Tommy Cafego

Tommy Cafego played in just four major league games, for the 1937 St. Louis Browns.

He was born August 21, 1911, in Whipple, an unincorporated community in the coalfields of West Virginia. His parents, John Cafego and Mary (Beder) Cafego, were both born in Hungary and emigrated to the United States in 1895, when John was 32 and Mary was 15. In the 1920 census the family lived in Scarbro, West Virginia, the nearest incorporated town to Whipple, with sons Joe (18), Mike (14), Steve (12), Tommy (9), Frank (7), George (5), and Paul (2); John and Joe were coal miners, as was oldest son John Jr., who was no longer living at home. (George would grow up to be the celebrity in the family, an All-American football player at the University of Tennessee and a member of the College Football Hall of Fame.)

Tommy finished grammar school but didn’t go to high school, presumably then going to work in the coal mines, though information about him before age 25 is sketchy. In 1931, at age 19, he was signed as a catcher by the Richmond Byrds of the Class A Eastern League; on April 21 the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported “The squad has been cut another player, Cafego, a young catcher, picked up in West Virginia by Ryan during the spring, having been turned over to the Waddey club of this city, members of the Tri-City semipro loop.”

The next mention of Tommy I find is in the November 16, 1933, issue of the Sporting News, in which he appears on the reserve list of the Beckley Black Knights of the Class C Middle Atlantic League. His Baseball Reference stats show him having gone 5 for 25 in nine games for Beckley that season; 1933 is the only year prior to 1937 that they show him playing professionally. But the Augusta Chronicle of September 13, 1936, ran the following story, from the Associated Press:

CRACKERS BUY CATCHER 

Earl Mann, president of the Atlanta Crackers, announced today signing of Tommy Cafego, young Scarborough [sic], W. Va. Catcher. With Paul Richards, Cracker backstop, out of the game with an injured finger, the Atlanta league-leaders are shy a catcher. Cafego will assist Jim Galvin.

I found no other reference to him during 1936. He next turns up in April of 1937, when the Crackers released him to the Jackson Senators of the Class B Southeastern League, a New York Yankees affiliate. He began the season as Jackson’s catcher, and in the May 6 Sporting News he was shown as third in the league in batting average at .400, 16 for 40. But sometime between May 8 and May 16 he made his way to the Meridian Scrappers, a St. Louis Browns affiliate, also in the Southeastern League. He started out catching for Meridian but as the season went on he played more and more in the outfield; the final league stats published in the Sporting News show him with 131 games played, 78 games in the outfield, and 53 at catcher, but he is shown as “Cafego, Meridian” so I can’t be certain that those numbers include his time with Jackson. He is credited with a .305 average in 478 at-bats, with 25 doubles, 18 triples, and five homers.

There was more to Tommy’s 1937 season, though. On August 29 he and two Meridian teammates were purchased by the parent Browns, and on September 3 he made his major league debut, striking out as a pinch-hitter at home against the Cleveland Indians. On September 5 he pinch-ran, on September 8 he started in left field, batting second, and went zero for three, and on September 9 he pinch-ran again, scoring a run. Those four games were the extent of his major-league career.

During the off-season Tommy appeared on the reserve list of the Browns’ Class A-1 affiliate, the San Antonio Missions of the Texas League, but in January he was sold to the Macon Peaches of the Class B South Atlantic League. The Macon Telegraph, which covered the Peaches very thoroughly, reported on February 20:

Local club officials feel satisfied with the acquisition of Tommy Cafego, the all-star catcher of the Southeastern league last year. He had a batting average of about .315 and there were less than a dozen players in the league to hit over .300.

On March 31:

Cafego, who hit .310 against Class B pitching last summer, couldn’t be still. He participated in every pepper game he could find around the park, caught in batting practice, then shucked off his heavy glove for a light one and went to the outfield to shag flies.

April 1:

Tommy Cafego, the catcher bought from San Antonio, is nursing a lame arm and working out in the outfield. But his hitting prowess is noticeable in drills.

On April 5 the Telegraph reported that Farmer John Willoughby had won the first-string catcher job. On April 12:

Tommy Cafego still looks like another good utility man in the class of Dee Moore and Shotgun Williams. He handled 15 chances flawlessly at first base yesterday, taking the place of Jerry Tieman…Cafego appears to be a good hitter and one of the fastest men on the squad. Manager Milton Stock has indicated he may start him in the outfield when the season opens.

When the season opened he was in the lineup most games, mostly in left field or catching, occasionally at first or third. On May 29 the Telegraph mentioned “After all this time Tommy says his name is pronounced Caf-ego with the accent on the first syllable. Shucks…” On June 13 they reported “Tommy Cafego, second-string catcher, was badly cut behind the ear in the eighth inning when struck by Sonny Sonnier’s bat, but returned to the game.” This was followed by an extended stretch where he was the everyday third baseman, due to an injury to the regular second baseman and some position switching. On July 10 he took part in some races between Macon and Savannah players before their game, circling the bases in 14.0 seconds, tying for third place, and tying for second in the 70-yard dash.

On August 28 the Telegraph reported that ten home runs had been hit at Macon so far in the season, eight of them by Macon players, and three of those by Tommy. He finished up the season catching during an injury to Farmer John Willoughby, and on the final day, September 5, he was described by the Telegraph as “the little man with the big chew of tobacco always in his cheek.” He finished third in a poll of fans for the most popular Macon player, behind the aforementioned Willoughby and Tieman, and finished the year hitting .280 and slugging .432 in 354 at-bats, with 13 doubles, 13 triples, and five home runs, and 14 stolen bases in 23 attempts. Defensively, he caught 45 games with 40 in the outfield and 23 at third base.

The Peaches finished second and played a playoff series with Augusta; Tommy caught the first two games but pulled a ligament in his side (or sprained his back—stories differed) and had to move to left field while the Peaches borrowed a catcher from the Columbus team with Willoughby still out. Macon won the series and moved on to the championship series with Savannah, who refused to let the borrowed catcher play so Willoughby had to catch despite his mangled fingers while Tommy remained in left field. The Peaches won the league championship and went on to the “Little Dixie Series” against the Southeastern League champ Mobile Shippers; Macon won the series with Tommy playing first base for the injured Tieman.

Tommy returned to Macon for 1939, again competing with Willoughby in spring training for the catching job. On March 2 the Telegraph reported:

Tom Cafego, second-string catcher and utility man, also will be considered for an outfield post. His long-distance clouting and versatility played a major part in Macon’s playoff triumphs and capture of the South’s class “B” championship from Mobile.

From the March 23 Charleston News & Courier:

The outfield must be rebuilt, but a stronger trio offensively is anticipated than the one used in 1938. Tom Cafego, heavy-hitting second-string catcher, will be converted to the garden for regular duty.

Back to the Macon Telegraph, for April 20:

Tom Cafego, the second-string receiver and utility man who finished last season at first base with a finger glove, takes a catcher’s mitt into the outfield to shag flys. You never know what he’ll do next.

Tommy started the season playing part-time, mostly at catcher, usually hitting second in the lineup behind new shortstop Eddie Stanky. On May 16, though, it was announced that the Peaches had released captain and first baseman Jerry Tieman, who had gotten off to a poor start offensively, and that Tommy, hitting .372 at that point, would take over at first. On May 19 the Telegraph assessed his play, saying “Cafego is no picture of grace upon the first sack, but he performed capably in the role during the Little Dixie series last fall, and while he insists on wearing a finger glove rather than a pad, he has made no mistakes and only one mechanical error on the bag.” On May 26 they offered this analysis:

Cafego undoubtedly could be the most powerful hitter in the circuit if he could learn to hit his “power,” an inside pitch, which more times than not he lets go by for one on the outside which usually is a fly ball to centerfield. When Cafego learns to pull that inside ball to right he’ll be the peril among the southpaw swingers that Grey Clarke was among the righthanders in ’37.

Tommy played first base and batted second through May, at which point the Peaches signed a new first baseman and he went back to playing some left field and catcher. In July the Telegraph was critical of his baserunning; on July 6 they said “Tom Cafego, one of the fastest men in the league, twice was caught stealing by Crompton’s throws. Tommy just doesn’t seem to get that necessary jump on the pitcher’s delivery.” And on July 14:

This is the slowest ball club in Macon since reorganization of the league. Tom Cafego and Joe Dobbins, the only faster-than-average speedsters, are not good base runners. Each has been thrown out more times stealing than he has successfully reached his prospective base.

On July 25 the regular left fielder was released and Tommy took over the position for the rest of the season, except for occasional catching, and batted second in the order. He ended up with 50 games in the outfield, 29 at catcher, and 25 at first base; in 115 total games he hit .314 and slugged .457, with 17 doubles, 10 triples and six home runs, and stole 14 bases. In a review of the season published on December 2, the Telegraph said “Tom Cafego hit hard enough, and was fast enough, but a poor judge of fly balls.”

Tommy went back to spring training with the Peaches in 1940. After some speculation that he would be the regular first baseman, he began the season in his usual utility/second-string catcher spot and filled in at third base early on due to an injury. On May 15 the Telegraph mentioned that “His power came from swinging a pick in the coal mines.” In early June he was sold to the Montgomery Rebels of the Southeastern League; strangely I can find no mention of it in the Telegraph at the time. With the Rebels he played catcher, outfield, and first base, and in 74 games hit .371 and slugged .512 with 13 doubles, 5 triples and two homers; while with Macon he had hit .306 in 40 games.

On October 16 Tommy filled out his draft registration. He gave his residence as Scarbro, his employer as the New River Company, a West Virginia coal mining company (which seems to be a hint as to what he was doing in the off-seasons), his next of kin as his brother Mike, and his description as 5-10, 168, light complexion, brown eyes, and brown hair.

In 1941 Tommy went to spring training with the Rebels, but was sold before the season started to the Madison Blues of the Class B Three-I League. He played in 81 games, mostly in the outfield and at third base, and hit .276 and slugged .423 with 14 doubles, 9 triples, and three homers, and 15 stolen bases. His Baseball Reference page shows him as having also played in four games back with Montgomery, though I didn’t find any other evidence of this.

On January 10, 1942, Tommy enlisted as a private in the US Army, at Milwaukee. On May 31 it was reported that he was playing left field for Fort Bragg. Eventually he was shipped to Europe; details are sketchy, but he lost his right arm in beachhead action at Salerno, Italy, which places it in September 1943.

Back in West Virginia, the West Virginia Marriages Index shows that he married Katherine Tucker in 1944, though the West Virginia Births Index shows that he and Katherine had a daughter Sandra on November 11, 1941, and his 1942 enlistment paperwork gives his status as single with no dependents, so I don’t know what to make of all that. At any rate, they ended up in Dearborn, Michigan, where they were listed in the city directory from 1948 to 1959 as living at 2931 Katherine Street, with Tommy as a janitor for the Ford Corporation.

On October 29, 1961, at the age of 50, Tommy died in Detroit of a seizure. His obituary in the Knoxville News-Sentinel said he was a sales parts manager for Ford, so apparently at some point he had worked his way up from janitor, and also said that his two children were George, age 16, and Sandy, age 11 (though Sandy appears in a Dearborn high school annual in 1957). The obituary ran under the headline “George Cafego’s Brother Dies.”

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/C/Pcafet101.htm
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/cafegto01.shtml
http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/profile.asp?ID=9527