Hot stove conversation answers questions about photo
You can be absolutely certain of two points this time of year – one, it’s going to be cold, and two, if you run into Bob McGuinness the talk is going to be on baseball. Both occurred this past week, the former determined by the weather maker and the latter in the aftermath of a story that appeared on these pages.
As you might recall, an article ran here about Bob Cochrane of Uniontown finding an old picture, taken back near the turn of the century, of a baseball team that represented this area in the Pennsylvania-Ohio-Maryland Baseball League (POM) with only the last names of the players listed. The question was asked if anybody might know anything about these players, the league they played in, anything that might shed some light on local baseball from that far back time.
Enter Bob McGuinness, who played baseball around here for a lot of years and later coached the Geibel Catholic High School players, and is my equal when it comes to enthusiasm about local baseball. His usual greeting this time of year is ‘How many more days?’ referring to how many more days we have to wait until the County League gets operating again.
Bob commented on the picture of the POM players, saying, “I recall Chip Francis, who was a former local player and baseball enthusiast, finishing up his baseball days umpiring in the old Fay-West League. Chip told me about playing professionally for both Connellsville and Uniontown in the POM League when he was a young man, and he added that some of his teammates went on to play some in the majors. I knew Chip in the late 1940s, and he was in his 70s then, so he would have been in his 20s around the turn of the century when he played pro baseball.”
Like somebody else who has a mind on this subject, Bob has a copy of the Encyclopedia of Baseball and, for the real baseball nut, you won’t find a more interesting volume. Over 1,400 pages, listing players starting about the 1880s, and if a player went to bat even one time in the majors, he is listed in this book which is now about 5-inches thick and five or six pounds, listing the player’s home town, date of birth, death, you name it.
Bob added, “I checked the Encyclopedia for the names listed with the picture, and found four that could have been major leaguers. We don’t know the first names, but I found their birth dates and matched them up to find the four probable major leaguers in the picture, since they were then in their early twenties.”
The four players had been listed with the picture simply as pitchers Witherup, Hagerman, and Pearson, and outfielder Rudolph. Pearson was the manager, with Bob noting “since he was the oldest, it’s likely that was the reason he was the manager.”
With his match-ups, Bob found that the players could have been Roy Witherup, Kurt (Casey) Hagerman, Alex Pearson, and John (Dutch) Rudolph.
The biographies showed that Witherup was born July 26, 1886, in North Washington, Pa., making him about 18 when the photo was taken. He pitched for Boston in the National League in 1906, working in eight games, starting – and finishing – three games with an 0-3 record. Then he pitched for the Washington Senators in 1908-1909, going 3-9 in 18 games, starting eight with five complete games. Ever hear of a pitcher completing that many today? As a batter he was 6-for-52, with an average of .115. He died in New Bethlehem, Pa., on Dec. 31, 1941, at age 55.
Hagerman was born in Mt. Oliver, Pa., on May 12, 1887, and pitched for the Boston Red Sox in 1911-12, finishing 0-2 overall, with two starts and two complete games. Then came two years with the Cardinals and Cubs, going 3-5 overall, for a major league career total of 3-7. At bat, he was 9-for-35 and a .257 average. He died April 1, 1964, in New Bedford, Pa., age 76.
Pearson was born March 9, 1877, in Greensboro, Pa., and died Oct. 30, 1966, in Rochester, Pa., at 89. He pitched for the Cardinals in 1902, finishing 2-6 in 11 games, starting 10 and throwing eight complete games. The following year he was with Cleveland, finishing 1-2 in four games (three starts, two complete) for a major league total of 3-8. As a batter, he was .217 (10-for-46).
Rudolph was born in Natrona on July 10, 1882, and died there on April 17, 1967, at 84. He spent two years in the majors with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1903, and the Cubs in 1904. He had no extra-base hits and batted .250 for those two seasons.
Of the four, Bob said, “All were from the Pennsylvania area, so it’s not out of the question that they would play for Uniontown in the POM League. The picture is no doubt the Uniontown team that played in the POM some time before 1902, since Pearson pitched for the Cards in 1902, and Rudolph played for the Phillies in 1903.”
There’s nothing like a good baseball discussion to take away the blahs of winter, if only for a short time. My thanks to Bob and all you other baseball followers who have commented on the photo.
And Bob, in answer to your question, “It’s too darned many.”