Guy Lacy was a backup infielder for the 1926 Cleveland
Indians.
Osceola Guy Lacy was born June 12, 1897, in Cleveland,
Tennessee, the county seat of Bradley County in southeast Tennessee, not far
from Chattanooga. He was the oldest child of farmers John and Imogene Lacy. In
the 1910 census 13-year-old Guy is listed as a farm laborer on the family farm;
his younger siblings are Dewey, 12; Romulus, 8; Izola, 6; Hortense, 3; and
Jackson, 11 months—there would be at least two children born after this,
George, in 1912, who would become a minor-league catcher and manager, and John,
year unknown, a minor-league infielder.
In Guy’s early professional career he would often be
referred to as Osceola Lacy or Osceola Guy Lacy, but this became less frequent
as time went on. He made his debut in 1916, the summer he turned 19, with the
Anniston Moulders of the Class D Georgia-Alabama League, playing 49 games at
second base and hitting .226. In 1917 he is credited with 16 games with
Anniston, hitting .317, and also some time with the Tifton Tifters of the Class
D Dixie League, no stats readily available.
On February 21, 1918, Guy got his first Sporting News
mention:
FINN HAS THAT NEEDED SHORT
He is Guy Lacy, a Chattanooga Boy Said to Be a Wonder.
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn., Feb. 17—…In signing Guy Lacy, [manager]
Finn has plugged the hole at shortstop. Guy got his start in baseball in the
city league here, so is no stranger. There never was a better young player in
Chattanooga than Lacy and we have turned out several players who have reached
the big ring. He will be given every chance to make good and we believe he will
make it…
But on March 20, this item ran in various newspapers: “The
Nashville club of the Southern league claims that it entered into negotiations
with Guy Lacy, the Chattanooga amateur star, before the Chattanooga club signed
him and will contest for his services.” And on April 7, it was reported that
Finn of Chattanooga had released Guy to Nashville: “It seems Lacy, who is a
Chattanooga semipro, dickered with both clubs and Finn concluded he didn’t want
a player who handled his business that way.” But there is no evidence that Guy
played for Nashville, and I didn’t find a newspaper mention of him the rest of
the year.
On August 24 Guy filled out his draft registration card. He
gave his address as Cleveland, Tennessee, but that was crossed out; his
employer was given as International Ship Co., Pascagoula, Mississippi, which
suggests he was doing war work. His appearance was given as eyes: blue, hair:
brown; height: tall, and build: medium. He was not drafted.
In 1919 Guy did play for Class A Chattanooga, 47 games, all
in the outfield, but hit just .201 with a .262 slugging percentage; he then
went to the Columbia Comers of the Class C Sally League, where he played 19
games at second base and hit .305. A 1922 article mentions that in between he
played in the “so-called Georgia Millionaire League,” whatever that was.
In January 1920 the US census found Guy renting a dairy farm
on Johnston School House Road in Bradley County, with wife Lela Payne Lacy and
one-year-old son Guy Jr. That season he returned to Columbia, where he played
109 games at second base, hitting .266/.348/.389, his on-base percentage being
helped by 15 hit-by-pitches. From the Hattiesburg American of July 13:
A fannabelle recently passed the hat through the grand stand
at Columbia when Guy Lacy hit a home run with the bases loaded and pulled a
game that appeared to be lost by Columbia from out of the fire. The lady is
said to be the first of her sex ever to take up a collection for a ball player,
but she made a fine job of it and the coins jingled at a merry clip.
On September 9 the Charleston Evening Post reported:
LACY A BRAVE
Columbia Second Sacker Sold to Boston Nationals
Columbia, Sept. 9.—It was announced yesterday that Guy Lacy,
the great Columbia second baseman, has been sold to the Boston National league
club. Manager Stallings was anxious to have the best second sacker in the South
Atlantic report to the Braves at once, but this can not be as he will be needed
by the Comers in their post-season invasion of Florida and Georgia. He will
join the Braves at their training camp next spring. If the Boston management
thinks he needs more minor league seasoning he will return to the Comers of
1921. Lacy is one of the best infielders to have played in this league and will
have a great chance to stick. He has a wonderful pair of hands and his equal in
handling ground balls has not been seen here in years…
Guy did go to spring training 1921 with the Braves in
Galveston. The Boston Herald reported on March 19:
Osceola Lacy, without the “e” before the “y,” is a dry,
drawling talker, and some of the boys making their first trip to this far
southern part found it difficult to understand just what he was saying. Lacy
started crabbing today in true ball player fashion about not having a light bat
to swing, and just because he has been making a base hit every time he stepped
up to the plate the boys just naturally had to jump on him with their full
allotment of feet, and they “be some sarcastic.”
On April 1 the Saginaw News printed a “Rookie
Directory,” which included for the Braves:
Osceola Lacy—Infielder. Played with Columbia, S.C., club
past two years. Age 22. Weighs 165. Height 5 feet 11 ½ inches. Looks like best
bet for utility infield job.
A profile that appeared in the South Bend News Times
described Guy as one-sixth Cherokee; I’m not sure how someone can be one-sixth
of anything. When the season began on April 13 he was on the roster as a
utility infielder, but two days later he was returned to Columbia, not having
appeared in a game—the Sally League having just been moved from Class C to Class
B. The Comers and their fans were happy to have him back. He played 142 games,
all at second, and hit .275 with 33 doubles, 12 triples and four homers,
slugging .407.
In January 1922 Guy was traded to the New Haven Indians of
the Class A Eastern League, for outfielder Marty Murphy, pitcher Herman Hehl,
and cash. The Norwich Morning Bulletin described him to their readers on
February 2:
…Lacy is a young, clean playing fellow, 22 years old
[actually 23]…So rapid has his ascent as an infielder been that major league
clubs have been scouting him and one of the most interested parties in the
youngster is Ty Cobb.
It is largely upon the recommendation of Cobb, a prominent
stock holder in the New Haven club that Lacy has been secured by Weiss…
He has always played second base at Columbia but is eligible
for any other infield position and Manager Donovan is as yet undecided where he
will be used…
Lacy has a peculiar position at the bat, almost of the
Heinie Groh style. The scouts say that he is just learning to hit…
On April 20 the Sporting News said:
The remainder of the infield is a flash and should prove an
Eastern League sensation. Guy Lacy at second is one of the greatest fielders in
the game, big show not excepted.
But another compliment in their May 18 issue contained a
hint that Guy’s time at New Haven would be short:
Bowman on first is just starting to display his real hitting
form, and Guy Lacy, Lew Malone, Marty Shay and Harry Riconda are one sweet
inner cordon quartet. Riconda got into the game through an injury to Lacy and
has been going so good that Donovan has another job to pick the regular
infield.
On May 22 Guy was sold to Greenville of the Sally League; he
had hit .146 in 12 games for New Haven. The off-year continued with Greenville,
where he hit .237 and slugged .308 in 95 games. But he continued to be well-thought-of,
as shown by this, from the September 7 Charleston Evening Post:
Guy Osceola Lacy, best fielding second baseman in the South
Atlantic League and who worked and fought with all his might and ability from
the beginning to the end, and was one of the most admired players on the
Greenville club, left today for his home in Cleveland, Tenn. Guy carried with
him a pair of beautiful setter bird dogs, white marked with black. The dogs
were taken out to the game yesterday and seemed at perfect ease as they played
together in the grandstands. They rather liked the petting they received from
the hands of admiring spectators. It’s a pity that the dogs were not blessed
with the human sense to have appreciated the sparkling plays which their
master, Guy Lacy, executed in his final game of the season…
1923 found Guy back with Greenville, still playing second
base, and usually batting second in the lineup. From the Augusta Chronicle
of July 5:
LACY IS PUT OUT OF PLAY BY SUNSTROKE
Greenville Star Stricken During Game Yesterday.
Greenville, S.C.—July 4.—Guy Lacy, second baseman of the
Greenville South Atlantic League club will be out of the game for several days
and possibly longer as the result of a sunstroke this afternoon it was
announced tonight.
Lacy was forced to leave the field in the seventh inning of
the game between Spartanburg and Greenville and appeared to be suffering
intense pain. It was not until tonight, however, that physicians announced that
his illness was attributed to the intense heat, and was declared to be a light
sunstroke…
He was back in the lineup by July 23, if not earlier, but on
the 28th the Charleston Evening Post reported:
GUY LACY RETIRES
Clever Greenville Player is Sick, Ritter Reports
Art Ritter, who was a star infielder in the Southern League
for several seasons and is now the property of the Little Rock club, will
report to the Greenville Spinners Sunday to fill the gap caused by the absence
of Guy Lacy, the best second sacker in the South Atlantic League, says the
Greenville Piedmont. A telegram from Manager Zinn Beck reported that Lacy was
sick and may not be able to play ball again this summer. He expects to return
to his home at Cleveland, Tenn., at once.
It was stated that Lacy is not in a serious condition, but
physicians hold that it would be inadvisable for him to attempt to play under
the broiling sun. He has never regained his normal strength since he collapsed
here on the afternoon of July 4…
That was the last news of him I found during 1923, so he
probably did miss the rest of the season. He played 91 games, all at second,
and hit .282 with a .408 slugging percentage.
From the Charleston Evening Post, March 22, 1924:
Lacy and Beck Break
Guy Lacy, who has stood by Zinn Beck in many Sally league
campaign[s], has severed connections with the Greenville pilot. Guy believes
that he was given the worst of it for his loyalty. He had a chance to become
manager of the Daytona club of the Florida State league, but Beck sold him to
the Richmond team of the Virginia league because the latter club’s offer was
the best from a business standpoint. Lacy is sore because his interest was not
considered and has announced that before he submits to sale that gives him the
worst of it he will quit. He has refused to report to the Virginia Colts. Beck
had a right to sell him where he could get the best price. That is baseball.
Lacy is looking at it from a friendship standpoint. Maybe another week will
bring about a satisfactory settlement.
Apparently that satisfactory settlement did not take too
long to come about, as on April 14 the Richmond Times-Dispatch ran a
photo and profile of Guy:
Osceola G. Lacy is new to this league, but his reputation as
a fielding wizard preceded him.
This is Lacy’s seventh [actually eighth] campaign in
organized baseball, so it cannot be said that he lacks experience. He has been
up once, and hopes to make the big-league training camp again.
“One of the greatest fielders I ever saw,” says Manager Jack
Onslow, in speaking of his second baseman. “As I never saw Leslie Burke play, I
can’t say how good he is, but Lacy will fill his place in an acceptable
manner.”…
Lacy is part Indian, as the name Osceola attests. He is a
likeable chap, a hard worker, and a lad who can be depended upon to clout .275
or better. He has hit well in exhibition games thus far, and Onslow feels that
with Lacy at second and Weafer at first, the right side of his infield is O.K.
Lacy believes he is going to have the best season of his career. Fans welcome
him, and wish him success.
Guy did in fact have the best season of his career. Along
the way, though, in early July, he received word that Lela was ill. He went
home and found that she was doing much better, so he only stayed one day and
then went back to Richmond. In his first game back, on the 11th, as
reported by the Times-Dispatch:
Bob Eanes, announcer at Mayo Park and booster of the Colts,
told fans the circumstances of Lacy’s trip to Tennessee. Eanes and Jake Rowsey
passed around the hat. When they had completed their task, they had raised $100
for Richmond’s popular second baseman. This incident is not new to Richmond,
which has always been a good baseball town. Spectators at the island park
yesterday proved again that sentiment still exists in baseball.
Same newspaper, September 8:
LACY ‘DOES STUFF’ BEFORE GRIFFITH
Second-Sacker Shows Senators How He Does It on Local Field.
H.P. DAWSON IS ALONG
To Talk Terms to Washington Boss, and May Tell Story on
Return.
Osceola Lacy, the Colts’ star second sacker, and one of the
hardest working players in the league, will move into higher company at the
close of the Virginia League season.
There is a possibility that the hard-hitting mid-station
guardian will move up before that time, though it is very unlikely. The Colts
are fighting desperately to maintain their one-game lead for the leadership,
and to take Lacy from the squad at this time would virtually wreck the Colt
machine.
Lacy displayed his wares before Clark Griffith, president of
the Washington Senators, before the game in Washington yesterday. He was
accompanied by President Dawson, of the Colts, who talked terms with Griffith.
The result of the showing has not been announced. Lacy and
Dawson will return to Richmond this morning. Whether Dawson will announce the
results of the trip at this time, or whether he will wait for the deal to be
announced from Washington, it is not known.
Lacy is hitting .345, has scored sixty runs for the Colts,
and is generally conceded to be the best fielding second-sacker in the league.
He is very popular with the fans and players here, and is the hardest-working
player on the team. He is on top of every play, anticipates them, and keeps the
team on its toes all through the game. It is largely through his aggressiveness
that the Colts are now on top.
Richmond players were agreed yesterday afternoon that Lacy
would be an excellent understudy for Manager Stanley Harris, and they were also
certain that he would “stick,” once he breaks into major company.
Apparently nothing came of this, and I didn’t find another
mention of Guy and the Senators, other than his being described as “the
near-Senator” on September 12. That same day he was badly spiked while stealing
third, and he missed a week before returning to the lineup for the last two
games of the season, as Richmond won the pennant by one game. In 127 games Guy
hit .340 and slugged .473, with 31 doubles, no triples (he had eight the
previous season), and ten home runs (up from two).
In December it was announced that Guy would be the new
Richmond manager, but that proved to be premature and on January 12, 1925,
owner H.P. Dawson announced that he himself would be the manager, with Guy as
his captain and right-hand man. When spring training began it was mentioned
that Guy was in good shape due to playing basketball all winter.
On June 12, with Richmond in first place by one game, Dawson
announced that he was stepping down as manager to devote his time to recruiting
young players to replace some of the veterans, and that Guy would replace him.
The team immediately went into a slump, and on July 2 Guy announced his
resignation, as reported in the next day’s Times-Dispatch:
Lacy Resigns as Manager of Richmond Club, Turning Reins Over
to Owner Dawson
Worry Over Team’s Showing Affected His Playing, Lacy Says.
DECISION SURPRISING
Fans Had No Inkling of Move—Dawson to Be Pilot for Present.
By Robert Harper.
…”The club doesn’t seem to be able to win with me as leader,
and the pitching has been poor,” Lacy said. “I have worried myself sick, and it
has affected my playing ability. As I hope to go higher, I have decided to quit
as manager. I did not seek the managerial job, and I think it is time for me to
step out and give some one else a chance. As a player, I will give my best
efforts.”
But the losing continued, and another change was made, as
reported by the Times-Dispatch on July 19:
DAWSON QUITS, LACY BECOMES COLT MANAGER
Owner Leaves Today to Secure New Players—Kelleher Released
RAMOS REINSTATED TO OUTFIELD DUTY
New Leader Wanted Cuban Back—Shake-Up Due to Many Defeats.
By Robert Harper.
H.P. Dawson, owner-manager of the Richmond Virginia League
baseball club, resigned as manager last night and for the second time Guy Lacy,
second baseman, will take over the reins, starting tomorrow.
Other developments in the long expected shake-up, due to
constant defeats during the past month, are:
Release of Mickey Kelleher, veteran infielder, who came here
a week ago and played an outfield position.
Lifting of the suspension of Jose Ramos, Cuban outfielder,
by the new manager.
Announcement by Owner Dawson that he will leave today for
the North, seeking pitchers and catchers.
These changes came with startling rapidity, and regardless
of how the Colts fare for the remainder of the season, mark Dawson’s definite
decision not to manage his club again, and a determination to devote his time
to scouting and assembling a young ball club for 1936.
Lacy’s acceptance of the managership was conditioned on the
lifting of Ramos’ suspension. Although Owner Dawson, in disciplining Ramos, had
said Ramos could not play for his club again, he gave Lacy free rein and
allowed the new pilot to run his own team.
“I didn’t want the managership when Lacy quit a month [16
days] ago,” Dawson said. “I will now be free to scout for players. We need two
strong pitchers and a first-class catcher. I’m going North and I don’t know
when I’ll return…”
This time the change worked, as the Colts caught fire, at
one point winning 16 straight and 24 of 26. September 5 was “Lacy Day” in
Richmond, with Guy being given $250, and on the 7th the team
clinched the pennant.
On the 10th it was announced that Guy and
outfielder Otis Carter had been sold to the New York Giants; the Times-Dispatch
reporting:
The purchase price was not announced, save that Dawson
received part payment for each. The full price stated in the papers of sale
will be paid if McGraw keeps them until May 15, 1926. Both will go South with
the Giants next spring.
For ten days Johnny Evers, scout for the Giants, followed
the Colts in their recent sensational winning streak. That he was “sweet” on
Carter was no secret. The purchase of Lacy comes as a surprise, not because of
doubt entertained here of his ability to make good in higher company, but
because he had been passed up by scouts for two seasons due to an awkward
batting stance…
The Colts lost a post-season series against Sally League
champions Spartanburg, after which Carter reported to New York, while Guy’s
arrival was deferred until the spring. For the season, despite the effect on
his play he said his first managerial stint had, he hit .352/.428/.581 with 37
doubles, eight triples, and 21 homers, easily bettering his big 1924; he also
led the league in sacrifice hits with 43 and in fielding percentage among
second basemen.
In late January 1926 it was reported that Giants manager
John McGraw had returned Guy to the Colts because he had rejected the contract
he had been sent. Dawson was angry with Guy, but on February 20 he sold him
again, to the Cleveland Indians. Guy went to spring training with the Indians
while his brother Romulus was trying out with Richmond as a pitcher; Romulus
got cut. On March 2 the Cleveland Plain Dealer ran an article
introducing Guy to their readers:
Indians’ Scarcity of Infielders Gives Guy Lacy Long Awaited
Chance
NEW UTILITY PLAYER TICKLED BY OUTLOOK
Spurgeon’s Understudy Joyous Over Lucky Turn as Tribe Begins
Practice at Lakeland.
BY HENRY P. EDWARDS
LAKELAND, Fla., March 1.—“This is the chance I have been
waiting for,” remarked Guy Lacy, who managed the Richmond club in the Virginia
league last season and now is assigned to the berth of understudy to Freddie
Spurgeon, a boy who just became of age a year ago [actually Spurgeon had turned
24 on his last birthday].
In comparison with Spurgeon, Lacy is a veteran in baseball
experience but it was not until two years ago that he began to show his real
value as a player and baseball strategist. In fact, it was two years ago that
Lacy himself acquired the belief that he was good enough for the majors but the
big show scouts passed him up until last season when they mobilized at Richmond
for the purpose of looking over the pilot second sacker.
It was the New York Giant scout, however, who had the inside
track and the Cleveland, Yankee and Athletic scouts were forced to report that
John McGraw had beat them to it in landing a player who appeared to have the
necessary qualifications to hold his own in the majors.
McGraw paid $1,000 down for Lacy and was expected to pay the
balance May 15, if he retained the Virginia leaguer. But the contract sent Lacy
was so little in excess of what he had received for managing Richmond, Lacy was
surprised. He consulted Doc and Jimmy Johnston, neighbors at Chattanooga, his
home town, and they advised him to write McGraw and ask if some mistake had not
been made.
“I was so confident I could make any team in the country and
was eager to receive a chance in the big leagues. I would have signed any old
contract,” says Lacy, “and I worded my letter very politely.”
“But Mr. McGraw thought I was too fresh and gave out the
story to the papers he did not intend to be held up by any busher and he simply
would not take me at any price. I was heart broken for I knew the Athetics,
Yankees and Indians would have taken me if the Giants had not bought me first.”
When McGraw announced that he relinquished all claim to
Lacy, Rochester and Portland put in bids for him, while Knoxville sought him as
manager. It practically was fixed for him to go to Portland when he received
notice he had been sold to Cleveland. And Lacy is more than pleased with the
turn fate has given him…
On March 6 the Plain Dealer added:
The player to attract the attention of the gallery today was
Guy Lacy, who, after being confined to his room for two days with a hard cold,
reappeared upon the diamond today and had his first workout at second base.
The fans will not have to worry about the second sack being
well guarded in the event of Spurgeon being incapacitated. No one knows how
Lacy will fare in fast company, but there is no denying that the former
Richmond player can field his position.
He is free and loose in his movements, grabs the ball and
throws from any angle. He ought to be a wonder on double plays, for he pivots
well and gets the ball away with remarkable dispatch. Fielding only taken into
consideration, Freddie Spurgeon will have to show his best to keep Lacy on the
bench.
Guy did make the team, though he didn’t get off the bench
until the 22nd game of the season, on May 7th, in Boston,
when he replaced Ernie Padgett at third base to start the eighth inning, but
didn’t get any fielding chances. Five days later, at Yankee Stadium, he came in
at third after Padgett had been pinch-hit for. This time he fielded a ground
ball and threw a runner out at second, and he came to bat in the top of the 10th
against Urban Shocker with nobody out and runners on first and second and
unsuccessfully bunted, Lou Gehrig throwing the runner out at third. In the
bottom of the inning, Guy made an error that let in the winning run.
After two late-inning appearances at second base, Guy got
his first major league hit on June 2 at home against Detroit. He pinch-ran for
Spurgeon and stayed in the game at second, then later singled off Tigers
reliever George Smith. He got his first three starts on June 7-9, at home,
batting second, in place of Spurgeon at second base; the Indians won all three
games. On the 9th he hit a home run, as described in the next day’s Plain
Dealer:
Other extra base knockers were Joe Sewell, with a double,
and Guy Lacy, who produced his first major league home run. The homer, however,
was on the synthetic order, being what looked like a single until it stubbed
its toe in one of the holes left by the pro gridders, last fall, bounded past
Centerfielder Jeanes and rolled to the score board.
Despite the home run, Guy didn’t get into another game until
the first week of July, when he played in two. On July 15 he got written up in
Robert Harper’s “Playing the Game” column in the Richmond Times-Dispatch:
Bob Eanes, whom fans remember as the capable announcer at
Mayo Field in 1924-25, and who is now in the theatrical business, brings news
concerning two former Richmond managers, Jack Onslow and Guy Lacy…
Eanes waxed enthusiastic when I asked him about Lacy. “He’s
just about the best ball player sitting on a bench in the big show,” Eanes
declared. “Tris Speaker won’t sell him. George Stallings, at Rochester, wants
Lacy and another club is hot for his services, but Cleveland won’t let him go.
“I saw the Cleveland-Yankee games last week, and the fans in
New York gave Lacy a great hand. He played second base for eight minutes of the
fifteen-minute practice period, sharing the bag with Spurgeon. I have never
seen such plays as Lacy pulled. When he came off the field the applause
continued until after he disappeared into the dugout.”
I asked Eanes about Lacy’s batting stance. “You would be
surprised,” was the quick rejoinder. “Lacy has changed. He no longer doubles up
like a turkey, but hits straight away. The home run he hit in Cleveland was over
the center fielder’s head. He looks like a million dollars in a big league
park.
“You know, Lacy isn’t the type to warm a bench. He wants to
get in there. All the Cleveland players think well of him. If he doesn’t get a
chance this year, he’s apt to ask Speaker to send him elsewhere.”
That’s a very different description of Guy’s home run. He
only got into three more games, the last two being a doubleheader on August 17.
He wound up hitting .167/.259/.292 in 24 at-bats in 13 games, with four
sacrifice hits, playing two games at third and the rest at second. He is now
credited with playing 36 games that season with Jacksonville of the Class B
Southeastern League, but I don’t believe that was him; I didn’t find anything
in the newspapers about him there, and there doesn’t seem to have been a long
enough gap between games with Cleveland for him to have played 36 games
somewhere else. The Indians finished in second place, three games behind the
Yankees, and Guy was voted a full share of their portion of the World Series
money by his teammates.
In November the Indians acquired Lew Fonseca from the Newark
Bears of the AA International League, and there was speculation that that would
cost Guy his utility job. Which was true, as on December 6 he was sent to Newark
to complete the deal. Guy was unhappy, as he wanted to go somewhere where he
could manage. He played basketball again over the offseason.
Guy apparently impressed his new team quickly at spring
training, as the Sporting News reported on March 24, 1927, that he had
been named captain; the article also claimed that his grandfather was a chief
of the Osceola tribe. In a game in Newark in April he made $110 in another
hat-passing after a home run. Even so, he only lasted 19 games with the Bears, hitting
.256 and slugging .385, before they sent him to the New Orleans Pelicans of the
Class A Southern Association. The first reference I found to Guy there was the
box score of their May 30 game, where he played second base and batted 6th.
But the day after that box score ran in the New Orleans States, that
paper reported the following:
Guy Lacy May Go
It is a matter of speculation who will be let out by the
Pelicans to make room for Pitcher Dave Danforth and Infielder Bob Murray. Guy
Lacy, recently secured from Cleveland, hasn’t hit his weight since joining the
club although fielding well, and it is likely he will be turned back to the
Indians to make room for Murray.
Guy, who didn’t play in enough games for New Orleans to
appear in the final stats, was actually the property of Newark, as the Knoxville
News-Sentinel got right on June 18:
Guy Lacy, property of Newark Bears, who is at home nursing a
bum ankle, played second base for the locals [Cleveland of the East Tennessee
League—presumably semi-pro]…
Lacy’s ankle is about well and he is ordered to report to
Bridgeport, Conn., Sunday [19th]. He was unable to stand the heat in
New Orleans, having suffered a sunstroke two years ago…
Playing baseball seems like a strange way to rest up from
playing baseball. At any rate, Guy debuted with the Bridgeport Bears, of the
Class A Eastern League, on June 20. He finished up the season with them,
playing in 82 games, hitting .266/.358/.334.
In January 1928 there were rumors that Guy would be managing
Raleigh of the Class C Piedmont League, and in February he was reported to be
holding out for more money from Bridgeport. Meanwhile, on March 11 the Knoxville
News-Sentinel published the results of a caption-this-cartoon contest; the
winning entry was “See Sick,” while Guy appeared in the long list of other
entrants with his submission “Stomach Trouble Scared and Tickled.”
Guy did sign with Bridgeport before the season opened. In
May the Sporting News started speculating that he would be going back to
the major leagues, this appearing on June 14:
Guy Lacy, who would not join the Cleveland Indians a couple
of years ago, because of a salary dispute [not even close to what happened],
and who is now with Bridgeport in the Eastern League, may find himself in
another argument next Spring with some big league club if he doesn’t let down.
It’s this way: Lacy is playing such a fine game at second for Bridgeport, and
hitting so well several major league clubs want him. Maybe this time, they will
be more considerate in negotiations with the [almost 31-year-old] lad.
Guy missed a significant amount of the latter part of the
season with a broken ankle, playing in 102 of Bridgeport’s 154 games for the
year. He hit .290/.388/.373, with 25 doubles, one triple, and one homer.
In April 1929 Bridgeport sold Guy to the Allentown Dukes, a
new franchise in the Eastern League. On June 7 a letter-writer to the Augusta
Chronicle chose Guy as the second baseman on his all-time Sally League
team, and on August 25 the Richmond Times-Dispatch said that he was
“being hailed as one of the best infielders in the minor leagues.” He did have
a big year, hitting .326/.389/.433 in 153 games, with 44 doubles, five triples,
and three home runs, and led the league with 37 sacrifice hits.
The 1930 census shows the Lacys living on a farm, which they
own, on Chattanooga Pike in Civil District #2, Bradley County. Osceola G. and
Lela are each 32 years old and got married at age 20; the kids are Osceola G.
Jr. (11), Mary R. (10), and Angela L. (8). Guy’s occupation looks like “Bass
Ballplayer” and his industry is “Eastern League.” The baseball season found Guy
back with Allentown, playing second and batting second; he hit .306 with a .453
slugging percentage on 32 doubles, a career high 14 triples, and nine homers.
During the off-season he was traded to the Charlotte Hornets of the Class C
Piedmont League, where he would get another chance to manage.
Charlotte started the 1931 season with Guy at second base
and his brother John at shortstop, but John didn’t hit at all and on May 18 Guy
released him to Augusta of the Class D Palmetto League. The Hornets won the
first-half pennant of the split season, and in August Guy was named second
baseman on the All-Piedmont League team, voted on by the league’s managers. September
1 was “Guy Lacy Night” in Charlotte. Going into the playoff series with Raleigh
Guy was suffering from sciatic rheumatism, but he played anyway until he was
hit in the face with a ground ball, cutting his eye, in game three, and was
replaced by brother John, who had rejoined the team at some point. Guy returned
to the lineup in game five, and the Hornets won the championship in six games. They
then went on to beat Charleston, West Virginia, champions of the Middle
Atlantic League, three games to two, but Guy got spiked in game one and missed
the rest of the series. For the regular season he hit .311 and slugged .515 in
392 at-bats, with 32 doubles, six triples, and 12 homers; at age 34, this was
his last big offensive season.
On September 9 the following had appeared in the High
Point Enterprise:
During the long winter months, instead of hanging around
promising everybody and his brother that High Point is going to have a winning
club next year, why don’t the owners of the club get out and look for a manager
of the Guy Lacy type, who has plenty of pep, fight, and ability, and knows how
to instill it into his players. Then let that manager spend some time rounding
up a bunch of ball players such as Brandes, Wise, Carrier, Pond, Rhinehardt,
Culbreth, Packard, and the other scrappers on the Charlotte team. Players who
don’t believe in losing ball games, bring them into town about two weeks before
the season opens, and—look out you Piedmont clubs.
Guy signed a new contract with Charlotte. Then, on November
17, his father-in-law shot him with a shotgun. The Associated Press reported:
GUY LACY SUFFERS SHOTGUN WOUNDS
Cleveland, Tenn., Nov. 18.—(AP)—Guy Lacy, 35 [34], manager
of the Charlotte, N.C., baseball club of the Piedmont league, was reported
improving today from shotgun wounds alleged to have been inflicted Tuesday by
his father-in-law, Lee Payne, during a quarrel.
Dr. P.T. Speck, attending physician, said a portion of
Lacy’s right breast was torn away and his left thumb was mangled, but that he
would recover.
The shooting occurred at Payne’s house, three miles west of
here. Officers said he told them Lacy was advancing on him in a threatening
manner when he fired.
The sheriff’s office said no warrant has been issued for
Payne.
On the 20th it was reported that Payne was out on
$1000 bond and that Guy might be through as a player “because the tendons about
his right shoulder were torn away by the shot gun blast.” I didn’t find any
more about any repercussions to Payne, but the Sporting News had a
follow-up story on Guy on December 17:
The playing future of Guy Lacy, manager of the Charlotte
Hornets in the Piedmont League last season, remains in considerable doubt as
the result of wounds suffered when he was shot by his father-in-law in a quarrel
several weeks ago. Lacy is in a hospital at Cleveland, Tenn., recuperating,
with his physician still uncertain as to Lacy’s future. “He received a nasty
wound,” explained Dr. Speck to Felix Hayman, owner of the club, who stopped off
at Cleveland last week on his way home from the miners’ meeting at West Baden.
“The main muscle of his chest directly under the armpit was shot and burned in
two. Now, it may heal without contracting, but it may not. When these muscles
knot they may shrink, which would prevent him from having free use of his arm.
He may play again, but I doubt that he will be able to throw a ball for at
least six months, if at all.” In the meantime, the Hornet moguls have decided
to let Lacy seek another job, where he can direct a team from the bench, if he
so desires.
On January 6, 1932, Guy finished fifth in a Charlotte
Observer poll to select “the most brilliant sports performers in the Carolinas”
for 1931. A week later he arrived in Charlotte and announced he would be ready
to play. He left the team briefly during spring training when his brother
Dewey, next oldest child in the family to Guy, died of pneumonia. He began the
season playing first base because of the shoulder injury. On May 9 the AP
circulated a report from the Charlotte Observer, seen here as it
appeared in the May 10 Greensboro Daily News:
Say Bees May Can Lacy.
CHARLOTTE, May 9.—(AP)—The Charlotte Observer says Guy Lacy
will be replaced as manager of the Charlotte Hornets of the Piedmont league
within the next few days “unless he picks up.” Manager Lacy was wounded with a
shotgun during a family quarrel at his wife’s home [sic] in Tennessee last
winter and was said by the paper to have not “come around.” The team is in the
cellar position.
Same paper, one week later:
Another matter to be decided this week is whether or not Guy
Lacy will continue as manager of the Insects. Lacy has been quoted as saying he
is now in shape to perform regularly at second base and that he will be
cavorting around the keystone cushion every night this week.
“If I can do my stuff, O.K., if not I will resign,” he said.
There are several berths waiting for Lacy, it is understood,
one of them being the post of utility infielder on the Baltimore Orioles of the
International League.
I’m not sure why a Class AA team would be interested him if
he couldn’t cut it at Class B (the Piedmont had moved up one level this
season), but in any case he continued to be the first baseman and manager at
Charlotte. The team came around, and on August 10 Guy was voted manager of the
All-Piedmont League team. The Hornets won the second half championship and lost
in the playoff series to Greensboro. Guy played 100 games, 98 at first base,
and hit .272 with a .383 slugging percentage. After the season, he sued the
team. From the October 4 Gastonia Daily Gazette:
GUY LACY SUES HORNET OWNERS FOR $1,186
CHARLOTTE, Oct. 4—(AP)—Osceola Guy Lacy, charging his
contract was altered after he signed it and claiming to be the victim of other
unfair tactics, has filed a claim against the Charlotte baseball club, of which
he is manager, for $1,186.
He said he had asked the national association of
professional baseball clubs to investigate his claim.
Lacy, in a statement announcing his action, said he was told
at the start of last season, when a gunshot wound inflicted by his
father-in-law threatened to keep him on the bench, that the club could not
afford a non-playing manager, and that he agreed with the owners to play first
base or retire.
The manager said he had retained legal counsel to look after
his interests in the matter.
I didn’t find any subsequent stories about the matter. In
late October there were conflicting reports about Guy’s basketball plans for
the off-season; one said that he would manage “the Lookout Mountaineers, a professional
basketball club, composed of former college stars and headed by Miss Jackie
Mitchell, noted female athlete,” and that they were expected “to tour Virginia,
the Carolinas and the east,” while the other said that he “is organizing a
basket ball team to be called the Perfection Hangers, an off-shoot of his
picture hanger business, and will enter it in the Chattanooga, Tenn., city
league and make a tour of the Carolinas later in the season.” This was the only
mention I found of a picture hanger business.
Guy did more than play basketball that off-season. It was a
tumultuous winter as the Charlotte owners gave up the team and the Piedmont
League nearly folded; Guy was involved in looking for financial backing for the
Hornets and also in Richmond, which joined the league. In April 1933 it was
reported that he would be going back to second base and also that the new
Hornets owner was going to manage the team with Guy as field captain. Neither
arrangement lasted long, as if Guy did play any games at second it wasn’t many,
and he got the manager’s job back on May 14. In August he was voted, by
sportswriters this time, manager on the league all-star team. The Hornets
finished a close second to Greensboro for the second half pennant, and since
Greensboro had also won the first half there was no playoff. Guy hit .278 and
slugged .400 in 295 at-bats in 100 games, 84 of them at first base.
Guy was not rehired by Charlotte for 1934, and he wound up managing
the Jackson Mississippians of the Class C East Dixie League. He again hired
brother John, who got into 32 games at third base. Jackson won the first half
and beat second-half champs Greenville for the pennant, then lost in four
straight to West Dixie League champions Jacksonville, Texas. Guy played in 101
games, 83 at first base, and hit .270 with a .362 slugging percentage.
On September 28 Guy and his father-in-law had another
altercation involving a shotgun. The initial AP story, as it appeared in the Richmond
Times-Dispatch on the 29th:
Lacy, Ex-Colt Pilot, Sought After Slaying
Former Richmond Manager Alleged to Have Killed His
Father-in-Law
CLEVELAND, TENN., Sept. 28—(AP)—Lee Payne, farmer and
father-in-law of Guy Lacy, widely known baseball player and one-time manager of
the Richmond, Va., club, was fatally shot late today and Lacy was being sought
tonight on a warrant charging murder.
Sheriff O.J. Lawson of Bradley County said the shooting
occurred at the Payne home about two and a half miles from here after Lacy had
gone there this afternoon seeking his wife from whom, the sheriff said, he had
been separated since early this week.
Payne was shot through the left side with a shotgun and some
of the shots entered his heart. He died tonight and the sheriff said a warrant
charging Lacy with murder was immediately sworn out.
Several years ago Lacy was alleged to have been shot by his
father-in-law, the bullet lodging in his throwing arm, almost ending his
baseball career. Months of painstaking exercises and training finally brought
the arm back to almost normal condition, but Lacy shifted from second base to
first to prevent, as far as possible the necessity of long throws across the
diamond.
A follow-up story added some more details:
Sheriff Lawson said that Tuesday, Mrs. Lacy left her husband
and went home to her parents. Yesterday afternoon, said the officers, Lacy went
to the Payne home and in a dispute that followed his arrival, the sheriff
charged, he shot Payne.
Deputy Sheriff Tom Selker, who investigated, told the
sheriff that the two men met in the middle of the road and talked; that Payne
went into his home for a few minutes and when he returned shot at Lacy from his
porch; that Lacy returned the fire with a shotgun.
The United Press version said that:
The men engaged in a shotgun duel, officers were told. Lacy
emerged unscathed and Payne died of an abdominal wound.
Guy surrendered to the sheriff on the 29th and
was released on $5000 bond. The October 11 issue of the Sporting News
reported:
Self-defense was claimed by Guy Lacy, manager of the Jackson
East Dixie League club, in answer to charges of murdering his father-in-law in
Tennessee. “He hid behind a post on the front porch and shot at me without
warning,” stated Lacy. “I had to defend myself. I had a shotgun at my side, but
I didn’t even put it to my shoulder, just raised it waist high and fired.” A
defense fund for Lacy is being raised in Jackson.
From the October 13 Baton Rouge Advocate:
HELD FOR MURDER
Cleveland, Tenn., Oct.12 (UP).—With his wife one of the
chief state witnesses, Guy Lacy, player-manager of the Jackson, Miss., baseball
team during the past season, was bound over today under $7,500 bond to criminal
court on a charge of murdering his father-in-law, Lee Payne.
Mrs. Lacy, who had left their home three days previous to
the fatal shooting two weeks ago, because her husband allegedly was drinking
and she feared for her life, testified for the state at the preliminary
hearing.
On December 19 Herschel Bobo was named to replace Guy as
Jackson manager. Guy’s trial began on February 26, 1935, and ended the next
day, as reported by the AP, from the February 28 Baton Rouge Advocate:
Jury Dismissed Without Verdict in Lacy’s Trial
Baseball Player Contended He Killed Father-in-Law in Self
Defense.
Cleveland, Tenn., Feb.27 (AP). The jury that tried Guy Lacy,
veteran baseball player, on a charge of shooting to death his father-in-law,
Lee Payne, failed to agree after four hours’ deliberation and a mistrial was
declared late today.
Lacy, who managed the Jackson, Miss., club of the East Dixie
league last season, contended he fired in self-defense. Payne was killed at his
home near here last September 28 by a shotgun blast.
The ball player’s wife was a prosecution witness. She
related that a few days before the slaying she had gone to her father’s home
because she was afraid of her husband.
Mrs. Lacy testified she was upstairs when Lacy drove into
the yard and that she heard him tell her father to bring her out as he intended
to take her home. She said she did not hear all the conversation between the
two men, but heard her father say he would bring Mrs. Lacy out if she was in
the house. Then there was a shot, she related, denying hearing more than one.
Lacy testified that when he got out of his car at Payne’s
home he left a shotgun behind, but that when he saw Payne coming he returned
and got the weapon.
Payne said he would go in the house and bring his daughter
out, the defendant continued, but Lacy said he ordered his father-in-law not to
enter the house, explaining he feared Payne would shoot him from inside. But
Payne continued toward the house, Lacy testified, declaring that the older man,
upon reaching the top step of the porch, turned suddenly and fired a pistol.
Lacy said he then fired without taking aim.
A number of residents of the community testified that two
shots were fired, and Payne’s widow said on cross-examination that she found a
pistol in her husband’s pocket after the shooting and that one shot had been
fired from it. The state contended, however, that Payne’s pistol had been
discharged accidentally when he fell after being shot.
Lacy was released under $10,000 bond after the mistrial was
announced. The date for a new trial has not been announced.
The “shotgun duel” has become a pistol and shotgun duel.
Guy’s bonds keep going up in $2500 increments.
On April 28 the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported that
Guy had played first base for Richbrau vs. the Alexandria Eagles, which I
assume is semi-pro ball. A Yac Lacy played second base; I wonder if that could
be brother Jackson. The same day the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot reported
that Guy was heading for Portsmouth for a tryout with the Truckers of the
Piedmont League; that night he was in their lineup, playing first base and
hitting 7th. On June 15 he was released, after playing in 50 games,
all at first, hitting .246 with a .341 slugging percentage. On the 27th
he debuted as manager of the Kannapolis Towelers of the Carolina semi-pro
league, but lasted about a week before he got rehired at Jackson. The August 1 Sporting
News reported:
TWO SKIPPERS HOP UP JACKSON
Lacy-Bobo Combination Gets Results Both in Field and Box
Office.
JACKSON, Miss.—Two managers for a ball club are supposed to
be in the class with too many cooks in the kitchen when it comes to spoiling
the victory broth.
But when Prexy George Brannon signed a new skipper for his
Jackson Senators a month ago, he kept the current manager and gave him a
special job. Increased attendance at home games was necessary for Jackson to
stay in the league, and by firing both barrels in the form of retaining two
managers, increased clicking of the turnstiles has been accomplished.
Guy Lacy was signed as boss of the team on the field.
Manager Herschel Bobo was made promotion manager. Under Lacy, the squad jumped
from one stage above the cellar to third place by winning 14 out of 17 games,
and as a result, more fans are turning out to see a winning club.
Under Bobo’s direction, a baby show, candidates’ night,
pig-chasing contest, and booster night all have been successfully staged,
piling up attendance marks, and a bathing beauty revue and a barbecue picnic
with all eats free, are in the offing.
In addition to his promotional work, Bobo has remained as a
playing member of the squad, and his hitting has improved since he was relieved
of managerial worried and put to work on promotion campaigns.
Unless a cog slips now, Jackson is well on its way to
bidding for a second-half victory, giving the Senators the right to meet Pine
Bluff’s first-half winners in the play-off for the pennant, won last year by
the locals, who were under Lacy’s management.
Jackson did in fact win the second half, the Sporting
News reporting on September 5:
Guy Lacy, who piloted the Jackson Senators to their
second-half triumph, was presented with a purse, containing better than $50, by
fans on the last day of the season. It was a hectic day for Lacy, as the margin
was so close between the clubs grouped around the top that had the Lions won
the last game with Helena and the Senators dropped the second game of the
double-header, El Dorado, instead of Jackson, would have been the second-half
winner.
However, Pine Bluff won the series in four straight games.
Guy played in 52 games for Jackson, batting .253 and slugging .292; he had one
more hit in one less at-bat than with Portsmouth in the first half of the year,
though his power, which wasn’t much to begin with, declined.
In October a continuance, apparently not the first, was
issued on Guy’s second trial, delaying it until the next term of criminal court
in early 1936. In early December he signed a contract to manage Augusta in the
revived Sally League, but Jackson objected, and Guy had to admit he was not a
free agent. On March 19, after another trial continuance, the following appeared
in the Sporting News:
JACKSON LOOKS TO BEAUMONT
Manager Guy Lacy, on Mend After Illness, to Personally
Select Texas Recruits.
JACKSON, Miss.—Flu-stricken Guy Lacy is reported much better
at his Cleveland, Tenn., home, and it is hoped that some time this week he will
arrive in Jackson to start assembling the 1936 edition of the Senators.
Almost as soon as the ground work is started here, Manager
Lacy will hie himself to Beaumont, Tex., to look over the crop of rookies that
may come to Jackson when the weeding-out process begins. This trip will give
Lacy a chance to look at the youngsters and also to regain more of his
strength, lost recently when influenza struck him as he was making the rounds
in Tennessee and Alabama in a hunt for talent.
Jackson had a new working agreement with the Detroit Tigers,
as did Beaumont of the Texas League, so players rejected by Beaumont would be
available to Jackson to pick up. Also worth noting at this point is that the
East Dixie League had changed its name to the Cotton States League.
In June Guy’s season was interrupted by his second trial. On
the evening of June 24, after two hours and twenty minutes of deliberation by
the jury, he was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to ten years
in the state penitentiary. He began serving the sentence the next day, while his
attorney announced he would make a motion for a new trial and that if that
failed he would appeal the decision. On July 3, by which time Guy was already
out of the penitentiary and back in Jackson, the judge ruled in his favor and
granted him a new trial; the AP story said “The action today was made because
of a controversy over the qualification of a juror.”
So Guy, now 39 years old, was out on bond again, managing
and playing some first base for Jackson. From the August 20 Sporting News:
League President J. Walter Morris slapped a $100 fine on W.
H. Benton, Pine Bluff president, on August 16, as the result of an assault on
Umpire H.B. Warner, following the game on August 8. Benton requested Umpire
Warner to remove Manager Guy Lacy of Jackson because of alleged intoxication,
and after his refusal to oust the manager, Benton had policemen perform the
act. Later in a downtown hotel, Benton slapped the umpire-in-chief after a
verbal altercation. The following day Benton and Dr. Shade P. Rushing,
president of the El Dorado club, concurred in a telegram petition that Lacy be
ousted from Organized Ball and that the Warner-Hall umpire team, be fired.
Other clubs, however, defended Lacy and Morris took no action.
Meanwhile, younger brother George, 23 years old, had made
his debut in the Cotton States League, catching for Cleveland, Mississippi, and
he wound up hitting .373 in 161 at-bats. Guy hit just .219 and slugged .285 in
137 at-bats, in 51 games, as Jackson finished in sixth place with a 66-71
record.
The Senators did not retain Guy, and in March 1937 he was
hired by the Lenoir Indians of the independent Carolina League. He stayed there
until July 15, when he was named manager of the Americus Cardinals of the Class
D Georgia-Florida League. In August he signed 18-year-old infielder Guy Lacy
Jr. to his first pro contract. The Cardinals went on a hot streak after Guy Sr.
took over, but still finished out of the playoffs, fifth out of six teams in
the second half. He hit .345 in just 58 at-bats.
In October Guy’s long-awaited, or long-delayed, third trial
commenced. The AP account of the results, as it appeared in the October 29 Biloxi
Daily Herald:
LACY CASE MISTRIAL
Cleveland, Tenn., Oct. 28—(AP)—A mistrial was entered in the
trial of Guy Lacy, former professional baseball player, charged with the second
degree slaying of his father-in-law, Lee Payne, when the jury reported to Judge
Sue K. Hicks [who apparently was the inspiration behind the song “A Boy Named
Sue”—no joke] today that it could not agree on a verdict.
The case went to the jury yesterday afternoon and it
reported three times that a verdict could not be reached.
The state announced that it would try Guy a fourth time. In
December both Guy and Guy Jr. appeared on the Americus reserve list, but Guy
Sr. was let go. In February 1938 he was hired to manage the Sanford Lookouts of
the Class D Florida State League, and on April 6 he announced his roster, which
included brother John. The season opened with Guy at first, batting sixth, and
John at third, batting seventh, but on May 9 Guy resigned, after hitting .291
in 55 at-bats in 17 games. That same day Guy Jr. was released by Americus and
said he would try out with Sanford; it sounds like he hadn’t heard about his
dad yet, but at any rate he seems to have spent more time with Americus that
season, getting into 33 games in all.
I don’t know what Guy Sr. did the rest of that year, until
October, when his fourth trial took place. From the AP story, as it appeared in
the October 27 Greenville Delta Democrat:
Guy Lacy Faces Fifth Trial For 4-Year-Old Slaying
CLEVELAND, Tenn., Oct. 27 (SP)—Guy Lacy, former professional
baseball player, today faced prospects of a fifth trial in connection with the
slaying of his father-in-law in 1934.
District Attorney General R. Beecher Witt announced that the
state, despite three mistrials and a thrown-out verdict, would continue
prosecution of the case.
Three years ago [actually two], Lacy was convicted on a
murder charge and sentenced to 10 years in prison, but this verdict was set
aside and a new trial ordered when it was disclosed that one of the jurors was
not qualified.
Twice again he was tried but in neither event was the jury
able to reach a verdict [actually the thrown-out verdict came in between the
two mistrials].
His fourth trial ended late yesterday with the jury
“hopelessly deadlocked.”
The next day it was reported that Judge Sue had refused to
let the state continue prosecuting Guy, saying that the “taxpayers of Bradley
county have paid for four trials of this case and I refuse to burden them with
the cost of another.”
With that no longer hanging over his head after four years,
Guy was hired in February 1939 to manage the Mt. Airy Graniteers of the
Bi-State League. In early April Guy Jr. was released by Americus; it was
reported that he signed with Johnstown of the Class D Pennsylvania State
Association, but instead he wound up with dad at Mt. Airy.
On Opening Day
Senior was at first base and Junior was at shortstop, but after playing 21
games Junior was released again by Senior, and Junior signed with the
Kannapolis Towelers, now part of the Class D North Carolina State League, but
they released him after about a week. Meanwhile, Guy Sr. missed some time with
some cracked ribs, and on June 27 he resigned, citing ill health; it was
reported that he was “in a bad nervous condition.” But after a few weeks’ rest
he turned up in Virginia, managing Blackstone in the semi-pro Southside League.
For Mt. Airy he had hit .261 in 111 at-bats in 35 games, ten of them at second
base; I’m not sure if he played at all for Blackstone.
In October it was reported that Guy was in Richmond lobbying
for the manager’s job there, but in March 1940 he signed with Lynchburg of the
Class D Virginia League, while Guy Jr., despite not having done much at lower
classifications, was reported to be getting a tryout with Little Rock of the
Class A-1 Southern Association. In April Guy Sr. was counted by the census,
living in a boarding house at 507 Church Street in Lynchburg. He was shown as
an assistant manager at a re-drying tobacco plant who earned $1200 in 1939
while working the equivalent of 84 weeks of full-time work. One of the other
boarders, 20-year-old Bernard Forney, was listed as a professional ballplayer;
I wonder if there could have been a mixup.
Guy Jr. did not make the team at Little Rock and ended up,
perhaps predictably, with Lynchburg, which got him a mention in the May 30 Sporting
News:
Playing under his dad for the first time [clearly not the
case], Guy Lacy, Jr., is making good as shortstop for the Lynchburg Senators.
The youngster looms as a real prospect for higher company in the near future.
Two weeks later TSN reported that Junior had been released,
and in July he turned up playing in the semi-pro Southside League. A week after
that they reported that “Manager Guy Lacy of Lynchburg was presented with a
radio and a cake on his thirty-ninth [actually 43rd] birthday before
the game with Harrisonburg, June 13.” Lynchburg finished in first place in the
four-team league; the playoffs consisted of second-place Harrisonburg defeating
third-place Salem-Roanoke and then losing to Lynchburg. The Senators went on to
beat Mountain State League champs Williamson in a seven-game series. In the
regular season Guy only appeared in three games, going one-for-four.
In 1941 the Virginia League was moved up to Class C, with
six teams. On July 20 Guy put himself in the lineup for the first time all
season, due to injuries, and went two-for-three, playing first base. From the
August 14 Sporting News:
Two Umpires Assaulted
BLUEFIELD, W.Va.—First Baseman James Mullinax, Catcher
Ellsworth Wrenn and Manager Guy Lacy, all of the Lynchburg club, were placed
under suspension by President Ray Ryan of the Virginia League, following one of
the most serious player attacks on umpires in the circuit’s history, at Harrisburg,
August 4. Statements taken from players, managers, club officials, policemen
and spectators were mailed to President W.G. Bramham of the National
Association for a final decision.
According to the charges, Mullinax knocked down
Umpire-in-Chief Gus Rhein after the arbiter had fined him for using abusive
language. In the melee that followed, Wrenn is said to have struck Base Umpire
Robert Doyle, who came to the assistance of his associate. A Harrisonburg
special officer was struck and a uniformed officer roughed by Lynchburg
players. Manager Guy Lacy is charged by the umpires with using abusive language
and making no effort to curb his players, following a close decision at first
base in the sixth inning, with the score tied, 1 to 1.
The umpires forfeited the game to Harrisonburg, but Lacy
filed a protest, claiming Lynchburg should have been given the forfeit, on the
grounds there was not sufficient police protection and the fans could not be
cleared off the field for play. This is denied by Harrisonburg officials, who
point out there were three uniformed officers and three in plain clothes and
that no Harrisonburg player or fan took part in the disorder.
Although Umpire Rhein did not show up for the game the next
day between the two teams, President Ryan asserts he will continue to officiate
in the league.
Also TSN, one week later:
Pug Mullinax, first baseman of the Lynchburg Senators, was
suspended for a year on the charge of knocking down Umpire Gus Rhein, August 5.
Catcher Ellie Wrenn also was set down for 60 days and Manager Guy Lacy was
assessed $25 for their part in the fracas by League President Ray Ryan.
Business Manager Lunsford Loving announced an appeal would be taken to
President W.G. Bramham of the National Association. Wrenn, however, a member of
the Naval Reserves, announced he was going into active service.
Lynchburg finished in third place, which in the league’s new
playoff system meant they would play first-place Petersburg in the first round.
However, this was overshadowed by the events of the final regular season game
on September 1, as reported by the Sporting News on September 11:
Virginia Prexy Removes Umps from Tilt, Ejected Pilot Returns
Later Ryan Is Quoted as Offering an Apology to Arbiter;
Manager Lacy, Lynchburg, Fined $250 and Suspended for 60 Days at Meeting of
League Directors
SALEM, Virginia—The regular season of the Virginia League
came to a close here the night of September 1, marked by a scene of confusion
in which the league president removed an umpire from the game and permitted a
manager who had been ordered from the park, to return to the field. The
incidents occurred during a game between the Salem Friends and the Lynchburg
Senators.
Salem was on the short end of a 4 to 0 score, two were out
in the last half of the second inning, runners were on first and second and the
pitcher, Don Krupin, was batting.
On a pitch close to the body, Krupin fell into the dirt,
avoiding the ball, and rubbed his right hand. Umpire Guy (Dutch) Rhein [I don’t
know whether Rhein’s name was actually Gus or Guy, or if there was one of each]
called Krupin a hit batsman and ordered him to first, filling the bases.
Lynchburg, led by Manager Guy Lacy, protested the decision, contending the ball
had glanced off the bat foul, instead of striking Krupin on the hand. After
several minutes’ interruption, Lacy returned to the dugout and play was resumed.
The first pitch to the next batter, Outfielder Chappy
Chappell, was called a ball and Catcher Walter Shevock of Lynchburg started an
argument, claiming it should have been called a strike. When the umpire refused
to change his decision, Shevock, in apparent disgust, tossed the ball over the
pitcher’s head. As it rolled along the ground. Catcher Red Archer of Salem, who
was on third, raced home safely.
Lacy, supported by his Lynchburg players, protested that he
had asked for time out while the ball-and-strike argument on Chappell
continued. The umpire declared time had not been called, and when Lacy
continued to protest he ordered the pilot to the dugout. When Lacy refused to
go, Rhein gave him a time limit to leave the field, after which he ordered the
manager from the park. However, Lacy did not leave until policemen were
summoned to the field.
As Lacy left the park, Hal Kubiski, Lynchburg first baseman,
led a sit-down strike, with some of the Senators refusing to resume play.
At this juncture, League President Ray Ryan came onto the
field to investigate the trouble. “I went onto the field thinking about the
Lynchburg owners,” Ryan explained in detailing what happened, “and what they
would have to pay if the game was forfeited. I asked Umpire Guy Rhein not to
forfeit in a hurry. He said he would not. I tried to get Shevock to play ball.
“When I got back even with the Lynchburg dugout, Mr.
Williams (C.R. Williams, Salem club president) said to get Rhein out of there.
I paid no attention to this, and he also said the Lynchburg club would not play
ball unless Umpire Rhein was taken out. I went back to home plate and Shevock
and Kubiski were still raving. I then thought about the commotion that was
going on from the fans demanding their money back and saying they had paid to
see a game. Others threatened Manager Lacy and it looked very much like a riot
would start any minute.
“I thought by taking Rhein out, more trouble could be
prevented. This was done. I again tried to get Shevock and Kubiski to play ball.
It looked like a club strike to me and I thought Lacy was the only one who
could get them to play ball. I then went up and told Lacy to take his club and
play ball. I apologized publicly to Umpire Rhein the next day, through the
press, for taking him out.
“This was the first time I had gone on the field in five
years as president. My sole motive at first was to save the Lynchburg club from
being responsible for the gate receipts if the game was forfeited. When I
removed Rhein, it was to get the game started and probably save a riot. That
was the reason Lacy was brought back.”
Ryan imposed a 60-day suspension and a $260 fine on Lacy,
fined Shevock and Kubiski each $100 and levied a $50 fine on Outfielder Royce
Watson of the Senators, who also participated in the heated argument. Later, in
a meeting of the league’s board of directors, the fine of Watson was dropped
and those of Shevock and Kubiski were reduced to $25 each, but no appeal on the
Lacy suspension or fine was voted on…
On the 3rd Ryan sent a telegram to the playoff
teams saying “This is to notify you that Guy Lacy is not to be admitted to any
Virginia League ball park either as a spectator or in any other capacity until
further notice.” On the 5th the following AP story appeared in the Richmond
Times-Dispatch:
Guy Lacy, Barred From Park, Watches Game From Cemetery
LYNCHBURG (AP)—Manager Guy Lacy of the Lynchburg Senators,
who is banned from all Virginia League baseball parks as a player or spectator,
is following his team in its Shaughnessy playoff series with Petersburg—but not
without difficulty.
Tuesday night in Petersburg the Lynchburg skipper followed
proceedings by a radio report of the contest received at the Y.M.C.A. This [sic]
team turned in a 13 to 0 victory.
Wednesday night in Lynchburg Lacy roamed through the gloomy
regions nearby Spring Hill Cemetery until he found a tall tombstone in the
proper corner, upon which he climbed and watched his team score a 2 to 0
victory in a game played in a fine drizzle, which made visibility poor from nearby
Spring Hill.
Lacy said he would follow last night’s game in Petersburg by
radio if possible.
Meanwhile, the Lynchburg skipper issued a statement
yesterday in which he thanked Lynchburg fans for their support of the past two
years, and expressed regret for the fracas in Salem Monday night.
Lynchburg won the series in three straight games, then lost
three of five to second-place Salem in the finals. In game two versus Salem, in
Lynchburg, according to TSN, “a group of friends” presented Guy with a gift, “but
as the Lynchburg leader was unable to be present because of his suspension
Acting Pilot Bill Booker accepted on his behalf.” The gift? An automatic
shotgun.
Somewhere around this time Guy filled out another draft
registration card. It gave his address as “Route #6 (Black Fox), Cleveland,
Bradley, Tennessee” and his mother, at the same address, as the “person who
will always know your address.” His employer was listed as Hill City Baseball
Club, Lynchburg, Va.
In November the Virginia League directors reduced Guy’s fine
to $75 and ruled that his suspension would be lifted when he paid the fine; he
said he would pay it. In late December many newspapers ran an AP story about
the results of a poll they took of “86 experts” to determine the “outstanding
sports freak of the year.” The winner was Mickey Owen’s drop of a third strike
in the fourth game of the World Series, but also mentioned was the ruckus in
the Lynchburg-Salem game.
On February 7, 1942, Guy was released by Lynchburg. The next
news I found of him was in an AP story which appeared in the Richmond
Times-Dispatch on July 25:
Guy Lacy Will Manage Quebec
Cleveland, Tenn., (AP)—Guy Lacy, who has played on or
managed more baseball clubs than he can remember offhand, said today he had
come to terms with officials of the Quebec entry into the Canadian-American
League to manage the northern club.
Lacy said he had discussed the matter with officials by
telephone and the offer was confirmed by wire. He added he was awaiting only
the receipt of further instructions before leaving for the Canadian city.
However, three days later in the San Antonio Light:
Baseball Manager Quits; No Players
QUEBEC, July 29.—(AP)—Quebec’s entry into the
Canadian-American baseball league has been without a permanent manager for a
week and probably will continue that way for some time. Last Friday Guy Lacy of
Cleveland was signed and promised to bring five new players.
Today Quebec officials received this telegram from Lacy: “All
ball players I know have jobs and I’m sorry.”
At that point Guy vanishes until the February 25, 1948,
issue of the Sporting News, in which an ad runs saying:
Manager Available
After five years in Merchant Marine, I want to get back into
baseball. Played from Class D to Major, managed 12 clubs, won seven pennants.
Only once out of first division. Have developed major league stars.
GUY LACY
422 West Camden St. Baltimore, Md.
There is no indication that anyone took him up on it. On
November 19, 1953, at the age of 56, Guy died at Bradley Memorial Hospital in
Cleveland, Tennessee, after a stay there of one week. The death record gives
his address at Rt #1, Cleveland; his marital status as divorced; and his usual
occupation as Base Ball Player. He was never in the armed forces. The cause of
death was given as myocardial decompensation (four weeks), due to cirrhosis of
the liver; under “Other significant conditions: conditions contributing to the
death but not related to the disease or condition causing death” was listed
bronchiectasis. His obituary, with a number of errors, appeared in the December
2 Sporting News:
Osceola Guy Lacy
Osceola Guy Lacy, former minor league infielder and manager
who played with the Cleveland Indians in 1926, died at his home in Cleveland,
Tenn., November 19. He had a spring trial with the Braves in 1921 and was
brought up by the Giants after the 1925 season, but refused to sign a contract
with the New York club.
Born on a farm in Cleveland, Tenn., May 12, 1898, Lacy broke
in with Anniston in the old Georgia-Alabama League in 1916. Out of the game in
1918, he resumed playing with Chattanooga in 1919, then was sent to Columbia.
The Braves brought him up after the 1920 season, but released him early in 1921
to Springfied, Mass., and he finished the season with Columbia. After being
with New Haven, Greenville and Richmond, managing the Virginia League club in
1925, he was sold to the Giants. After contract trouble sent him back to Richmond,
he signed with Cleveland. Appearing in 13 games at second base for the Indians
in 1926, he hit only .167 and was released to Newark in 1927.
After playing with Bridgeport in 1928 and Allentown in 1929
and 1930, Lacy was purchased by Charlotte and managed the Piedmont League club
in 1931, ’32 and ’33. He piloted Jackson in the East Dixie in 1934 and Americus
(Georgia-Florida) part of the 1937 season.
Following his retirement from the game, Lacy returned to his
native Cleveland, Tenn., where he operated a fruit and dairy farm for years.
A son, Guy, Jr., was a minor-league infielder from 1937 to
1940. George, a younger brother, caught for many seasons in the minors, had a
trial with the Red Sox in 1940 and managed several minor league clubs before
his retirement in 1950.
In 1967 Guy was inducted into the Richmond Professional
Baseball Hall of Fame.
https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/L/Placyg101.htm
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/lacygu01.shtml
