicago Cubs in 1914. He remains the only person ever to serve full seasons in the NL as a player, manager and umpire. O’Day was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in July 2013.

On July 8, 1901, his 42nd birthday, the fans are not happy with him as umpire because of some calls he makes. In the 8th inning, the Cardinals are leading 4-3, when the umpire calls two Brooklyn runners safe on the same play when both appear out. One of the runners ran 5-10 feet into the infield to avoid a tag on a weak grounder to first base. The second runner was clearly tagged out as he tries to advance to third base. The Cardinals argue vehemently. The fans toss bottles and jump from the bleachers to get their hands on the umpire. When order is restored, O’Day had a cut lip and both runners later score. The Cardinals lose 6-4 in the game and police had to escort the umpire to safety. It was the umpire’s birthday.

Illinois Born “Boys of Summer” Series- Born in Shiloh, Mt Carroll, Decatur and Streator

Tom Knuppel Sports

Continuing my series on Illinois born major league players.

 

IllinoisBorn

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Roy Hawes   roy_hawes

 

Roy Lee Hawes was born July 5, 1926 in Shiloh, Illinois. He was a first baseman in Major League Baseball, who played in three games for the Washington Senators in 1951. He had six at bats with one hit in three games. He is currently the 78th oldest living former major league player as of this writing.

 

 

 

Jeff Innis  jeff_innis

Jeffrey David Innis was born July 5, 1962 in Decatur, Illinois and attended the University of Illinois and received a psychology degree. He  is a former pitcher in Major League Baseball who played his entire career for the New York Mets from 1987 through 1993. He batted and threw right-handed.He  threw two different breaking balls with a deceptive movement that disconcerted opposite hitters. A workhorse out of the New York Mets bullpen, Innis led the team in games pitched from 1991–93, averaging 84 innings per season. In 1991, he became the only pitcher in major league history to appear in at least 60 games without recording a win or a save. He broke the streak recording a win in relief on the 1992 Opening Day as he set a team record with 76 pitching appearances that season. His nickname was “I-Man”.

In a seven-season career, Innis posted a 10-20 record with a 3.05 ERA in 288 games.

 

 

 

Ward Miller  Ward_Miller

Ward Taylor Miller was born July 4, 1884 in Mount Carroll, Illinois and became a professional baseball player who played outfielder in the Major Leagues from 1909-1917. He played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, St. Louis Terriers, and St. Louis Browns.

Miller, a graduate of Northern Illinois University, made his major league debut on April 14, 1909.He played 15 games for the Pittsburgh Pirates during their pennant-winning 1909 season and had a batting average of .143 before he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds along with cash for Kid Durbin. In 43 games with the Reds during the 1909 Cincinnati Reds season, he hit .310 and had nine stolen bases. In his career, he had a .278 batting average with 623 hitw and 123 stolen bases.

 

 

 

 

 

Ken Sears   SearsKen

Kenneth Eugene Sears was born on July 6, 1917 in Streator, Illinois and went on to play college baseball at the University of Alabama. was an American professional baseball catcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) during the 1943 and 1946 seasons with his debut on May 2, 1943.  He played with the New York Yankees and the St. Louis Browns. He had a .282 career batting average in 67 career games and batted left and threw right-handed. He played college baseball at the University of Alabama.

 

 

 

 

 

For previous articles click HERE.

 

Illinois Born “Boys of Summer” Series- Bill Tuttle- Bradley Grad- Started Anti-Tobacco Chewing Campaign

Tom Knuppel Sports

Continuing on with my series on Illinois Born major league players finds some interesting facts. These players were all born between July 1 and July 4. For more articles on “Boys of Summer” players click HERE.

 

Mel Simons was born Melburn “Butch” Ellis Simons in Carlyle, Illinois on July 1, 1900. He played outfield for the Chciago White Sox for two season (1931-1932) and finished with a .268 batting average with 12 runs batted in. He hit no home runs and made his debut on April 14, 1931. At the age of 74, he died and was buried in Paducah, Kentucky.

 

 

Pete Burnside

Peter Willits Burnside ws born July 2, 1930 in Evanston, Illinois. He attended New Trier High School and graduated from Dartmouth College. He became a lefthanded major league pitcher and made his major league debut on September 20, 1955. He started on the mound for the New York Giants and lasted 3 2/3 innings allowing 3 hits and 2 earned runs with 6 walks and 2 strikeouts. He didn’t figure in the decision. He played for five teams from 1955-1963. In his career he was 19-36 with a 4.81 ERA and 303 strikeouts.

 

 

 Tom Gilles   tom_gilles

Thomas Bradford Gilles (born July 2, 1962) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. Gilles pitched in two games for the Toronto Blue Jays in the 1990 season. He had a 1-0 record, in 1.3 innings, with a 6.75 ERA. He played June 7th and 8th in 1990. Born in Peoria, Illinois, he was drafted by the New York Yankees in the 47th round of the 1984 amateur draft.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Frank Millard

Frank E. Millard wass born in East St. Louis, Illinoius. He played second base in one game, with no hits, for the St. Louis Browns of the American Association on May 4, 1890. He died two years later, while playing for the Galveston Sand Crabs in the Texas League.

 

Bill Tuttle  Bill_Tuttle

 

William Robert Tuttle was born on July 4, 1929 in Cramer , Illinois which is near Farmington. He went on to attend Bradley University in Peoria before he enter ed the major leagues as a centerfielder. He made his debut on September 10, 1952 for the Detroit Tigers. In his 12 year career,  he hit .259 with 67 home runs and 443 runs batted in. He had 1,105 career hits before retiring on May 11, 1963. Throughout his career, Tuttle was considered one of the most reliable outfielders in the game, leading the league in putouts in 1955 and 1960 and outfield assists in 1959 and 1960.

On practically every baseball card issued for Tuttle, a large bulge of chewing tobacco is evident in his cheek. Tuttle died in Anoka, Minnesota at the age of 69, and oral cancer was in all likelihood the cause of his death. Bill was diagnosed with oral cancer five years before his death, and he put the last half-decade of his life to use in raising awareness, as an active volunteer for the National Spit Tobacco Education Program (NSTEP) of Oral Health America.
During the last years of his life, Tuttle was facially disfigured due to extensive surgery for oral cancer. He traveled widely as a public speaker, warning major league players of the dangers of chewing tobacco. “It’s going to be pretty hard to tell someone making $4 million a year not to chew”, he admitted. “So what we’re trying to do is get it off TV.” What Tuttle was trying to do was to stop baseball players from chewing tobacco, and thus setting a bad example for the young people who watch baseball. After being diagnosed with oral cancer, he was interviewed for a Reader’s Digest article entitled “My War With A Smoke Free Killer” in which he detailed how he was introduced to chewing tobacco by a teammate while sidelined with an injury and subsequently became addicted. The article made it a point to show pictures of a disfigured Tuttle after his many facial surgeries. He died in July 1998 at age 69.

 

Illinois Born “Boys of Summer” – Larry Stahl- Broke up Perfect Game in 9th Inning

Tom Knuppel Sports

I continue my series on Illinois born major league players. If you wish to see the list of players we have highlighted so far, please click HERE.

 

 

Larry Stahl

StahlLarry

 

Larry Floyd Stahl as born on June 29, 1941 in Belleville, Illinois and became a  professional baseball player who played outfielder in the Major Leagues from 1964-1973. He played for the Kansas City Athletics, New York Mets, San Diego Padres, and Cincinnati Reds.

He made his debut on September 11, 1964 for the Athletics as a pinch hitter. He got his first hit against the Yankees on September 19th with Ralph Terry on the mound. His one moment in history may have came on September 2, 1972 as a member of the San Diego Padres. Milt Pappas was on the mound for the Cubs and he retired 26 btters in a row and now faced Stahl as a pinch hitter. Pappas got the count to 2-2 with Bruce froemming behnd the plate and threw a very close pitch for ball 3 on the batter. The next pitch was too close to take but Froemming called it ball four and the perfect games was gone and broken up by Larry Stahl. Pappas preserved the no-hitter on the next batter. Primarily an outfielder, his best year was 1971 at age 30 when, in 114 games for the Padres, he hit .253 with eight home runs and 36 runs batted in. He had exactly 400 career hits. In his one postseason appearance, the 1973 National League Championship Series, playing for the Reds he had two hits in four at bats.

 

 

 

Bill Webb

WebbBill   William Joseph Webb was born on June 25, 1895 in Chicago, Illinois. He played in five major league games with his debut on September 17, 1917 as a second baseman for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He went ent hitless in his first four games but on October 1, 1917, which turned out to be his last major league game, he got three singles in four at bats to end his career at 3-for-15 for a .200 batting average. He went to the minor leagues and became a player-manager for the Buffalo Bisons in 1924-1925 and then moved up the ldder from there. He was a third base coach in the major legues for fives seasons and then went to the front office for the White Sox as minor league director. He died in a car accident on his way to work on January 12, 1943.

 

 

 

Joe Zdeb

ZdebJoe

 

Joseph Edmund Zdeb was born on June 27, 1953 in Compton, Illinois (Compton is a village in Lee County, Illinois, United States. The population was 303 at the 2010 census, down from 347 in 2000) and attended high school at Maine South in Park Ridge, Illinois. He had a scholarship to the University of Missouri to play football but was chosen in the 4th round of the 1971 amateur draft by the Kansas City Royals. He decided to play baseball. He had several minor leagues stops on his way to the major leagues. At some point, during minor league spring training, he showed up to camp with long hair, which was against team policy. Manager Joe Gordon refused to give him a uniform, so he approached general manager Lou Gorman, asking “Mr. Gorman, if I cut my hair, will I become a better ballplayer?” Gorman said he needed to cut it to properly represent the organization, and after initially refusing, he did so a couple days later.

He made his major league debut on April 7, 1977 and went 1-for 4. He was a platoon (left fielder) player most of his brief career. He played his last game in May 29, 1979. On January 15, 1980, Zdeb was traded to the Chicago White Sox for pitcher Eddie Bane. He finished his professional career that year, splitting the season between the White Sox Iowa Oaks affiliate and the Tidewater Tides in the New York Mets organization. His struggles at the plate continued, as he hit a combined .194, and after the season he was out of professional baseball. For his career, he batted .272 with 2 home runs and 34 runs batted in.

 

 

 

 

Illinois Born “Boys of Summer” List of Published Players

Tom Knuppel Sports

Welcome to my series called, Illinois Born “Boys of Summer”. It is my hope to bring some history to your baseball knowledge from the State of Illinois. Many cemeteries around the state have the grave sites of former major league players. From the big towns like Chicago and Peoria to the smaller one in Atlanta, Staunton, Latham Havana, Emden and more, we find former major league players.
Boys-Of-Summer

 

 

Here is a link to each one that has been written and the town they were born in Illinois. Enjoy!

Atlanta— Lee Dunham

Auburn— Dutch Leonard 

Aurora— Ken Jungels 

Belleville— Larry Stahl

Belvidere— Joe Charboneau 

Blue Island— Norm Glockson  

Bushnell— Earl Sheely 

Cantrall— Carl Vandagrift

Carlyle— Mel Simons  

Chicago—Eddie Gaedel, Charlie Kavanaugh, Mem Lovett , Eddie Malone, Heinie Reitz 

Gerry Arrigo, Irv Medlinger , Newt Holliday. George Vukovich, Hank O’Day

George Moriarty, Bill Webb  

Chicago Hts.– Bret Prinz   

Cramer– Bill Tuttle   

Compton– Joe Zdeb

Danville– Jason Anderson  

Decatur– Jeff Innis   

Divernon– Al Papai

East St. Louis– Frank Millard, Salty Parker  

Elgin– Lou North 

Elkhart- Jake Stahl, Tommy Thompson

Evanston– Pete Burnside 

Fillmore– Ray Sinclair 

Harrisburg– John Romonsky  

Joliet— Tom Haller   

Latham– Eugene “Junior” Thompson

Lincolnwood– George Kontos 

Mount Olive– Mike Kreevich

Mt. Carroll– Ward Miller   

Olney– Glenn Brummer, Ollie Pickering, Dummy Murphy, Stan Royer         

Peoria– George Whiteman. Zach Monroe, Tom Gilles   

Petersburg– Bill Krieg      

Rock Island– Bill Zies 

Shiloh– Roy Hawes   

Staunton– Henry Keupper 

Streator– Ken Sears  

Taylorville– Pat Perry 



 

 

 

 

 

 

Illinois Born- “Boys of Summer” Series Continues

Tom Knuppel Sports

Here is my on-going series on Illinois Born major league baseball players.

IllinoisBorn

 

 

Ken Jungels

JungelsKen

Born Kenneth Peter Jungels (June 23, 1916 – September 9, 1975) in Aurora, Illinois. He became a Major League Baseball pitcher who played for five seasons. He played for the Cleveland Indians from 1937 to 1938 and 1940 to 1941 and the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1942. He made his debut with the Cleveland Indians and went 0-for-4 on September 15, 1937.. He last played on June 7, 1942 in a Pirates uniform. His career record was 1-0 with a 6.80 ERA and struck out 21 batters. His nickname was “Curly”.

 

 

Henry Keupper

 

KeupperHenry

Henry John Keupper (July 24, 1887 in Staunton, Illinois – August 14, 1960 in Marion, Illinois), was a professional baseball player who played pitcher in the Major Leagues in 1914. He would play for the St. Louis Terriers. He was 8-20 in his career which was just one season with a 4.27 ERA.

 

 

 

George Vukovich

VukovichGeo George Stephen Vukovich (June 24, 1956) is a former right fielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Philadelphia Phillies and Cleveland Indians in all or part of six seasons from 1980–1985. Listed at 6′ 0″ , 198 lb.), Vukovich batted left handed and threw right handed. He was born in Chicago.

Vukovich attended college at Southern Illinois University, where he was a member of Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity. The Phillies selected him in the fourth round of the 1977 MLB draft out of SIU.

Vukovich made his major league debut with the Phillies in 1980, appearing as a pinch hitter in a game against the Montreal Expos. He received a World Series ring in his rookie season, even though he did not play in the Series.

In December 1982, Vukovich was sent along with Jay Baller, Julio Franco, Manny Trillo and Jerry Willard to the Indians in the same transaction that brought Von Hayes to Philadelphia. Afterwards, he played two seasons in Japan for the Seibu Lions from 1986 to 1987.

In between, Vukovich played winter ball with the Águilas del Zulia of the Venezuelan League during three seasons spanning 1979–1982.