Jimmy Direaux

Jimmy Direaux was a pitcher and outfielder for the Washington Elite Giants and Baltiimore Elite Giants of the Negro National League, in 1937-38.

James Direaux (often spelled Direux) was born in Pasadena, California, in 1916; his parents were from Missouri. In the 1930 census he and his four younger siblings lived with their grandmother, 60-year-old Mary Minton, at 1572 51^st Street in Los Angeles. Jimmy was 14, Paul 12, Thomas 10, Mary 8, and Ruth 7. Grandmother Mary worked as a servant.

In 1932 16-year-old Jimmy played amateur baseball for the Newtons Elite Red Sox, an all-black team that played against both black and white teams, at second base and in the outfield. He attended Riis High School in Los Angeles, and in the spring of 1933 he joined the baseball team there. That summer he played amateur ball again, this time for the Los Angeles Colored Giants.

In the spring of 1934 Jimmy’s name started to appear in newspaper accounts of high school track meets; he competed in the 440 and the broad jump. In the fall of 1934 he was on the football team, and in the spring of 1935, pitching for the baseball team, he achieved the feat that would get him into “Ripley’s Believe it or Not” a year later: “Jimmy Direaux, Riis High School, Los Angeles, struck out 108 batters in 6 games (54 innings)—1935.”

After high school Jimmy pitched for the Phoenix Bronchos of the semi-pro Arizona State League, then in the winter of 1936-37 he pitched for the Elite Giants, one of the black teams in the integrated Southern California Winter League and an offshoot of the Negro National League team of the same name. On February 27, 1937, the Pittsburgh Courier reported that he was joining the NNL team:

Tom Wilson Signs Young Pitching Star

DIREUX, PITCHING ACE JOINS ELITES

MEMPHIS, Feb. 25.—Believe it or not, the storybook star of the California baseball world will wear a Nashville Elite Giants uniform for the 1937 baseball season.

His name is Jimmy Direux, the 20-year-old pitching sensation who first knocked on the door of the Hall of Fame, when he was mentioned by Ripley of “Believe-it-ot-Not” fame for the unusual feat of striking out 108 batters in 54 innings.

Direux came to town last week and since that time has been the cynosure of all eyes…

Direux will be one of the several stars going to spring training at either Jacksonville or New Orleans with the Giants, March 1. Despite his prowess as a high school player, he’ll have to prove that he’s ready to go in the Negro National League.

The Nashville team this year will be entered in the National League as the Washington Elite Giants, playing a few of its home games here but entertaining its foes at Griffith Stadium a greater part of the time…

Direux has his own ideas about modern day baseball. For instance, he’ll tell you that Bob Feller will be the greatest of all time before he finishes his major league career.

And he doesn’t like Dizzy Dean. “They’ll catch onto that guy one of these days,” he says. He saw Satchel Paige, ace pitcher of the colored ranks, pitched [sic] against and beat Dizzy in 1934. Paige is a member of the Pittsburgh Crawfords, who has just returned from Porto Rico where he pitched for an all-star team.

“Paige is the greatest pitcher in baseball right now,” Direaux asserts. “Only thing that keeps him down is his color.”

The Elite Giants played 62 league games in 1937, plus many exhibition games. Of the 62, we have stats for 37 of them, and Jimmy played in 15 of those, pitching in nine. He was 3-3 with a 4.62 ERA in 62 1/3 innings; at the plate he hit .393/.452/.536 in 28 at-bats. His teammates included manager-catcher Biz Mackey and 15-year-old backup catcher Roy Campanella.

Jimmy returned to the Southern California Winter League for the off-season, playing for both the Detroit Stars and the Philadelphia Royal Giants. From the December 10 Los Angeles Daily News:

Gala Day Due Sunday in Ball Tilt

Biggest day of Winter League baseball season is scheduled for Sunday when the Royal Giants defend their league leadership against Detroit Stars. Kenny Washington and Woodrow Wilson Strode, U.C.L.A. grid stars, will be honor [sic] guests at the White Sox Park.

Kenny, who tossed a record pass of 62 yards for a touchdown against the Trojans last Saturday, will join with his teammate Strode in the football passing contest, one of the many events on the “field day” program.

Other events include a match race between “Cool-Papa” Bell and Jimmy Direaux, baseball throwing for accuracy and distance between the Giants, Stars and members of the girls softball champions of the Central League, Webb’s Nighthawks.

I found a reference to another race between Jimmy and Bell the following week, but did not find who won either one. In the spring of 1938 Jimmy returned to the Elite Giants, now operating out of Baltimore. On May 28 Wendell Smith’s “Smitty’s Sport Spurts” column in the Pittsburgh Courier included:

Jimmie Direux, the young Baltimore hurler, from Los Angeles, who recently [not so recently] was featured in Ripley’s “Believe It Or Not,” has a sore arm. So far this year he has been effective against rival teams in the league.

For 1938 we have stats for 37 of the Elite Giants’ 52 league games, and Jimmy pitched in nine, starting three, with a 5.28 ERA in 30 2/3 innings. He played five games at other positions and 16 games overall, hitting .240/.345/.280 in 25 at-bats.

The Atlanta Daily World of April 15, 1939, reported that Jimmy was expected to report to the Elite Giants’ spring training camp in Nashville later in the week, but in fact he was done with the Negro Leagues and he started playing in Mexico.

Jimmy signed with the Monterrey Industriales of the Mexican League. He played in 55 of the team’s 60 league games, hitting .302/.369/.486 in 179 at-bats. He pitched in 27 of those games, and had an 11-10 record with a 3.50 ERA in 187 2/3 innings—an impressive number of innings for a 60-game season.

At some point during the 1940 season Jimmy moved from Monterrey to the Tampico Alijadores. Although the season was longer than 1939, about 90 games per team, he only played in 37, pitching in eight, playing third and outfield in the others. He hit just .210/.338/.269, and had a 4.33 ERA.

In 1941 Jimmy returned to Tampico. The team played 101 games and he appeared in 88 of them, eight at pitcher and the rest at third base. He hit .236/.364/.337 in 276 at-bats, and had a 2.29 ERA with an unlikely ratio of 17 walks and one strikeout in 35 1/3 innings.

In 1942 Jimmy had his best offensive season in Mexico. He played in 88 of Tampico’s 91 games, 85 at third and just three pitching; he hit .271/.415/.416 and finished third in the league in doubles (24) and walks (73).

Jimmy went to the Veracruz Azules for 1943 but only played in 13 games; I could not find out why. He hit just .186/.327/.209 in 43 at-bats, playing left field.

For 1944 Jimmy returned to Tampico and played in all 91 of their games, mostly in right field. He hit .285/.364/.380 in 337 at-bats. In 1945 he pitched one inning for the Mexico City Diablos Rojos, and in 1948 he went 0-for-3 for them in four games, pitching one more inning.

I don’t know anything about Jimmy’s life after that. He may have remained in Mexico—I found a mention, which I couldn’t confirm, that he died in Villahermosa, Tabasco, on October 3, 1985.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/direaji01.shtml

Wilfredo Rodriguez

Wilfredo Rodriguez was a relief pitcher in two games with the 2001 Houston Astros.

Wilfredo José Rodriguez was born March 20, 1979, in Ciudad Bolivar, Venezuela, and attended Bolivar High School. A left-handed pitcher, he signed with the Astros organization at age 16 for a $17,500 bonus and made his professional debut in 1979 at 18, with the Astros’ Rookie Class Gulf Coast League team. He had an 8-2 record and 3.04 ERA in 68 innings in 12 starts, striking out 71 and walking 32.

For 1998 Wilfredo was moved up to the Quad Cities River Bandits of the Class A Midwest League. He was 11-5 with a 3.05 ERA, and struck out 170 in 165 innings. 1999 found him with the Kissimmee Cobras of the Florida State League, Class Advanced A. He went 15-7 with a 2.88 ERA in 153 1/3 innings, leading the league in wins and in strikeouts with 148. After the season the Astros moved him to the major league roster to protect him from the draft.

In February 2000 Wilfredo signed a one-year major league contract and went to spring training with Houston. Baseball America named him the Astros’ top prospect. In mid-March he was sent to the minor league camp, and he started the season back with Kissimmee. Mid-season he was moved up to the Round Rock Express of the AA Texas League, but it seems like he may have begun to have arm issues—he pitched only 110 innings in 20 starts between the two teams, and had a 5.29 ERA. He struck out 107, but walked 82.

Wilfredo signed another Houston contract for 2001; Baseball America named him the Astros’ number three prospect despite the off-year. Again he was sent to the minor league camp during spring training, and he returned to Round Rock. For the first time he was used mainly in relief, starting ten of his 42 appearances, striking out 94 and walking 56 in 92 1/3 innings with a 4.78 ERA. When the Texas League season ended he was called up to Houston.

Wilfredo made his major league debut on September 21, at home against the Cubs. He relieved Nelson Cruz (the other Nelson Cruz) with nobody out in the top of the 7^th, with three runs in and Fred McGriff on second, and a 7-3 Cubs lead. He got Rondell White to fly out, allowed a triple to Michael Tucker and a sacrifice fly to Bill Mueller, then struck out Robert Machado. He gave up a three-run homer to McGriff in the 8^th but stayed in the game until he was pinch-hit for by Daryle Ward in the bottom of the inning. The Astros lost 12-3.

Wilfredo didn’t get into another game until October 4, the final game of a home series against the Giants. He came in to pitch the 9^th with the Astros down 9-2; the first batter was Barry Bonds, who hit his 70^th home run of the season, tying Mark McGwire’s record. Wilfredo then retired the side, around a double by Andres Galarraga. From the next day’s San Francisco Chronicle:

Astros’ reliever takes on challenge

HOUSTON—Wilfredo Rodriguez started the season in Double-A and ended up in the history book.

Less than two weeks after his major league debut, Rodriguez challenged Barry Bonds with a fastball in the ninth inning Thursday night and Bonds hit his record-tying homer.

“I feel OK,” Rodriguez said. “I am happy for him. He deserves what he got with the 70^th home run. I threw him fastballs. That’s what I do. I was confident with it. I was trying to get him out.”

While most Astros pitchers avoided giving Bonds anything to hit, Bonds finally got a chance to match Mark McGwire’s mark in his final at-bat of San Francisco’s 10-2 win, which completed a three-game sweep.

“The game was out of hand,” Astros manager Larry Dierker said. “He would not have pitched in that situation if we had a chance to win. We figured he might be just wild enough to throw one down the middle and he would hit it out.

“Maybe he’d throw outside and walk him.”

In his major-league debut Sept. 21, Rodriguez allowed four hits and four runs in two innings in a 12-4 loss to the Chicago Cubs.

Rodriguez wasn’t sure he’d get into the game but ran to the mound in the ninth inning and Bonds was his first batter.

“It was already 9-2 when Bonds came up to bat,” Astros catcher Tony Eusebio said. “There wasn’t much time to talk to him. You don’t get any baby sitters up here. You just have to go out and do your job the best you can.”

Rodriguez didn’t hesitate. Bonds swung and missed at a 95-mph fastball and allowed another fastball to pass up and in before the home run.

“It was 9-2 and I was trying to get him out,” Rodriguez said. “I wasn’t trying to pitch around him. I was just trying to get him out.”

Rodriguez was 5-9 with a 4.78 ERA in 42 appearances with the Double-A Round Rock Express this season.

When Bonds was asked if he had heard of the 22-year-old left-hander before the home run, he said: “Not at all. He throws hard. No doubt about that.”

From a November 4 AP story:

A month later, Wilfredo Rodriguez has no regrets.

The 22-year-old Venezuelan, two weeks into his major league career with the Houston Astros, gave up Barry Bonds’ record-tying 70^th home run.

He is not ashamed of the pitch—a 90 mph fastball right over the plate.

“He was confident, the score was 9-2 in the ninth,” Rodriguez said. “I tried with the utmost professionalism to do my job and he did his.”

Rodriguez is proud that Bonds mentioned him in the same breath as Randy Johnson.

“I’ll never forget Bonds saying that with the exception of Randy Johnson, he’d never seen a left-hander pitch as hard as me,” Rodriguez said. “That gives me every reason to push ahead.”

The left-hander probably will start next season in the minors but is a highly regarded prospect for the Astros.

“I’m confident that I’ll return to the top soon,” he said. “The truth is that I feel better that Bonds hit three other home runs. The weight of being the victim of the record is off my shoulders.”

In 2002 Wilfredo signed another Houston contract, went to spring training, and in March was assigned to the minor league camp. By the time the regular season started he was on the disabled list; he underwent surgery to have bone chips removed from his left elbow. In June, still on the DL, he started working out with the New Orleans Zephyrs, the Astros’ AAA affiliate in the Pacific Coast League. In mid-July, apparently not impressed with his progress, the Astros dropped him from the 40-man major league roster to make room for another player. Any other team could have claimed him on waivers, but they all passed, making him a free agent. At this point the Astros tried to re-sign him, but he chose the Cubs, who sent him to extended spring training at their facility in Scottsdale, Arizona.

The Cubs released Wilfredo in October, without his getting into any actual games. In 2003 he signed with the Expos, but didn’t get into any games that year either. In 2004 he pitched for three different Expos’ farm clubs: between the three he had a 10.29 ERA in 15 games, six of them starts; in 42 innings he allowed 62 hits, struck out 31 and walked 37. He was released, then pitched one game for the Winnipeg Goldeyes of the independent Northern League.

In 2005 Wilfredo was invited to spring training by the Texas Rangers after signing a minor-league contract. From the Abilene Reporter News, February 17:

The only pitchers considered absent by Showalter and not expected in Arizona for the opening workout were right-hander Rosman Garcia and left-hander Wilfredo Rodriguez. The non-roster invitees from Venezuela were having problems with their visas that could keep them away several more days.

Wilfredo made it there, then was sent to the minor league camp on March 19. He wound up with the Frisco RoughRiders of the Texas League, where he made the all-star team despite making just 12 starts; he had a 3.80 ERA with 64 strikeouts in 68 2/3 innings. He was also sent briefly to the Oklahoma RedHawks of the Pacific Coast League, for whom he made two starts and had a 1.42 ERA.

Still, the Rangers released him after the season. While playing winter baseball in Venezuela he was spotted by a Milwaukee scout and got an invitation to the Brewers’ 2006 spring training. Yet again he was reassigned to the minor league camp, and then he was released. He made three appearances for the San Angelo Colts of the independent United League, and that apparently closed his pro career. From the San Francisco Chronicle of May 15, 2007:

A bold name on Bonds’ list just fades away

By Henry Schulman

Chronicle Staff Writer

HOUSTON—The dates on the pitcher’s biography are as stark as they are sad.

Born: March 20, 1979.

Major-league debut: Sept. 21, 2001.

Final game: Oct. 4, 2001.

At 22, his baseball dream came true. Thirteen days later, it was over—although he hardly knew it then.

He is Wilfredo Rodriguez, whose name should evoke some recognition from Giants fans. In the third and final inning of his major-league career, the left-hander from Venezuela fired a 93-mph fastball toward Barry Bonds, who crushed it into the second deck at Minute Maid Park here for his 70^th home run of 2001, tying Mark McGwire’s single-season record.

Bonds, who hit 71 and 72 a night later in San Francisco, returns to Houston this evening to resume his quest for Henry Aaron’s all-time record.

Big things have happened for Bonds since 2001. He won four more National League Most Valuable Player awards. He signed a $90 million contract that winter and another $16 million deal after the 2006 season. He hit many milestone homers: 600, 660, 700 and 714, to name a few. He also became a scourge as the face of baseball’s steroids scandal.

But what of Rodriguez and that forceful young arm, which could propel a baseball at close to 100 mph? His fate was not as kind and a vivid reminder of one of the cruelest rules of the game, that getting to the big leagues is one thing, and staying there is something else.

After their historic meeting in 2001, Bonds got richer and Rodriguez fell off the map, a victim of elbow troubles that he spent five years trying to overcome. Apparently, he failed. Although Rodriguez could not be reached for comment, and his agents did not return phone calls, a receptionist for one of the agents, surprised to hear a reporter ask about the pitcher, said, “Oh, he’s retired and back in Venezuela.”

As recently as last year, Rodriguez tried to pitch in an independent league in Texas, but he left after three games because of arm trouble. Giants catcher Eliezer Alfonzo, who played with Rodriguez for the Caracas Lions in winter ball, said he heard Rodriguez needed “Tommy John” surgery, but that could not be confirmed.

True or not, it appears the pitcher who served up one of baseball’s most famous home runs is done at 28, merely a bold-faced name on a list of 438 pitchers whom Bonds has taken deep.

“It’s kind of sad to hear stuff like that about anybody, especially if he was a top prospect in the big leagues,” said Colorado catcher Yorvit Torrealba, another Venezuelan. “He’s so young, too, not to pitch or play anymore. I’m sure it’s hard on him.”

“Unfortunately,” Astros general manager Tim Purpura said, “it’s one of the things that happens in the game. Barry Bonds has hit home runs off the best pitchers in the game and obviously hit one off a barely known pitcher in the game. When you’re around that long and hit that many home runs, it’s going to be a wide swath of pitchers you will have faced.”

Purpura worked in the Astros’ front office when Rodriguez came through their Venezuelan academy as a teenager. They signed him for a $17,500 bonus, and he rose through their system with so much promise. A lefty who throws 97 mph? That’s Randy Johnson. That’s Billy Wagner.

“He was probably one of the best left-handed arms we had that had come through our system, maybe ever,” Purpura said. “He had a ‘plus’ fastball, very good curveball, good changeup. He was an impressive prospect.”

However…

“He had various elbow issues. He was one of those players who pitched through a lot of pain throughout his career. He had an elbow with a lot of wear and tear, arthritic changes, bone spurs, things you don’t typically see with a player at that point in his career. He had some pretty advanced degeneration in his elbow.”

After a recap of Wilfredo’s 2002 to 2005, the article continues:

Pitching in Venezuela the following winter, he caught the eye of a Milwaukee scout, and the Brewers invited him to big-league camp in 2006. But by mid-March, he was released.

“He was an injury risk. He definitely wasn’t the same,” Brewers general manager Doug Melvin said. “His velocity was 87 to 89. Beyond that, he wasn’t the same as he was before all the surgeries. You hope everyone who gave up a home run to Barry doesn’t fall like that. There’d be a shortage of pitchers.”

Rodriguez found refuge in the Texas indy league, in which players earn in the hundreds of dollars a week, not the tens of thousands. Harlan Bruha, the owner of the San Angelo Colts, pulled Rodriguez’s file last week and read his stats from last May: three games, two starts, six innings, ERA 12.00.

“He wasn’t right,” Bruha said. “He certainly wasn’t the Wilfredo Rodriguez who gave up Bonds’ 70^th home run.”

Rodriguez might have gone home to Venezuela for good, as his agent’s receptionist said, or he might be grasping for one more chance, however he gets it, to relive the adrenaline of those two major-league appearances in 2001.

Torrealba shook his head at the thought of Rodriguez back home. Torrealba was there that night in Houston, when the careers of Bonds and the 22-year-old pitcher intersected along their different paths.

“Obviously, we knew he was a top prospect,” Torrealba said. “He threw hard, 97, 98 mph. I know for a fact he had problems with his elbow, but I’m really shocked by the fact he retired for whatever reason. We knew what he was capable of doing.”

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/R/Prodrw001.htm

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/rodriwi01.shtml

Rocky Krsnich

Rocky Krsnich was an infielder for the White Sox in 1949 and 1952-53.

Rocco Peter Krsnich (pronounced Kreznik) was born August 5, 1927, in West Allis, Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee. His parents, Peter and Filimana, of Croatian descent, married in Yugoslavia and had their first child, August, there in 1912. Peter emigrated to the US in 1913; Filimana and August did not follow until 1922. Filimana gave birth to five more sons in Wisconsin.

The 1930 census shows the family living at 6016 Lincoln Avenue in West Allis, in a home they own, valued at $5000. Peter, 45, is a general laborer at a foundry; Filimana, listed as Philomena, is 38. August, 18, is shown as a daughter named Augustine (though his later World War II service will be as August) and is a clerk at a factory. Second son Rok had passed away in 1927, Joseph is five, Rocco, shown as Rudolph, is two, and Nicholas is one. Youngest son Michael is five months away from being born.

I can’t find the family in the 1940 census. In late 1944 Rocky started showing up in the Milwaukee newspapers as a basketball star for West Allis Central High School--the school didn’t have a baseball team but Rocky played American Legion ball. A January 31, 1945, article in the Milwaukee Sentinel mentioned that he was the leading scorer in the Suburban League and that he “is suffering from a badly infected arm and was held out of Tuesday’s practice session.” He signed a minor league baseball contract with the Phillies and seemingly left school before the 1944-45 school year ended.

On May 2 Rocky filled out a questionnaire in which he gives his nickname as “Rags,” his size as 6-0, 144, his off-season occupation as “student in high school,” and his hobbies as “none.” He was playing shortstop for the Wilmington Blue Rocks of the Class B Interstate League; he played 74 games and hit .266/.379/.369, but was released in early August.

On August 6, the day after his 18^th birthday, while still in Wilmington, Rocky filled out his draft registration card. He is still 6 feet tall but has filled out a bit to 155 pounds; brown eyes, brown hair, dark complexion. His address is 6818 W Lincoln in West Allis, and he gives his occupation as “unemployed at present – student at West Allis Central High School.” He then went back home, and went back to school.

During the 1945-46 off-season Rocky played amateur basketball for three different teams, the Sorce Trucking Whiz Kids in the West Allis Minor league, Krahn’s Tap in the Milwaukee Suburban league, and Allis-Chambers in the Milwaukee Industrial league. On January 16, 1946, the Milwaukee Sentinel reported:

Chisox After Krsnich

“Rocky” Krsnich, former West Allis Central High basketball star, has been offered a Chicago White Sox baseball contract to play with its Waterloo, Ia., farm of the Three-Eye League. Terms called for $200 per month. However, before accepting, Krsnich is to confer with Brewer [Milwaukee of the Class AAA American Association] officials who have been after the outfielder [sic]. Last season he was a member of the Wilmington club, a Philadelphia farm.

On February 23 the Milwaukee Journal reported that Rocky had not yet signed the White Sox contract and was still hoping to hook up with the Brewers. But on May 24 he turned up playing shortstop and batting seventh for the Quincy Gems of the Class B Three-I League, a Yankees affiliate. After hitting .241/.297/.307 in 39 games he was sent down one level to the Joplin Miners of the Western Association. He didn’t do any better there, .204/.301/.299 in 60 games, but it would prove to be an important move for personal reasons, and the Yankees thought well enough of him to send him back up to Quincy for 1947.

After another off-season playing basketball around Milwaukee, he spent the baseball season with Quincy, playing shortstop. He began the year batting sixth but ended up in the second spot as he made large strides offensively, hitting .318/.421/.455 with 23 doubles, nine triples and three home runs. He played more basketball in the 1947-48 off-season.

For 1948 the Yankees kept Rocky at Class B but moved him to the Norfolk Tars of the Piedmont League. He got off to a great start and moved from fifth to fourth to third in the batting order, but cooled off and finished at .272/.363/.435, with 15 homers and 80 RBI, and was voted by the league’s managers to the all-star team. After the season the Yankees moved him up to the roster of Augusta of the Class A Sally League but not to the major league roster, where he would have been protected, and as a result he was drafted in December by the Class AA Memphis Chickasaws, a White Sox affiliate in the Southern Association.

Also in December, the Joplin Globe reported on December 2:

R.P. (Rocky) Krsnich, Joplin shortstop in 1946 and with Norfolk, Va., of the Piedmont League last season, like ball players before him, has married a Joplin girl. Ferrell Anderson, Al Gerheauser, Gabby Street and others fell in love with Joplin girls and incidentally, all later went to the major leagues after marrying them.

Rocky was married Saturday morning to Marie Hennessey, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George V. Hennessey, 2518 North Highview avenue, at St. Peter’s Catholic church by the Rev. Father James Lyons.

The Memphis Commercial Appeal of March 24, 1949, reported that Red Ruffing, who was doing some spring training coaching with the Chickasaws “while waiting to take over his assignment as manager of Muskegon in the Central League,” said:

“I like that Rocky Krsnich at shortstop. Hell of a fielder with a great arm. I notice he didn’t hit too much but he drove in more than 80 runs. He can go to his right.”

Rocky started the season at short, but eventually got moved to third base. In the July 27 issue he got some attention from the Sporting News:

Chicks Quit Cellar on Krsnich’s Clouts

By George K. Leonard

NASHVILLE, Tenn.

…Three of the four games in the “crucial” series were decided by a one-run margin. In each contest the hero’s mantle was draped around the shoulders of Robert [sic] (Rocky) Krsnich, tall 21-year-old Memphis third baseman. Krsnich’s batting feats in the series which saw Memphis rising from the cellar for the first time this season included the following:

FIRST GAME—With the contest scoreless in the last of the eleventh, he homered with two aboard to win for his club, 3 to 0.

SECOND GAME—In the first frame, smashed a three-run circuit clout as Memphis prevailed, 4 to 3.

THIRD GAME—Drove in five of his team’s runs in a 9 to 8 win with a two-run homer and two singles.

FOURTH GAME—Whipped a line single to left field in the opening chapter, scoring two runs in a 3 to 2 triumph.

The recapitulation shows that Krsnich directly accounted for 13 of the Chicks’ 19 runs against Chattanooga with eight hits, including three homers, in 15 tries at bat. In the preceding series against Nashville, two of which were annexed by Memphis, Rocky collected six hits. All of this heavy knocking boosted his average from .258 to .285.

Milwaukee Journal, July 31:

West Allis Youngster Sets Pace for Memphis

A member of a noted West Allis athletic family may be the Milwaukee area’s next contribution to major league baseball. He is Robert [sic] (Rocky) Krsnich, 21 year old third baseman of the Memphis (Tenn.) Chicks of the Southern association, whose terrific batting spree last week almost single handedly pulled his club out of the league cellar…

Krsnich is better known to local fans for his football and basketball feats at West Allis Central high school, having won all-Suburban conference recognition in the cage sport in 1945. Since Central had no baseball team, his diamond activities were confined to junior American Legion and West Allis AAA league ball until he joined the New York Yankee organization three years ago [not quite true]. His younger brothers, Nick and Mike, had similar high school athletic careers…

The Chicago White Sox have first call on Krsnich’s services because of a working agreement with the Memphis club, so it will not be surprising if Rocky does his playing close to home next season.

Memphis Commercial Appeal, August 10:

Pouring Praise On Krsnich

And The Chick Third Baseman Deserves It—Rocky Raises Average And Homer Output

It is really pleasant to dwell on the virtues of Rocky Krsnich, a polite young man who is the current hitting sensation of the Southern League, especially since he is a member of the Chickasaws…This 22-year-old is the pacemaker of the Tribe now that the boys are seeing better days and he is not only hitting the ball at a lively clip, but he is fielding beautifully around third…His batting average through last night’s game was a respectable .313 and this represents a considerable gain for he fell down to the low .200s for a while…Furthermore his run-batted-in total stood at 65 and his home run output at 18…Now 18 homers for a righthanded hitter in this league is better than pretty good, for our parks aren’t built for that species of swinger…

Krsnick’s first name isn’t Robert, as reported on the reserve list, but Rocco, as he wants one and all to know…

All above ellipses are part of the article and not me showing that I’ve left things out. So I need to verbally state that I’m skipping ahead now.

Rocky started at shortstop and wasn’t exactly steady at the job…Furthermore, he wasn’t hitting too well and it was getting him down a little…”That’s where Al Todd came into it,” says Rocco. “He strung along with me, patiently explained my mistakes and told me to keep bearing down. He changed my batting stance a little to have me facing the pitcher a bit more and I picked up almost at once. He’s been simply swell to me and I think he did it all.”…Of course, the Chick manager disclaims the “all” part in view of the fact that Rocky has natural power and a good way of going…Although he played shortstop almost exclusively before coming to Memphis, he is confident that third base is his spot now and prefers playing there…So do the fans.

On September 10 Rocky’s contract was purchased by the White Sox and he was called up. With Memphis he had hit .318/.381/.527 with 38 doubles (tying for the league lead), four triples, and 20 homers, and 90 runs and 91 RBI.

Rocky made his major league debut on September 13 at Washington, playing third base and batting sixth in the lineup, behind Catfish Metkovich and ahead of Chuck Kress. In his first plate appearance he doubled off Dick Weik in the second inning. He also made two errors, each one leading to an unearned run, but the White Sox won 3-2 behind Randy Gumpert.

The next day Rocky went 3-for-5 with a double and three RBI; on September 21 at Yankee Stadium he hit his first major league home run, off Ralph Buxton. He played third base in 16 of the Sox’ final 17 games, starting 15 of them, and hit .218/.295/.364 in 55 at-bats. On October 12 the Memphis Commercial Appeal reported:

Rocky Krsnich, who went up to the White Sox when the Chicks finished their season, showed the parent club he’s a comer, but it’s likely that he’ll get that extra season of experience he needs right back in Memphis.

On December 21 Newman’s Department Store in Joplin ran an ad in the Globe to let the town know that Rocky had taken a job in their men’s department (The 1949 Joplin City Directory shows that Marie was a cashier for Newman’s, and that the couple was living at 501 Sergeant.) He went to spring training 1950 with the White Sox, but on March 22, as predicted, he was optioned back to Memphis. On April 10 an article appeared in the Commercial Appeal under Rocky’s byline, titled “How to Play Third Base:”

This is another in a series of articles which has been prepared by The Commercial Appeal in co-operation with the Memphis baseball team. The objective is improvement on the part of high school and sandlot players of the Mid South.

Next, Pat Seerey talks about hitting.

Rocky got off to a good start. He was voted utility man for the league’s all-star game, played July 18, in which the first-place Atlanta Crackers played against players from the other teams; but after that he had a variety of ailments and faded. The July 20 Commercial Appeal mentioned that he “is limping noticeably from a pulled leg muscle,” on August 16 they reported that he “was led off the field late in the game, for a reason not explained. He seemed to be suffering from dizziness.”

On August 18 the same paper said that he was out with a back injury, and on the 19^th he was placed on the disabled list. From August 29:

Rocky Krsnich has come off the Chicks’ disabled list after being laid up with a back injury for two weeks…Rocky hasn’t any real good idea of how he picked up the ailment, but he played under a handicap for some time before being allowed a rest…He was back in action last night at Mobile.

He ended up hitting .272/.338/.408 with 12 home runs, numbers down significantly from 1949. He was added back to the White Sox roster briefly, then in December he was optioned to the Pacific Coast League’s Seattle Rainiers, in return for the right to purchase Rainier pitcher Vern Kindsfather.

Rocky spent the 1951 season with the Rainiers, where his manager was Rogers Hornsby. His hitting tailed off even more, and he started to be known for his glove. On August 15 the Portland Oregonian reported:

No longer is Rocky Krsnich, the Seattle third sacker, “the vowelless baseball player.” One Seattle baseball writer, Lenny Anderson of the Times, took pity on Krsnich’s vowelless state and generously gave him one—it’s now Kresnich when he writes about the young man.

A September 19 AP report on a playoff game between Seattle and Hollywood included this: “An error by Rocky Krsnich, generally regarded as one of the best glove men to ever perform at third base in the Coast League, started Seattle’s downfall in the ninth.” Rocky hit just .251/.314/.351 with four homers in 538 at-bats. Still, the White Sox put him on their off-season roster to protect him from the draft.

Rocky went to spring training 1952 with Chicago, but was optioned back to Seattle. His hitting bounced back some, and he continued to get raves for his fielding. From Frank T. Blair’s “Frankly Speaking” column in the July 11 Long Beach Press Telegram:

Manager Bill Sweeney of the Seattle Rainiers [replacing Hornsby] says that Rocky Krsnich ranks next to Pie Traynor as the best defensive third baseman he has ever seen. Krsnich is a pretty durable guy, too. He bounced up unhurt after a collision on the base paths with big Chuck Connors of the Angels Wednesday night, but the latter suffered another shoulder injury and had to leave the game.

As an aside, this is from Emmett Watson’s “Our City” column in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer of April 11, 1960:

This one digs ‘way back into sports history, but Chuck Connors, the TV star, credits an ex-Rainier ballplayer, Rocky Krsnich, for a big assist in his acting career. Only Rocky doesn’t know it. Connors, once a stout-hitting first-baseman for the old Los Angeles Angels, was churning around second base one night when he collided with Krsnich, the Seattle third-baseman, who had moved toward second for a possible play. Wham! Connors was upended, came down hard, suffered a dislocated shoulder. “I don’t know what he was doing there,” said Connors last week, “but he helped make up my mind about a movie career.”

Rocky was hitting .295/.339/.371 for the Rainiers when the White Sox recalled him at the end of July in an attempt to solve their third base woes. He started four games, going 2-for-10, after which manager Paul Richards decided to go back to Hector Rodriguez at third and use Rocky as a late-inning defensive replacement. On September 2, in the first game of a home doubleheader against the Tigers, he entered the game after Rodriguez had been pinch-hit for and hit a game-winning two-run triple in the bottom of the ninth off Virgil Trucks. This won him the job back and he kept it for the rest of the season, Richards saying, “He’s the best third baseman I’ve ever seen.”

On September 14 Rocky won a game at home against the Red Sox with a bases-loaded single with two out in the 17^th inning. The next day he broke a 2-2 tie with a two-run bases-loaded single in the bottom of the eighth. From the September 16 Chicago Daily News:

Sox Call Krsnich ‘Another Kamm’

Face Athletics Twice Tonight

By Neil R. Gazel

Have the White Sox another “Willie Kamm” playing third for them in graceful Rocky Krsnich?

Batting coach “Doc” Cramer thinks so. And Bucky Harris, another contemporary of the former Sox and Cleveland star concurs.

“He reminds me a lot of Kamm. I’m not kidding,” asserted Cramer.

“He does at that,” conceded Harris after Krsnich whipped his Senators last Wednesday both afield and at the plate.

With Chicago Rocky hit .231/.327/.385 in 91 at-bats in 40 games. From the October 23 Milwaukee Journal:

Krsnich

West Allis Lad Looms as Third Baseman for Chisox Next Season

By Sam Levy

It is not too early to predict that Rocky Krsnich, former West Allis Central high school athlete, may be the regular third baseman for the Chicago White Sox next season. Frank Lane, general manager of the Comiskey forces, himself foresees it. Krsnich’s play in the final month of the American League season was a pleasant surprise to everybody on the club. The Sox recalled the suburbanite from Seattle (Pacific Coast League), where he had starred in 118 games.

“Krsnich will get a chance to win the job next spring,” Lane told the writer recently. “I’ve liked Rocky ever since I first saw him play when both of us were in the Yankee chain. We drafted him shortly after I joined the White Sox in the fall of 1948.”…

“When we sent Krsnich to Seattle, we expected him to hit well but we were surprised by the remarkable improvement in his fielding,” said Lane.

Bill Sweeney, Seattle manager and a former Cleveland infielder, is one of Krsnich’s biggest boosters. He says: “I have seen almost all of the great third basemen, but I have never seen anyone play it so well as Krsnich.”

In December Rocky signed a 1953 Chicago contract; on the 28^th Porter Wittich, in his “Globe Trotter” column in the Joplin Globe, mentioned:

Which reminds me that Rocky Krsnich, former Miner shortstop and now a full-fledged member of the Chicago White Sox, is “home” in Joplin for the holidays before departing soon for Florida and spring training…

Rocky reported early to spring training for a “finishing school camp” for him and eight other young players that opened January 19. By the end of the month the White Sox had optioned Hector Rodriguez to Syracuse and obtained infielder Fred Marsh from the Browns to give themselves another third base option. Another trade brought Ferris Fain from the Athletics; a January 28 AP story quoted Paul Richards as saying: “We now have the finest defensive infield in the league—Rocky Krsnich on third, Chico Carrasquel at short, Nellie Fox at second and Fain on first.” Another AP story from the same day attributed an almost identical quote to Frank Lane, only he said “either Rocky Krsnich, Sam Dente or Fred Marsh at third.”

On February 9 Lane made another trade, this one bringing Vern Stephens from the Red Sox. From the next day’s Chicago Daily News:

“We aren’t saying he’ll get the third base job over Rocky Krsnich or Fred Marsh,” explained Lane. “But we think the gamble for him is well worth taking.”

On March 27 the Milwaukee Journal reported:

Krsnich, who finished last season with the club after being called up from Seattle, has been hitting above expectations, especially with men on base, and is giving Stephens a battle for the third base assignment. He is much the surer fielder of the two and covers more territory,

Memphis Commercial Appeal, April 1:

When Rocky Krsnich was employed by the Chickasaws, he was not known as a master of the leather…But Rogers Hornsby now describes him as the finest fielding third baseman he has observed, and Stan Hack concurs in the opinion.

Atlanta Journal, April 8:

Slumping Stephens Opens Way For Chisox’ Krsnich

By Bob Christian

How much Rocky Krsnich, former Memphis Chick, will play for the Chicago White Sox depends on Vern Stephens, slugging third baseman acquired from the Boston Red Sox in late winter.

Between rings of the telephone in his 11^th floor hotel suite Wednesday, it was easy to see that Paul Richards, lanky skipper of the White Sox, has high regard for Krsnich.

After a friend called and offered to sell him some flat land in Texas, the former Cracker skipper sat down and started talking about Krsnich, the hot flash of the Chisox’ training season.

“Krsnich used to be stronger at the plate than in the field,” Richards said.

“Now the guy is a whale of a glove man and it’s entertaining for me to watch him. There have been guys who might be quicker with the flip throw to first after coming in for a slow roller but when Krsnich’s in his normal position he is something to watch now.”

His battle with Stephens will depend on how the former Red Sox star comes through at the plate.

“When we got the guy from Boston I wasn’t worried about his hitting. It was his leg. He seems to have recovered but he’s had only one base hit in the 11 or 12 games we have played since leaving California.

“However, I checked up and I’ve learned that Stephens has never been much of a spring hitter,” Richards said. “Our trainer said he was with Stephens one spring and he didn’t get a base hit. Then I remember taking the Atlanta club over to Anderson, S.C., one afternoon. Stephens played against us and he struck out three or four times. So I guess there is nothing to do but wait for the bell.”

But if something should happen to Vern’s batting eye then “Slug” will have the fellow who has developed into one of those things with a glove.

On April 12 the Boston Advertiser’s “Baseball Forecast” passed along the following:

Royal Brougham of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer offers two long shots: 1—That Rocky Krsnich at third base for the White Sox will make Bill (The Glove) Cox look like a “butter-fingered fumbler” and that Freddie Hutchinson, youngest manager on the big wheel, will surprise everyone with the job he does at Detroit.

The season opened on April 14 with Stephens playing third and batting cleanup. He didn’t hit, and after seven games Rocky replaced him. But Rocky didn’t hit much either, and also had problems in the field, so after six games Stephens got the job back. When Stephens continued to struggle at the plate Rocky was reinstated in late May; his fielding, at least, improved, but on June 9 he dislocated his left shoulder while sliding, the prognosis being that he would be out at least three weeks.

At this point Fred Marsh was given the third base job, but after a week Lane made a trade with the Browns for Bob Elliott, who held on to the position for the rest of the year. Rocky returned to the team in mid-July, started for a week during an injury to Elliott, and finished the season as Bob’s backup. He hit .202/.270/.287 in 129 at-bats in 64 games, while in the field his percentage fell from .959 to .929 and his range per nine innings from 4.07 to 3.32.

From the December 9 Milwaukee Journal:

Major league ballplayers Johnny Logan of the Braves, Harvey Kuenn of Detroit and Rocky Krsnich of the White Sox will be guest speakers at a father and son night at the West Allis Kiwanis club at the Tanner-Paul American legion post Thursday night.

Thursday was the next day, the 10^th, and that same day Rocky was traded with Saul Rogovin and Connie Ryan to the Reds for Willard Marshall. He went to spring training 1954 with Cincinnati but on opening day of the Reds’ season he was sold to the Portland Beavers of the Pacific Coast League. That day, April 14, the Oregon Journal reported:

Krsnich is driving from his home in West Allis to Portland and is due to arrive here in time to don a Beaver uniform for the opening game of the season Tuesday [20^th] with Sacramento.

Yet the April 16 Cincinnati Post published a photo from the Reds-Cubs game of the 15^th, played in Milwaukee, that showed Rocky in uniform for the Reds. Once in Portland he didn’t become the regular third baseman until May, then replacing Don Eggert, who was moved to the outfield. On August 17 he stole home as part of a triple steal. He hit .252/.306/.366 with nine homers in 511 at-bats in 142 games, but his 77 RBI were second on the team. His fielding numbers improved.

Marlowe Branagan’s “Tower Lights” column in the September 14 Oregonian, devoted to the Beavers players departing for the off-season, included:

Rocky Krsnich, another silent young man, dressed in rapid fashion. He will likely return to his home in West Allis, Wis., and his family was ready for a long drive home.

That same day Emmett Watson in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported that the Rainiers were going to try to reacquire Rocky. On October 17 the Joplin Globe reported that “Kansas City has an all-star team of ball players ready to do some barnstorming, including Jay Sousley, Kite Thomas and Rocky Krsnich, all former Joplin Miners.” I didn’t find any more references to that, though. From the October 31 Oregonian:

…What will be the lot of Rocky Krsnich is up to new owners.

Krsnich was just so-so here this past season. He didn’t hit the long ball in frequent fashion and there were many days when he didn’t hit, period.

On December 30 it was reported that the Beavers had turned down Seattle’s offer of Leo Thomas for Rocky, but the Rainiers were still interested.

On January 15, 1955, he was traded with pitcher Jehosie Head and cash for Seattle’s Artie Wilson. The Post-Intelligencer’s Royal Brougham said in his January 21 “Morning After” column that “Rocky Krsnich is the best fielding third baseman since Dick Gyselman and even big Dick couldn’t handle bunts so deftly as Rocky.” And from the February 2 P-I: “Seattle is my favorite town and I’m sure I’ll have a big year with the Rainiers,” is the word from Rocky Krsnich.

However, in 1955 Rocky started having serious throwing problems. He made ten errors in his first seven games, and 16 in his first 23. In mid-May the Rainiers got Lou Ortiz on option from the Phillies, put him at second base and moved Monty Basgall to third. Seattle optioned Rocky to the Tulsa Oilers of the Texas League; with the Rainiers he had hit .231/.313/.325 in 117 at-bats in 34 games, and made 19 errors for an .847 fielding percentage.

On May 24 Rocky made two errors in his debut game with Tulsa. On June 2 the Tulsa Daily World reported:

Tulsa’s biggest problem continues to be third base where Rocky Krsnich has failed to come up to expectations. He has been an improvement but not to the extent Schenz and Grayle Howlett had looked for. Krsnich has made some costly errors and has not hit much.

Back in Seattle, Emmett Watson wrote in the June 7 Post-Intelligencer:

The Rainiers estimate that a “normal” year from Rocky Krsnich would have them about even with San Diego—notwithstanding the Padres’ spectacular surge. Bad throws by Rocky cost Seattle at least six games.

Rocky’s throwing troubles continued with Tulsa, though his hitting improved some and he kept his job all season. The Dallas Morning News reported on August 21:

An oddity of the game was the fact that in the eighth inning, Tulsa’s third baseman, Rocky Krsnich, threw his left shoulder out of place while sitting on the bench. But it had happened before to him; a doctor was summoned from the stands, and he snapped it back into place. Krsnich, next up, went to the plate and swung without apparent difficulty, although he popped out to short.

With the Oilers Rocky hit .263/.325/.377 in 438 at-bats in 120 games. He made 46 more errors, giving him 65 for the year between the two teams, and his range fell off from his time in Seattle. But on October 14 Tulsa purchased his contract from the Rainiers, “on a conditional basis, pending the outcome of a shoulder operation which he hopes will correct an ailment he suffered last season.” (Tulsa Daily World)

The 1956 Joplin city directory lists Rocky as a ball player for the Tulsa Oilers, living at 2518 Highview Avenue, his in-laws’ house. On April 6, 1956, the Daily World reported that “A shoulder operation figures to help his erratic throwing of last year.” Rocky started the season playing third and batting third, though others were tried at the position. In mid-May, after playing in 16 games, the Oilers apparently returned him to Seattle, as in early June the Rainiers sold him again, to the Texas League again, this time to Oklahoma City.

Rocky got into 29 games with Oklahoma City, then presumably was released. Between the two Texas League teams he hit .268/.348/.384, his best showing since 1950, in 164 at-bats in 45 games, but he fielded just .885. After that he is supposed to have spent some time with the Dickinson Packers of the independent Manitoba-Dakota League, but no stats exist. This ended his professional career.

In 1959 Rocky appeared in the Wichita city directory, as a representative of the CIT Corporation, living at 429 N. Pershing Avenue. 1959 is also when he returned to the sports pages, as a member of the Wichita Cessna team in the National Baseball Congress’s tournament for semi-pro and amateur teams, held late each summer in Wichita. In 1960 the Wichita city census found Rocky, Marie, and their three kids at 429 N. Pershing.

The 1961 Wichita directory shows Rocky still working for CIT but now living at 1005 Wicker. Each year from 1961 through 1963 he played for the Wichita Rapid Transit Dreamliners in the NBC tournament; in 1962 they won the tournament and Rocky, still just 35 years old, was named the most valuable player. In 1964 he played in the tournament for Wichita’s Bob Moore Oldsmobile.

On July 31, 1967, L.H. Gregory mentioned Rocky in an installment of his “Greg’s Gossip” column in the Oregonian, devoted to Dick Radatz:

…Radatz isn’t the first baseball player to lose his throwing rhythm…

“I can cite a case closer to home,” said Lenny Anderson, baseball writer for the Seattle P-I. “In Rogers Hornsby’s 1951 Seattle pennant year, Rocky Krsnich, whom you always called ‘the shortstop with the missing vowel’ and generously supplied him with one, was a fine fielder with an exceptionally strong and accurate arm. Suddenly he began making bad throws to first and it got worse—he couldn’t seem to make a good one. Eventually he to some extent regained his rhythm, but never completely. The next year he was with a different team and my impression is that his baseball life was shortened.”

Rocky’s father passed away in 1969, and his mother in 1981. Marie died in 2004. Rocky’s youngest brother, Mike, who had played professional baseball from 1950 to 1969, including time in Mexico and Japan and 15 games for the Milwaukee Braves in 1960 and 1962, died in 2011; brother Nick, who played in the low minors in 1950 and 1951, followed in 2014. Rocky himself passed away at age 91 on February 14, 2019, in Overland Park, Kansas.

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/K/Pkrsnr101.htm

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/k/krsniro01.shtml

Chuck Wolfe

Chuck Wolfe pitched in three games for the 1923 Philadelphia Athletics.

Charles Hunt Wolfe was born February 15, 1897, in Wolfsburg, in south-central Pennsylvania, the youngest of six children of blacksmith Albert Wolfe and Sarah Whetstone Wolfe. Albert and Sarah were both from Pennsylvania and they started their family there, but their second and third children were born in North Dakota before the Wolfes returned to Pennsylvania.

The 1900 census finds the Wolfes living in Mann’s Choice Borough in Bedford County. Oldest child George is already a schoolteacher at age 18; Glenn is 15, Annie 11, Grace 9, and Charley 3. 13-year-old Pearl has been shipped off to be a servant for Sarah’s brother George Whetstone and his family.

In the 1910 census the family lives on Market Street in Napier Township, still in Bedford County. Albert is still a blacksmith at 57, Sarah is 56, George is 27, still teaching and still living at home. Annie, now shown as Anna, is 21, Grace is 19, and Charley is 13; Glenn and Pearl are both married and living elsewhere.

Albert passed away in 1913. I didn’t find anything about Chuck between the 1910 census and June 5, 1918, when he filled out his draft registration card. He gives his name as Charley Hunt Wolfe, his address as Schellsburg (in Bedford County), his employer as the State Highway Department, near Schellsburg, his nearest relative as his mother, also of Schellsburg, and his appearance as light brown eyes, light brown hair, medium height and medium build.

In 1922, at age 25, Chuck was mentioned in the March 9 Sporting News as being one of the pitchers at the Philadelphia Athletics’ training camp. But the March 16 issue reported:

At this writing everybody on the roster had reported excepting Pitcher Ed Rommel, First Baseman Joe Hauser and Pitcher Wolfe. The last named has permission to finish his studies at college and will not report until June.

However, by late April Chuck was pitching for the House of David barnstorming baseball team. The House of David was a religious sect from Michigan, and it had a baseball team that traveled the country playing against local teams. They were known for their long hair and beards; when they hired ringers, such as Chuck Wolfe or an aging Grover Cleveland Alexander, sometimes the players grew out their hair and sometimes they wore wigs.

The first mention of Chuck with the House of David that I found was in the April 30, 1922, Evansville Courier:

The Evas defeated the House of David team yesterday in the first of two exhibition games, 4 to 2…

Wolfe, the House of David twirler, was in rare form and served up some mighty sweet curves for the local boys to glance over. This was the first real chance the Evas have had to hit curve pitching and they did well…

Chuck spent the year with the House of David. In the games that I found where he was mentioned as pitching the team was 1-5 with two ties; a 1924 article says that he won 42 and lost 9 for them, which seems unlikely.

On August 2, 1923, Chuck made his major league debut with the Athletics. I found no mentions of his pitching for anyone earlier in the season than that; it’s possible that he was being carried on the Philadelphia roster but not being allowed to pitch in any league games. On this day, at home against the Tigers, he relieved Rollie Naylor to begin the sixth, down 3-1. In his first inning he retired Bob Jones, Ty Cobb, and Harry Heilmann around a walk to Heinie Manush, but in the seventh he allowed three runs; the Athletics scored four in the eighth and ninth and lost 6-5. Chuck singled in his only plate appearance.

Chuck next pitched on the 13^th, at home against Cleveland in the second game of a doubleheader. He relieved starter Slim Harriss with two out in the fourth, following a three-run homer by Tris Speaker that put the Indians up 7-2. The first batter he faced, Joe Sewell, hit his third and final home run of the season, but Chuck finished the game without giving up another run and the Athletics made it close, losing 8-6. The next day’s Cleveland Plain Dealer, in their story on the game, called Chuck “an ambitious youngster who has been with the Quakers only a short time.”

On the 18^th in Cleveland, Chuck pitched to one batter, replacing Curly Ogden with two out in the bottom of the eighth and the bases loaded and retiring Rube Lutzke for the final Indian out in a 16-3 Athletic loss. This was his final major league appearance, though he remained on the Philadelphia roster and pitched for them in some exhibition games, including August 21 vs. Milwaukee of the American Association and August 29 vs. Worcester of the Eastern League. In his three official games he had a 3.72 ERA in 9 2/3 innings, allowing six hits while walking eight and striking out one.

On October 8 Chuck was sold to the Portland Beavers of the Pacific Coast League. The next day’s Oregon Journal described him as “a six-footer,” and the January 15, 1924, Oregonian called him a “strapping young fellow,” but the same paper on March 4 got it right, once they actually saw him:

Wolfe is short and almost squat in appearance, due to the tremendous breadth of his shoulders and depth of chest.

He weighs 175 pounds normally and is five feet 7 inches tall, but few would guess him to be more than five feet five, so close to the ground is he built. He comes with a reputation for great speed, and he looks the part.

Chuck impressed in spring training, which was at Stockton, California. From the March 14 Oregon Journal:

In speaking of the pitching squad, Turner declares that Charles Wolfe is the best looking pitcher of the new comers and concedes the former House of David hurler a place on the regular staff. Wolfe is a pitcher built along the lines of the late Gene Krapp, although somewhat bigger and heavier than “Rubber.”

(If you’re thinking, “Gee, I’d sure like to read a biography of Gene ‘Rubber’ Krapp,” see here:

https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/Gene-Krapp/)

The March 24 Los Angeles Daily News ran a report on the Portland team that touted two newcomers: Mickey Cochrane and Chuck. Chuck had a rough time in an intrasquad game on April 5, allowing 12 runs in five innings; the report in the next day’s Oregon Journal included the following tidbit:

The weather was almost perfect, the sun shining down with midsummer intensity. The game was stopped in the fifth inning to permit the Ku Klux Klan to rehearse a ritual that they are going to stage at an initiation at Oak Park tonight.

Despite this performance, Chuck was still well thought of, the Portland News saying on the 9^th that he “looks the class of the young right handers. He will no doubt be kept.” 

The season had opened the day before, but Chuck didn’t get into a game until the 15^th, when he pitched the last two innings of a 12-3 loss in Sacramento, giving up the final run. It doesn’t sound like a particularly bad outing, but the Beavers had seen enough of him, as seen in the May 14 Oregon Journal:

Pitcher Wolfe Is Sold to Bridgeport

President Klepper of the Portland Baseball club announced Tuesday night [13^th] that Pitcher Charley Wolfe had been sold by Scout Tom Turner to Bridgeport, Conn., in the Eastern league. Klepper received a wire from Turner asking Wolfe to leave for the East at once, and the latter will pack his bag and begin the transcontinental journey this morning.

Wolfe, who came to the Beavers this season, was in one game for a few innings during the opening series in the South, but his showing was not up to expectations and he was left behind when the Beavers left for Seattle last week.

This was a step down, from AA to A. Chuck pitched for Bridgeport the rest of the season. The June 28 Springfield Republican mentioned that he had won four games in the previous week, but his record for the season was 11-12, with a 3.55 ERA in 208 innings in 32 games. He was on the Bridgeport reserve list the following off-season.

Chuck returned to Bridgeport for 1925, and was their opening day starter, pitching a complete game but losing 2-1. He had a 2-1 record and 2.12 ERA in 34 innings in five games when, on May 13, as reported in the next day’s Bridgeport Telegram, this happened:

CHUCK WOLFE HURT AS LOCALS TRIUMPH, 4-1

Fractures Kneecap While Attempting to Score in Fifth—Eddie Burke Features.

…Chuck Wolfe, who started on the mound for Bridgeport, fractured his knee in the fifth inning when he attempted to score from third base on a delayed double steal with Henzes. He had to be carried off the field and will be out of the game for several weeks. Wolfe was pitching steady ball, having held the visitors to five scattered hits. He did not allow a pass and had retired four men on strikes.

The prognosis was not so good on June 5:

Chuck Wolfe will be out of the hospital this week. His leg is still in a cast and will be so for three weeks. He will probably be on crutches for a month following this. It is certain that he will not play ball again this year.

It was certain, and he did not. Chuck returned to the team for spring training 1926. The Bridgeport Telegram reported on March 16:

With Chuck Wolfe in none too good condition; Frank Wotell not wanted; Joe Burns about all done; and Bob Caffrey nursing a bad injury received in football, the prospects of the local team are exceedingly poor.

Chuck started the regular season with Bridgeport but, with a 5.21 ERA in 19 innings in six games, he was released on May 19. He hooked on with the Manchester Blue Sox of the Class B New England League, where he finished the season, going 15-10 with a 3.56 ERA in 202 innings in 29 games as the Blue Sox won the league championship.

Chuck returned to Manchester in 1927. From the Lynn Daily Item, April 14:

JEAN DUBUC IS STILL THE BLUE SOX CLUB PILOT

MANCHESTER, N.H., April 14, 1927.—Replying yesterday to reports from Worcester that he had been signed as manager of the East Douglas club of the Blackstone Valley League, Jean Dubuc made emphatic denial that he is to leave Manchester this season…

In the course of the conversation with Dubuc, he announced that Chuck Wolfe, star pitcher of the club last season and the ranking right-hander of the league, and Jake Wimer, veteran shortstop, have been sold to East Douglas. It was a cash proposition but no price was mentioned. Both will be placed on the voluntarily retired list, thereby remaining the property of the local club.

The Blackstone Valley League was a semi-pro league comprised of textile mill teams, which explains how the Blue Sox would retain ownership of Chuck and Jake while they played for another team, but does not explain why they would be sending their best pitcher to play semi-pro ball. But since the New England League season didn’t begin until mid-May, I suppose it was an alternative to spring training for getting them into shape, plus the team made a few bucks.

Chuck pitched for the Blue Sox on opening day, May 17, and threw a three-hit shutout while striking out ten. He stayed with them all season, though he and a teammate missed the Labor Day weekend due to having been loaned to East Douglas. Chuck finished with a 15-10 record, same as in 1926, though his ERA dropped from 3.56 to 2.61.

In 1928 Chuck returned to Manchester, but in mid-July he somehow made his way to Lewiston of the same league. Between the two teams he was 12-13 with a 2.70 ERA in 193 innings in 27 games.

Chuck was back with Lewiston for 1929. From the June 12 Boston Herald:

Chuck Wolfe, married today [the 11^th], made a honeymoon out of the game with Lowell and the Twins won, 6 to 2. Wolfe held the Millers scoreless until the ninth, fanned six and walked only one man.

Chuck’s bride was Anna Catharine (known as Catharine) Horne of Bedford County; they were married in Lewiston. From the July 25 Springfield Republican:

HURLERS SUSPENDED

Lewiston, Me., July 24—(AP) William (Windy) Diehl and Charles (Chuck) Wolfe, pitchers on the Lewiston-Auburn club of the New England League, have been suspended, according to a statement issued today by Manager Jesse Burkett. Burkett said the two hurlers would have to tell the reason for the suspension. Richard Hunnewell, president of the club, said the two men had ordered [sic] to go to New York for examination by physicians, but had refused to comment further.

I didn’t find anything more about this, and both players were back in action by mid-August. Chuck had a 7-4 record and 4.05 ERA in 131 innings in 22 games.

In the 1930 census, taken April 24, Chuck and Catharine are living in Schellsburg, Bedford County, in a rented house. Chuck is a 33-year-old ball player; Catharine is 35.

Chuck returned to Lewiston, where he was again part of the starting rotation. From the June 20 Wilkes-Barre Times Leader: "York last night obtained a new pitcher, Charley Wolfe, who came here from the New England League, which circuit gives signs of breaking up."

The New England League did break up, two days later, and apparently nobody ever compiled the final statistics. I only found one game that Chuck pitched for York, of the Class B New York-Pennsylvania League, in relief on June 25. He didn’t appear in the NY-Penn stats, which means he didn’t appear in ten games and didn’t pitch 45 innings. His Sporting News obituary suggests that he went from there to the Johnstown Johnnies of the Class C Middle Atlantic League, but I didn’t find any details on that. This seems to have been the end of his professional baseball career, though in 1932 he was pitching for the Schellsburg town team, as reported in the June 3 Bedford Gazette:

SCHELLSBURG NINE BEATS SCALP LEVEL TEAM

As a part of the Memorial Day celebration, the Schellsburg baseball club, showing a tremendous batting power, swamped the Scalp Level team to the tune of 15-4.

Chuck Wolfe, a former pitcher for the Philadelphia Athletics, held Scalp Level to 7 scattered hits, most of the 4 runs being scored on errors of which Schellsburg had 6.

The 1940 census shows Chuck, Catharine, and six-year-old son Clive living in Schellsburg, in a house they own, valued at $1600. They lived in the same house in 1935. Chuck has an eighth grade education, is a laborer for a private estate, worked 18 hours in the last week of March, worked 32 weeks in 1939, for which he earned $470. Catharine is 45 and has two years of college.

The 1950 census shows them living on Pitt Street in Schellsburg, in the “last house before bank.” Chuck is 53 and unable to work, Anna is 55 and keeping house, and Clive is 16.

On November 27, 1957, Chuck passed away in Schellsburg, at age 60. His death certificate gives his occupation as school custodian, and the cause of death as carcinoma of left lung, which had been diagnosed four months previously. The Associated Press reported on his death on November 28, shown here as it appeared in the Washington Evening Star a day later:

Ex-A’s Hurler Dies

BEDFORD, Pa., Nov. 29 (AP)—Charles H. Wolfe, 60, of nearby Schellsburg, died yesterday at his home. He pitched for the Philadelphia Athletics during the 1923 season.

His obituary from the December 11 Sporting News:

Charles H. (Chuck) Wolfe, 60, who was signed as a pitcher for the Philadelphia Athletics by Connie Mack in 1923, died at his home in Schellsburg, Pa., November 27.

Wolfe appeared in three games with no decisions for the A’s. He was sent to Portland, Ore., in 1924, but was released to Bridgeport and subsequently performed with Manchester, Lewiston-Auburn, York and Johnstown before ending his career in 1930. His wife and a son survive.

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/W/Pwolfc101.htm

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/wolfech01.shtml