Minor League Baseball Players

[rlumpkin1@tampabay.rr.com]

Originally Posted by cmcgill

It's not great, but here's Adams while at Ole Miss.

Thank You.

[prewinter]

I'm trying to identify a player Webb, who pinch hit in one game for the St. Louis Terriers in 1913 (on August 18, 1913, to be exact). The game was in St. Louis, and there was a shortstop name Webb playing for a local club called the Alpen Braus that season. It so happens that there was a team photo of the club published in the St. Louis Globe-Democrat on October 5, 1913, and Webb is identified in the caption.

There was also a minor league player, Jack Webb, from St. Louis, who played for Blytheville in 1910, and he is in a team photo of the club published in the Spalding Guide in 1911.

Without further preamble, here are the two photos - first Jack Webb from Blytheville and the Webb from the Alpen Braus. Neither photo is that great of quality, but is there a feeling that these are the same person or different people?

[rlumpkin1@tampabay.rr.com]

Looking for Gilbert Untermeyer 1970 Pilots draft pick. Bonnie Smith 1969 Pilots draft pick.

[Cusick]

Originally Posted by prewinter

I'm trying to identify a player Webb, who pinch hit in one game for the St. Louis Terriers in 1913 (on August 18, 1913, to be exact). The game was in St. Louis, and there was a shortstop name Webb playing for a local club called the Alpen Braus that season. It so happens that there was a team photo of the club published in the St. Louis Globe-Democrat on October 5, 1913, and Webb is identified in the caption.

There was also a minor league player, Jack Webb, from St. Louis, who played for Blytheville in 1910, and he is in a team photo of the club published in the Spalding Guide in 1911.

Without further preamble, here are the two photos - first Jack Webb from Blytheville and the Webb from the Alpen Braus. Neither photo is that great of quality, but is there a feeling that these are the same person or different people?

From the shapes of the mouth and the ears, it looks like the same guy. Hard to be definitive with these quality photos.

[Cusick]

Originally Posted by rlumpkin1@tampabay.rr.com

Looking for Gilbert Untermeyer 1970 Pilots draft pick. Bonnie Smith 1969 Pilots draft pick.

You cited your desire for a Gil Untermeyer photo on this thread back on 7/17/2019. Sorry, but I still can't find one.

Regarding Bonnie Smith, I did learn that he starred in both baseball and football at Fremont HS in Los Angeles, ending around 1968 or so. You might have luck with a yearbook from that school. Was unable to find any newspaper photos of him.

[cmcgill]

Originally Posted by Cusick

You cited your desire for a Gil Untermeyer photo on this thread back on 7/17/2019. Sorry, but I still can't find one.

Regarding Bonnie Smith, I did learn that he starred in both baseball and football at Fremont HS in Los Angeles, ending around 1968 or so. You might have luck with a yearbook from that school. Was unable to find any newspaper photos of him.

Same. I was surprised when doing a search for Untermeyer from 1969-1971 on newspapers.com that I got over 1600 hits. I expected it to be far fewer since that's not a terribly common surname.

[rlumpkin1@tampabay.rr.com]

Originally Posted by Cusick

You cited your desire for a Gil Untermeyer photo on this thread back on 7/17/2019. Sorry, but I still can't find one.

Regarding Bonnie Smith, I did learn that he starred in both baseball and football at Fremont HS in Los Angeles, ending around 1968 or so. You might have luck with a yearbook from that school. Was unable to find any newspaper photos of him.

Sorry forgot.about that. Thank you for trying.

[prewinter]

Originally Posted by Cusick

From the shapes of the mouth and the ears, it looks like the same guy. Hard to be definitive with these quality photos.

Yeah, the photos aren't great. I'm inclined to think they are the same person, but that could be wishful thinking. I'm looking for more evidence on who Webb was with the Alpen Braus.

[prewinter]

O'Brien played 6 games for the Terriers in July 1913, and I found a reference that he played for the Alpen Braus in 1913 (a semi-pro club in St. Louis), and subsequently that his first name was Ray (St. Louis Star and Times, July 13, 1913). So I went to Baseball-Reference, put in Ray O'Brien, and found Raymond J. O'Brien (obrien001ray), from St. Louis, who played a ton of seasons in the minors (starting in 1913), and a handful of games with Pittsburgh in 1916. So here are the photos. First, Ray J. O'Brien, pictured with Davenport in 1914 (from the Davenport Daily Times, April 22, 1914). The O'Brien from the 1913 Alpen Braus.

Do they look like a match?

Followup: The Decatur Herald and Review reported on July 6, 1916 that "O'Brien, the St. Louis youth taken on by the Pirates from Davenport... once played first base of the St. Louis Feds." Not absolute proof, but more evidence.

[rlumpkin1@tampabay.rr.com]

Looking for Randall Lee Brown Catcher was drafted by the Pilots in 1969 Did not sign
Played in the Expos system 1971-73. Thanks in advance.

[Cusick]

Originally Posted by rlumpkin1@tampabay.rr.com

Looking for Randall Lee Brown Catcher was drafted by the Pilots in 1969 Did not sign
Played in the Expos system 1971-73. Thanks in advance.

This photo of Randall Lee "Randy" Brown shows him with the West Palm Beach Expos. It's from the Palm Beach Post of June 14, 1971.

Brown was a pitcher, first baseman, and outfielder, but not a catcher, during his minor league career.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/r...d=brown-002ran

[graniteknighte]

Hello all,

I am a genealogist with a connection to MILB and I would love some help proving connections.

My 2nd great grand uncle was a man named William Glowacki of Shamokin, PA. Born in 1901, He played catched with Jimmy Foxx (Yes, that Double X Foxx) in 1934 with the Fuhrmann and Schmidt Brewers (a local town team I guess)

In 1929, according to news articles, "Chops" as he was known, rookie catcher for the Philadelphia A's was farmed out to the Martinsburg affiliate of the Blue Ridge League.

According to his obituary, he had a "posting" with the Philadelphia A's in 1927.

However, he doesn't seem to have made the majors?

What could the truth be?

[Cusick]

Originally Posted by graniteknighte

Hello all,

I am a genealogist with a connection to MILB and I would love some help proving connections.

My 2nd great grand uncle was a man named William Glowacki of Shamokin, PA. Born in 1901, He played catched with Jimmy Foxx (Yes, that Double X Foxx) in 1934 with the Fuhrmann and Schmidt Brewers (a local town team I guess)

In 1929, according to news articles, "Chops" as he was known, rookie catcher for the Philadelphia A's was farmed out to the Martinsburg affiliate of the Blue Ridge League.

According to his obituary, he had a "posting" with the Philadelphia A's in 1927.

However, he doesn't seem to have made the majors?

What could the truth be?

I don't know that I can help you "prove" anything, but I spent about a half hour looking into this and can offer a guess about the situation. Bill Glowacki did indeed spend spring training of 1929 with the Phila. A's. He was not on their roster, so I assume he was a non-roster invitee. You are correct that he was then shipped out to Martinsburg of the Blue Ridge League. One article indicates that he played for Martinsburg, but he must have been in so few games that Baseball-Reference does not show him with the team. An article in the Mt. Carmel (PA) Item of May 3, 1929 indicates he had left the Martinsburg team the day before because he "found conditions unsatisfactory." He was going to return to Philly to meet with Connie Mack on May 20, but I'm not sure that ever happened. By June, he was playing something like semi-pro ball back around his home town again.

The only Glowacki in Baseball-Reference was an infielder in 1935, who seems to be a different player:

https://www.baseball-reference.com/r...d=glowac001---

Likewise, the Sporting News contract cards are not a source for him either. They have two Glowacki's in their files, but neither one is William "Bill" Glowacki.

https://digital.la84.org/digital/col...hterm/glowacki

My guess is that when the Obit said that William Glowacki posted with the A's in 1927, they were referring to his being with the A's in spring training in 1929. In my experience, the details in obituaries are often not reliable.

If you are looking for some kind of confirmation that he was or was not an actual major league player, you should be reasonably confident that he was not. Admittedly, research continues on who was or was not in the major leagues (and that's complicated even more if one gets into the issue of the era of the Negro Leagues now considered equivalent to the major leagues). But, for the most part, what was previously considered to be the inventory of 20,000+ major leaguers is pretty well established, and William Glowacki has not been among them.

[graniteknighte]

Originally Posted by Cusick

I don't know that I can help you "prove" anything, but I spent about a half hour looking into this and can offer a guess about the situation. Bill Glowacki did indeed spend spring training of 1929 with the Phila. A's. He was not on their roster, so I assume he was a non-roster invitee. You are correct that he was then shipped out to Martinsburg of the Blue Ridge League. One article indicates that he played for Martinsburg, but he must have been in so few games that Baseball-Reference does not show him with the team. An article in the Mt. Carmel (PA) Item of May 3, 1929 indicates he had left the Martinsburg team the day before because he "found conditions unsatisfactory." He was going to return to Philly to meet with Connie Mack on May 20, but I'm not sure that ever happened. By June, he was playing something like semi-pro ball back around his home town again.

The only Glowacki in Baseball-Reference was an infielder in 1935, who seems to be a different player:

https://www.baseball-reference.com/r...d=glowac001---

Likewise, the Sporting News contract cards are not a source for him either. They have two Glowacki's in their files, but neither one is William "Bill" Glowacki.

https://digital.la84.org/digital/col...hterm/glowacki

My guess is that when the Obit said that William Glowacki posted with the A's in 1927, they were referring to his being with the A's in spring training in 1929. In my experience, the details in obituaries are often not reliable.

If you are looking for some kind of confirmation that he was or was not an actual major league player, you should be reasonably confident that he was not. Admittedly, research continues on who was or was not in the major leagues (and that's complicated even more if one gets into the issue of the era of the Negro Leagues now considered equivalent to the major leagues). But, for the most part, what was previously considered to be the inventory of 20,000+ major leaguers is pretty well established, and William Glowacki has not been among them.

That's bloody amazing that you found all that-- so my great uncle was a semi-pro ball player and even a non-roster invitee to the Athletics, so cool!

[Cusick]

Just to nail down further the team which Bill Glowacki joined in 1929 after leaving Martinsburg, and then going home apparently to sulk a while, was the Elysburg, Pennsylvania team. I guessed earlier that it was some kind of semi-pro team. With further research, I've learned that it was in the Susquehanna League, which was an Independent pro league. The following source shows that Elysburg entered that league in 1928:

https://baseball.fandom.com/wiki/Susquahanna_League

Elysburg is located about 10 miles from Bill Glowacki's home town of Shamokin.

[graniteknighte]

Originally Posted by Cusick

Just to nail down further the team which Bill Glowacki joined in 1929 after leaving Martinsburg, and then going home apparently to sulk a while, was the Elysburg, Pennsylvania team. I guessed earlier that it was some kind of semi-pro team. With further research, I've learned that it was in the Susquehanna League, which was an Independent pro league. The following source shows that Elysburg entered that league in 1928:

https://baseball.fandom.com/wiki/Susquahanna_League

Elysburg is located about 10 miles from Bill Glowacki's home town of Shamokin.

You absolute legend, that's bloody amazing that you're able to find all of that out. So basically it sounds like he was a minor leaguer or semi pro player and got a bit famous in town for it?

[Cusick]

Originally Posted by graniteknighte

You absolute legend, that's bloody amazing that you're able to find all of that out. So basically it sounds like he was a minor leaguer or semi pro player and got a bit famous in town for it?

A minor league AND a semi-pro player.

Here's his history after 1929 as best I can piece it together.

1930 - Back with Elysburg at start of season; then became coach of Springfield, PA.

1931 -- Manager of Springfield, PA, team.

1932 -- Back with Elysburg.

1933 -- May have spent a short time as catcher for the Catawissa team in the Tri-County League. His obit says he was manager of the team, but I can't find any confirmation through newspaper reports. Also, in 1933, he was selected by former major leaguer Harry Coveleski to be one of the Shamokin All-Stars to play in an exhibition game against the House of David team.

1934 -- Manager of the Fuhrman & Schmidt Brewers, which I think was a team in Shamokin.

1935 -- Manager of a team in the Central Penn League that seems to have been known by two alternate names -- Shamokin Brewers and Bunker Hill Hillites. It was sponsored by the Shamokin Brewing Company.

1936 -- Manager of the Uniontown team in the Central Penn League. He had a sore arm so he stopped being a playing manager.

His obit says he was still an active player in 1937 and 1938, but I couldn't find any newspaper accounts of that happening.

He died on March 15, 1948 in Phoenixville, PA. His obit says that he had operated a cafe at Berry's near Shamolin until 1942, and then he went to Phoenixville to become a steel worker.

His obit claimed that he had managed teams at Muncy, Catawissa, and Elysburg, but I couldn't confirm any of those managerial stints. So I suggest that you not accept that claim.

He had a son named Bill "Chops" Glowacki, Jr. Among other teams, Chops Jr. pitched for the Liberty Hose Company (I assume that was a fire fighters' outfit) of Shamokin in 1952. In the particular game I found, Chops Jr. tossed a two-hitter. Unfortunately, he died of a heart attack at age 39 in 1963. I assume he would have been a distant cousin of yours.

[PHI34Halladay]

I'm either blind or there is now Download file for all the minor league players..
Can you help me out here?

[rlumpkin1@tampabay.rr.com]

Originally Posted by Cusick

This photo of Randall Lee "Randy" Brown shows him with the West Palm Beach Expos. It's from the Palm Beach Post of June 14, 1971.

Brown was a pitcher, first baseman, and outfielder, but not a catcher, during his minor league career.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/r...d=brown-002ran

Drafted by the Seattle Pilots in 1969. Did not sign.

[Amazin69]

I honestly had no idea that Hardy had made two very mediocre relief appearances for the 1951 Giants, but he did. I suppose he can take "credit" for helping to build that 13-and-a-half game deficit the team had to climb out of.

But I was doing a general image-search and found this picture of Hardy at Minneapolis (1947-1949):

It had been on eBay, but it's gone now. I was lucky to catch it in a search cache. Enjoy.