The American Association Almanac

Russell Lewis Miller, born at Etna, Ohio on March 25, 1900, became a pitcher with the Columbus Senators of the American Association in 1930, the last year the club was known as the Senators; they were renamed the Columbus Red Birds in 1931. Miller was one of a handful of players who appeared on the very last Senators' team. He died at Bucyrus, Ohio at the age of 62, the result of a heart attack. As a member of the Columbus club in 1930, Miller played under Harry Leibold, a feisty and colorful manager who was a long-time veteran of the game. Miller had a respectable season that year, winning nine of 20 decisions with 147 inning of work in 43 games. The Senators landed in sixth place under Leibold that year with a record of 67-86. Miller was teammates with Emmett McCann whose suicide was reported a few weeks ago in this blog. Miller's statistics indicate he had control problems that year, walking 59 while striking out only 23 with a 5.81 ERA. With numbers like those it'...

Today marks the 110th anniversary of the first games played in the old American Association, a league which was originally created in November 1901. On April 23, 1902, the eight new teams took the field in four American Association cities, donning new togs and creating a new baseball tradition which would last through 1952 in its original form (with exceptions). Here are the results of the games from the first day of American Association play: At Columbus, Ohio Site: Neil Park Minneapolis Millers....0 Columbus Senators.....5 Winning pitcher: Wiley Dunham Losing pitcher: Ted Corbett Synopsis: While both teams had only three hits apiece, the Millers committed eight errors. According to Sporting Life : "Both pitchers were in great form, and batting honors were even. The locals, however, gave Dunham superb support, while the fielding behind Corbett was very ragged. Not a Minneapolis runner reached third, and only one got as far as second."        ...

Hank Gehring, pitcher Minneapolis: 1906 St. Paul: 1908-11 Today marks the 100th Anniversary of the early death of Henry “Hank” Gehring, the son of Swiss immigrants who grew up in the Dayton’s Bluff area of St. Paul, Minnesota. He died April 18, 1912 at a hospital in Kansas City, Missouri. He was only 31 years of age. Gehring was a St. Paul community icon as a baseball professional in the late 1890s and early 1900s as he climbed the ladder of success until reaching the pinnacle as a member of the American League’s Washington Senators in 1907, the year Walter “Big Train” Johnson got his start in the big leagues with the same team. The two would most certainly have sat together on the same bench or even warmed each other up along the sidelines. Born January 24, 1881 at St. Paul, Gehring first year in organized baseball came in 1901 at the age of 20 when he appeared with the St. Paul Saints of the Western League in four games. He finished his short stint with a record of two wins and two l...

Emmett McCann, second-baseman/first-baseman Louisville Colonels: 1923 Columbus Senators: 1926-30 Indianapolis Indians: 1931-32 St. Paul Saints: 1933 Today is the 75th anniversary of the tragic suicide of an American Association standout. Emmett McCann killed himself on April 15, 1937 at the age of 35 in Philadelphia, Pennsyvania, his home town. He reportedly shot himself at the Karakung Golf Course at Cobbs Creek Park, according to Baseball Necrology. He had been ill for some time, according to reports. McCann was 21 years of age when he first joined the ranks of the American Association as a member of the Louisville Colonels in 1923, according to baseball-reference.com. A second-baseman throughout the first half of his 15-year minor league career, McCann became a first-baseman with the Columbus Senators in 1928. He also managed the Indianapolis Indians as a player-manager from 1931-32 and the St. Paul Saints in 1933 when he appeared in 14 games as a second baseman. McCann’s best seas...

Tom “Cyclops” Sunkel, pitcher 1940 Columbus Red Birds 1945-46 St. Paul Saints A belated commemoration: Thomas Jacob “Cyclops” Sunkel died ten years ago on April 6, 2002 at the age of 89 in his hometown of Paris, Illinois. Sunkel’s American Association career began with the Columbus Red Birds in 1940 when he won 13 against seven losses. The native of Paris, IL was blind in one eye, hence his nickname. The southpaw nearly equalled his performance in 1940 with a 13-8 record in 1945 as a member of the St. Paul Saints, bringing distinction to his fine record by leading the American Association with 134 strikeouts in 170 innings of work. He started 28 games, completing eight and threw one shutout. In 1946 he went 6-6 with St. Paul. On September 12, 1946, Sunkel threw a no-hitter against the Louisville Colonels at Louisville, as the Saints won, 3-0. Beginning his career in 1934, Sunkel made it to the Big Show in 1937 when he appeared in nine games with the St. Louis Cardinals. He finished his...

Ray Jacobs, shortstop 1928 Minneapolis Millers 1928 Toledo Mud Hens Raymond Frederick Jacobs was born January 2, 1902 at Salt Lake City, Utah and died 60 years ago today as the result of an automobile accident in Los Angeles. He was only 50 years old at the time of his death. Jacobs began his career in pro ball with the Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League in 1923 at the age of 21, appearing in only 15 games but smacking the cover off the ball at a .356 clip. He spent the next four full seasons with Los Angeles. In 1928 he began his brief American Association interlude, spending 25 games with the Toledo Mud Hens during which he batted .322 before heading up to Minneapolis where he appeared in 15 games and played second base. His composite batting average for the two teams was .333 with a .511 slugging percentage. Jacobs returned to the Angels in 1929 and continued his hot hitting ways, posting a mark of .332 at the plate in 591 at-bats. By the time his career was over, Jacobs...

Earl Nycum Howard, pitcher Milwaukee Brewers: 1918-20; 1925 
Earl Nycum Howard, who died 75 years ago today, left this earth much too early, at the age of 40 as the result of pneumonia, according to Baseball Necrology. The same source indicates Howard was a US Army veteran of World War I. Born June 25, 1896 at Everett, Pennsylvania, Howard’s three seasons in the American Association were each spent with one team: the Milwaukee Brewers. His first three season with Milwaukee were from 1918-20, a particularly rough time for the club. Howard was 2-2 in eight games in 1918, posted a 12-20 record in 44 games in 1919, then went 2-7 in 11 games in 1920. He returned to appear in four games with the Brewers in 1925 at the age of 29 when he won one game, lost none. Howard’s last of 10 seasons in organized ball was spent with the Newark Bears of the International League in 1928 when he put two wins on the board against three losses. I count myself as fortunate to be in possession of a game-used ba...

Dick Harley, outfielder-first baseman 1908 Louisville Colonels Harley was born in Philadelphia on Sept. 25, 1872 and died at Philadelphia on April 3, 1952, sixty years ago today at the age of 79. In his only season in the American Association, Harley batted .227 as a member of the Louisville Colonels, appearing in 65 games as an outfielder, 15 as a first baseman. Even at the lusty age of 35, Harley stole 19 bases in his 80 games with Louisville; it was his last season in organized ball. In 1900 as a member of the Detroit Tigers of the minor league American League, he’d stolen 47 bases at the age of 27.

Edwin Dibrell Williams, born January 19, 1910 at Greenbrier, Arkansas, passed away 20 years ago today at Searcy, Arkansas at the age of 82. Williams performed as a second-baseman virtually his entire minor league career, but in 1942 the Columbus Red Birds stationed the 32-year-old at first-base where he appeared in 72 games, showing a very assured approach to defense as reflected by his .995 fielding percentage. He batted .264 with 72 hits in 85 games. For the following few years Williams was performing for a different team, the US Army during World War II, returning to baseball at the Class A level in 1946. He is buried at Thorn Cemetery in Greenbrier, Arkansas.