Earl Homer Sheely was born on February 12, 1893 in Bushnell, Illinois. He was a first baseman for the Chicago White Sox from 1921-1927. In 1925, he was sixth in voting for the American League MVP. In that season, he batted .315 in 153 games and accrued 111 RBI’s with 43 double, 3 triples and 9 home runs in 600 at-bats. He also added 3 stolen bases and 68 walks and 26 sacrifice hits.
He kind of faded for a bit with the Sox and moved on to play baseball for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1929 and the Boston Braves in 19131,
After his playing days, he became a scout for the Boston Red Sox and a general manager of the Seattle Rainiers. (The Rainiers were owned by Daniel Dugdale, who grew up in Peoria, Illinois which is 49 miles to Sheely’s birth place of Bushnell, and likely had crossed paths with him in the past.)
Bushnell, Illinois (population in 2023 was 2,673) is in McDonough County and Macomb is the county seat. He is an inductee of the Pacific Coast League Hall of Fame. He died in Seattle, Washington, at the age of 59.