John Magner

John Magner played center field in one game for the 1879 Cincinnati Reds.

John T. Magner was supposedly born in Missouri in 1855, but this may be confusing him with John F. Magner, a college instructor turned newspaperman who died in 1907. I found nothing on baseball John until the St. Louis Globe-Democrat reported on September 9, 1875:

John Magner and Tom Loftus, of the Empires, have joined the St. Louis Red Stockings, to fill the positions formerly occupied by the seceders, McSorley and Ellick. They join the Reds in Cincinnati, and will strengthen the nine materially.

And two days later:

John Magner, of the Empires, and Martin Welsh, of the Stocks, both St. Louis boys, left on Thursday to join the Reds at Louisville. Owing to a painful felon [apparently a bacterial infection of the fingertip], Loftus did not go. Welsh is a tip top general player, and was formerly connected with the Elephants. Magner is first-class at the bat and in the field.

It seems as though the Reds/Red Stockings were an independent professional team. John’s name next pops up July 2, 1876, in the Globe-Democrat:

Some fair damsel presented Johnny Magner with a magnificent bouquet at New Castle, Pa., for his fine batting and base running in the Reds-Neshannock game.

Four days later the same newspaper reported that:

John T. Magner severed his connection with the St. Louis Red Stockings at Reading, Pennsylvania, having been released by Mr. McNeary. He did not participate in the 11-0 game at Philadelphia.

A March 4, 1877, Globe-Democrat story on ballplayers gathering in St. Louis after the winter included among them “Johnny Magner, who will make some brilliant catches in left field at Columbus, O., this season, and put on more airs than a peacock.” At some point during the season he moved from Columbus (the Columbus Buckeyes, of the International Association) to the London, Ontario, Tecumseh club of the same league; London won the pennant.

A later story said that John played for Davenport of the Northwestern League in 1878, though I didn’t find any contemporary evidence of that. The next I found of him was July 15, 1879, when he showed up in the box score for the previous day’s Boston at Cincinnati game, his only major league appearance. He batted second and played center field for the Reds, and went 0-for-4 with a strikeout, and a putout and an error in the field. His teammates included Deacon White, King Kelly, Cal McVey, and pitcher Will White; the opposing pitcher was Curry Foley, and others in the Boston lineup included Charley Jones, Jack Burdock, John Morrill, and Ezra Sutton.

I found no information about how John happened to make his way to the Reds, or what happened to him after the one game. On March 6, 1880, the Cincinnati Daily Star reported:

John Magner, of last year’s Cincinnati Stars, is about town, waiting for something to turn up. Mag is a fine fielder and a heavy hitter and should be gobbled up by some enterprising club.

On April 19 the same paper reported that John had umpired a game between the Buckeyes and Americus. On July 11 it was reported that he had been released by Rochester of the National Association (not the same National Association mentioned earlier) and had returned to Cincinnati; he played in two games in the outfield for Rochester and went 0-for-7. By July 17 he was back in St. Louis, where he umpired a game between the St. Louis Brown Stockings (a semi-pro team two years away from becoming a major league team in the American Association) and S.C. Davis and Company; then through September he was back with the St. Louis Reds/Red Stockings. On December 23 the Globe-Democrat reported that “John Magner, the well-known ball tosser, who is quite expert with the cue” would be playing a pool match that evening at Lupe’s billiard-room.

I found no trace of John during 1881, though later reports said that he had played for the semi-pro Brown Stockings that year. On February 28, 1882, the Globe-Democrat reported:

The new Standard Base Ball Club held a meeting yesterday afternoon in the rooms of the Standard Social Club. At the first meeting a uniform of gray flannel, with red stockings, was adopted. Yesterday by a vote of those present it was decided that the uniform should be of white cricket flannel, with blue stockings, caps, belts and neckties. When uniformed the team will present the handsomest appearance of any that has taken the field here in years…The playing nine was named in this way: [John was named as one of the substitutes].

From the same newspaper, the same day:

John J. [sic] Magner, the well-known ball player, challenges any man in St. Louis to play him a match of pyramid pool, best eleven out of twenty-one games, for from $50 to $100 a side. He would rather hear from Little Henry or Pluck than any other players that he knows of.

John played for the Standards in 1882; on August 8 he debuted as a major league umpire, filling in for a no-show ump in a game between Cincinnati and St. Louis in the brand-new American Association. The August 13 Globe-Democrat reported that:

John T. Magner, known the world over in base ball circles, and Henry Leist (Little Henry) have arranged to play a match game at pyramid pool for $50 a side. Little Henry is the champion pool player of St. Louis, and John T. has always been looked on as the next best expert in that line.

I don’t know what John had done to make him known the world over in base ball circles. The next day the Globe-Democrat mentioned him in their coverage of the Brown Stockings’ game:

John T. Magner wore a sunflower at yesterday’s game. Asked what he thought of the Browns’ play, he frowned and said, “Hams, my boy! Hams, all of them!”

On September 12 the Globe-Democrat reported that “John T. Magner accompanied the Standards to Louisville and played with all his old-time skill.” Which seems like an odd thing to say about a 27-year-old, making the 1855 birth year seem suspect. Also during September he did some umpiring of semi-pro games. On October 5 he played outfield for the Louisville Eclipse of the American Association in a post-season exhibition game against the Brown Stockings. On November 22 the Globe-Democrat said that “John T. Magner is wanted by the Peoria Club for next year.”

In 1883 John applied for a job as an American Association umpire, and at the league meetings in March he was named a substitute. On March 27 the Globe-Democrat reported that “John T. Magner has sent his measure to Secretary Williams, and in a few days will blossom forth in his new uniform, brass buttons, peaked cap, sunflower and all.”

During April John umpired St. Louis Browns’ exhibition games. He umpired some regular season AA games in May and June; on June 22 the Columbus Evening Dispatch reported:

The Baltimore club has been censuring Magner, the umpire, for decisions in the Louisville games, and have asked for his removal.

On June 28 John umpired the Baltimore at Columbus game; the Philadelphia Times reported that “his decisions were very unsatisfactory in several instances,” and after the game he resigned. On August 7 the Globe-Democrat reported:

Among those out practicing at the Grand Avenue Park yesterday afternoon was John J. [sic] Magner. Not long ago John was as graceful and useful a player as graced the profession. Yesterday he played as prettily as ever, but he was heavily handicapped by the weight he carried. John intends going into training, and from this time forward will be a regular member of the Grand Avenues. John’s friends are legion and they will be pleased to see him back in the old place.

On August 20 the Fulton County Tribune of Wauseon, Ohio, reported that “John J. [sic] Magner, late American Association umpire, has received the appointment of letter-carrier from the St. Louis postmaster.” On March 5, 1884, Sporting Life reported:

John T. Magner, ex-umpire of the American Association, is now a post office employee in St. Louis. His short term of service as umpire so disgusted him that he resigned in a few weeks. He now stands ready to give would-be professional umpires a friendly tip at any time and without charge.

John did continue to umpire amateur and semi-pro games around St. Louis in 1884, and on July 4 he actually filled in to work an American Association game between the New York Metropolitans and the Browns when the assigned umpire was unable to make it.

On August 5, 1885, Sporting Life mentioned him as being one of “the ex-professionals now living in St. Louis.” On October 16 the Globe-Democrat reported that he had been nominated as an officer for the Athletic Parade and Flambeau Association of St. Louis at a meeting at Elks’ Hall:

The report provides that the organization be styled the St. Louis Athletic Parade Association, and all persons connected with gymnasiums or turner societies, rowing, bowling, gun, foot ball or base ball clubs, or of any other athletic organizations whatsoever, to be entitled to membership…Active members of the Flambeau Battalion must be over 21 years old and 5 feet 1 inch or over in height.

Apparently turner societies were gymnastics clubs that promoted physical fitness and German culture.

In 1886 John organized a benefit baseball game. From the May 10 Sporting News:

SULLIVAN’S BENEFIT

A Splendid Crowd and a Day of Royal Fun.

The Veterans Crushed by Their Youthful and Lively Opponents

The benefit game for Tom Sulllivan was played at the Union Grounds last Sunday afternoon, and there was an immense crowd in attendance. It was the biggest success, in the way of a benefit, scored in this country, and great credit is due for the able manner in which John T. Magner managed the affair…The game between the Vets, and the Peach Pies brought to the memory of the oldest inhabitant the days when base ball in St. Louis was in its infancy. In the veteran team appeared Joe Chambers, who did the pitching for the Empires twenty years ago…At short field was John T. Magner, looking like Falstaff, with “good round belly,” not as reliable though as when the great fielder of the St. Louis Reds of ’76 and the Browns of ’81.

Mr. Magner alone sold $300 worth of tickets. The gate receipts were $560. Lew Simmons, of the Athletic Club, sent $39, the contribution of himself and players. Harry Wright sent $20. The Detroits also purchased a lot of tickets. Mr. Magner desires to return thanks to Jack Sheehan, the Cullinane boys, Danny Lyons and all others who assisted him in making the benefit a success. Over $900 was realized in all, which will set Tom up in business.

July 26 Sporting News:

John T. Magner, the old professional ball player, was out guying the “press gang” last Sunday. They had often guyed John, and he made the best of his opportunity to get back at them.

December 4 Sporting News:

Around the post office no one is better loved than round and plump John T. Magner. They say that when the postmaster goes home at night the boys who remain on deck amuse themselves singing:

A great many say that Sullivan’s a daisy,

But we think that John T. can knock ‘em all crazy.

     That’s a matter of taste.

McCaffery likes a glass of wine—

     That’s a matter of taste.

Bill Ray likes beer; he says it is fine.

     That’s a matter of taste.

Billy Flynn likes ale and old Dublin stout—

     That’s a matter of taste.

But John T. wants lager and good sauer kraut—

     That’s a matter of taste.

 

In February 1887 John resigned from the post office. Sporting Life reported on March 16:

John T. Magner, the old-time ball player, has decided not to go South, but will remain in St. Louis awhile longer. I think that John is after an umpireship in one of the minor leagues. I hope you’ll get there, John.

In April John was again named a substitute umpire by the American Association; I came across one game that he officiated, Metropolitans at Browns on May 25.

On January 4, 1888, the St. Louis correspondent to the Sporting News wrote:

Now I am going to surprise you, Mr. Editor. Old-time John T. Magner will re-enter the arena next season. He has reduced himself from 218 pounds to 172, and he claims that he can outrun Latham. John has received an offer from a Southern League club and he will probably accept it. His many friends wish him success.

Same source, March 7:

Grandpa Magner left for the South a few days ago. The old man is in the pink of condition and he will make some of the colts hustle the coming season. The Dallas Club could do worse than to make Magner captain of the team. His twenty-five years’ experience [more evidence that he was not born in 1855] on the diamond would be of great value to his club.

On March 28 Dallas released John. On April 15 and 17 he umpired two Texas League games, Fort Worth at Austin and Dallas at Austin, but that’s the last I found of him during 1888. In 1889 he returned to Texas, unless he had stayed there; from the January 23, 1889, Fort Worth Daily Gazette:

BALL BALL.

What Mr. McCloskey Has to Say About a Texas League.

J.J. McCloskey of Houston, in company with several other base ball men, were in Fort Worth yesterday, with the object of stimulating the people here in the direction of forming a club to go into the Texas league [they had been in the Texas league the year before]. Among those with McCloskey was John T. Magner, at one time left fielder for the St. Louis Browns, who has a national reputation as one of the most proficient exponents of the national game in the world. McCloskey’s idea now is to have Magner stay in Fort Worth to work up a club here and to manage it when organized, the funds to be raised as in Houston, Waco and Galveston, by subscription, donation and sale of season tickets…

Same newspaper, January 26:

A BALL CLUB.

A Meeting to be Held To-Night to Discuss the Matter.

It has about reached a point where, in the minds of those prominently interested, it is necessary for active steps to be taken to organize a base ball club in Fort Worth, if it is sought to secure a club that will be capable of holding up the North Texas end of the state league. With this end in view a meeting of citizens has been called to be helded [sic] at the Ellis house this evening at 9 o’clock. There have been several methods of organization suggested, but that which has received most encouragement appears to be to secure the services of John T. Magner, who is now in the city, to manage the club, he to set about, in conjunction with a local committee, securing the necessary funds, and to at once start north to secure players before the choice men have been picked up by competing organizations. Magner is well known in base ball circles in the North as one who has had and still possesses great ability in the profession, with a wide acquaintance among players, and as he has been strongly recommended for this position by McCloskey, who has the interests of the game in Texas as much to heart as the success of the individual club of which he is manager. It is probable a better man for the position could not really be found…

As it turned out, the people with money in Fort Worth lined up behind someone other than John, so he moved on to Austin. The Fort Worth Gazette reported on February 7:

John T. Magner, the base ball man, who has been unsuccessful in Fort Worth in organizing a club, has decided to go to Austin to work up the game. Magner is admitted in Fort Worth to be capable of taking hold of any club, and he would have secured an engagement in the capacity of manager for Fort Worth if he had come before arrangements had been made with another man, so it is likely he will have no trouble catching on in Austin.

But no, Austin got along without him as well, so it was on to San Antonio. From the San Antonio Light, February 23:

Base Ball.

Mr. John T. Magner, an old ball player New Orleans [sic], is in the city for the purpose of interesting our citizens in putting forth a good ball team in the Texas league this season. Mr. Magner wishes to have a meeting of citizens at some place next Monday night, to be designated by them, when committees can be appointed to solicit subscription and make other arrangement, and a treasurer can be appointed. A subscription amounting to $1,000 will be enough to begin working with and will be needed to sign players with. After this, the sale of season tickets and the gate receipts will support the club. There are now, including Mr. Magner, seven well known players in this city. San Antonio’s mistake last season was that she did not get into the field soon enough after players and signed hers after all the best players had been secured by the other clubs.

Things didn’t go well for John in San Antonio either; on March 19 the Light reported on the city council proceedings, including: “Petition from John T. Magner to fence in a portion of San Pedro park as a base ball ground, not granted.” San Antonio did not field a team in the Texas League that year. But on March 26 it was announced that John had been hired to manage Austin. A March 31 Dallas Morning News report on the Austin team included:

John T. Magner, manager of the team, is of St. Louis. He played with the St. Louis browns, center field; aged 33 [unlikely], weight 174, height 5 feet 7 ½ inches.

A similar feature in the April 11 Austin Weekly Statesman had more detail:

JOHN T. MAGNER

Manager and center field, commenced playing ball with the amateur clubs of St. Louis, his first professional engagement being with the famous Red Stocking club of that city in 1875-76; in 1877 he was with the noted Tecumseh club of London, Canada, that won the international championship; with Davenport, Northwestern League champions in 1878; the Cincinnati Stars in 1879; Rochester in 1879, and was with the famous St. Louis Browns as centerfield from 1879 to 1882. After which, he retired from the diamond, entering it again last year with the Dallas team, but never played a game, owing to the great number of men signed.

By this point the season had begun; four days later the Senators had an 0-7 record and John was released. On June 26 the St. Louis report in Sporting Life included a quote from John:

M’Nab, of the Texas League, is said to be one of the speediest pitchers in the country. John T. Magner, who played in the Texas League for a short time this season, has this to say of McNab:--“I wish some  of the League or Association magnates could see him pitch. He’s a wonder, and no mistake. You remember the jumping ball that the boys used to say Bob Caruthers delivered? Well, this McNab has the same jumping ball, and a man can’t hit it with a cellar door. And speed! Well, if Mac hasn’t speed, then I’m a fool. He’s as fast as King, if not faster, and he has perfect control of the ball. There’s two or three good twirlers in the Texas League, and it’s a wonder to me that some of the managers of the major league clubs don’t go down there and scoop them in; and their releases would not cost a fortune.”

On July 6 the Globe-Democrat named John as one of the riders in a special railroad car that took “sporting men” to the Sullivan-Kilrain prize fight. Soon after he was hired as an umpire by the Central Interstate League. He was not well-regarded in Evansville, Indiana; from the Evansville Courier, July 11:

The home team did most excellent work, and it is only truth to say that the game rightfully belonged to it, and only for misjudgment on the part of Umpire Magner, the score would have been just the reverse of what the score books show. Some of the decisions were entirely wrong but were doubtless made honestly, but that does not compensate for the result, as these, and these alone, gave the game to Springfield. Mr. Magner, according to the verdict of the audience as well as the players, displayed anything else but evidence of being a satisfactory man in his position, and it is said with some show of reason that much of the condemnation heaped upon Dundon for Tuesday’s game, should have been meted out to Umpire Magner, for his rank decisions on balls and strikes. It is evident that he desires to be honest, but it is also evident that he is deficient in judgment in this particular. He was also surely wrong in at least two base decisions in yesterday’s game.

After the next day's game they weren’t giving him the benefit of the doubt:

…In the fourth inning it was plain to everybody that the Evansvilles would win the game, but this proved a snare and delusion as in this inning Umpire Magner came to the assistance of the visitors, and more open, notorious and shameless dishonesty was never indulged in by an umpire. This conduct was so bare-faced as to preclude the possibility of the audience excusing him on the ground of incompetency, or even imbecility. His calling of balls on McGill was so palpably unfair that the audience became disgusted and before the seventh inning was completed anger had taken the place of contempt and the crowd soon became almost wild with indignation and calls were made to have the “miserable loafer” put out of the grounds.

Bittman, captain of the locals, in the most courteous way possible protested against the actions of Magner, but to no purpose, and the robbery continued to the end of the game. In the eighth inning Magner, feeling that he merited rough handling, called upon Chief Newitt for protection, his conscience, if he possesses any, convincing him that the spectators would be justified in throwing him over the fence. How Secretary Pritchard could be led to employ such a character as Magner as umpire is one of the curious things in base ball. He must have known something of his previous history, the unsavory reputation he bears wherever he is known, particularly at Dallas, Texas, and Vicksburg, Miss. To inflict such a fellow on the patrons of the National game is inexcusable in the face of such a name as he has established for  himself, and which, by such conduct as that of yesterday, he seems to take a pride in maintaining.

The truth of the quotation, “The wicked flee when no man pursueth,” was fully established in the case of Magner yesterday, when he asked to be escorted to his hotel after the game by a squad of police, saying he feared the wrath of the spectators. Notwithstanding there was no necessity for such a request, Chief Newitt granted it, and the fellow was escorted to town by a squad of seven members of the force.

At his hotel last night Magner declared his intention to umpire the game to-day if he died in the attempt, and he will probably put in an appearance this afternoon as a walking arsenal. Mr. Magner will not be molested, but with him as umpire the Evansville club will be again defeated if Magner can bring it about…

It was common talk yesterday and last night that some of the wicked boys who bet on base ball had been given “tips,” and it is an open secret that they have taken all bets offered on the Evansville club, and have in many instances given odds of fifteen to twenty on the last three games against the locals. Who these “tips” were given by is only conjectured, but there was certainly sufficient reason developed yesterday for a strong surmise.

I’m very curious about John’s alleged unsavory reputation, given how highly he was spoken of in earlier articles. Sporting Life, in its Central Interstate News column in its July 14 issue, had a different take on the aftermath of the game:

John T. Magner needed seven policemen to escort him from the Evansville grounds to  his hotel. He was followed by a jeering crowd that would have broken him in two had they been able to reach him.

John did not in fact umpire the following game, the Courier observing:

Magner, the great Central Inter-State “What-is-it,” was still in the city yesterday evening. He should be given hours to leave town.

From the Courier of July 18:

It was common talk on the streets yesterday that the alleged umpire, Magner, was paid a stated price to defeat the Evansville club in the two last series played on the home grounds. The names of three prominent young men are used in connection with this disreputable business, and the story as told is very damaging to them. THE COURIER has their names.

A year later the Courier had not forgotten John. On May 18, 1890, it compared a “dishonest and contemptible” umpire to “a fellow named Magner who acted as umpire last season,” and on July 13 it said:

John T. Magner, who so completely disgraced himself in this city last year while attempting to fill the position of umpire, has got up a petition in St. Louis, asking to be appointed to the position of umpire in the American Association. A peculiar feature in the case is that an alleged sporting paper of St. Louis [presumably the Sporting News] whose proprietor and manager was instrumental in foisting Magner on the Interstate League, is now the fellow’s champion. If the Association has any regard for itself or patrons it will let Magner severely alone.

Meanwhile, in the winter of 89-90 John was again playing pool in St. Louis. He did not get the AA job. The St. Louis report in the April 19, 1890, Sporting Life included:

A game was advertised for last Sunday at Brotherhood Park in which McGinnis, Baker, Johnny Peters, Magner, Cunningham and several other old-timers were to take part in [sic], but most of those announced to play were either at home with their head on a pillow taking a “snooze” or witnessing the game at Sportsman’s Park. Quite a crowd gathered to see the contest, but the people were disappointed.

John played a lot of pool in 1891-92. On July 17, 1892, the Globe-Democrat reported that “John T. Magner, the pool-player, will be tendered a benefit at Social Turner Hall, Thirteenth and Monroe streets this evening.” I didn’t find any more about the benefit, or why he needed one. The Post-Dispatch reported on April 14, 1895, that:

The St. Louis Browns will play the Fairs at Sportsman’s Park Wednesday, April 17, for the benefit of John T. Magner. The Fairs will have their famous battery, Talbot and Quinn. Game called at 3 o’clock, sharp.

There is then a big gap in the information about John, until January 17, 1910, when Billy Murphy, in his “Timely Sport Comment” column in the St. Louis Star and Times, wrote:

Undoubtedly there are lots of people who believe that Ty Cobb is one of the fastest runners that ever engaged in a game of baseball…

Now, as we’re handicapping this column, we’re going to put you wise to the fact that the fastest man who ever played baseball lives in this city.

‘Tis John Magner, who played with the Browns in the early 80s. Magner was not speedy—he was lightning.

A man as fast as this old chap, never put on a baseball shoe.

Remember that name, boys, when you are discussing the fastest men in baseball.

And pronounce that name Magner—with the accent on the Z.

Almost five years later, on January 9, 1915, an unnamed individual wrote in the Star and Times:

We have no idea of the identity of the person who deposited a box of cigars in our desk but after smoking one of the perfectos we strongly suspect that John T. Magner had something to do with it and we humbly request that John return the penknife he borrowed at the time.

And that’s it as far as information on John. I found nothing about him after this, and no obituary. It is not known when he died.

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/M/Pmagnj102.htm

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/magnejo01.shtml

Dave Bartosch

Dave Bartosch was an outfielder for the 1945 St. Louis Cardinals.

David Robert Bartosch was born March 24, 1917, in St. Louis, the second of three children of  Henry and Anna Bartosch. The 1920 census shows the family at 3723 Pennsylvania Avenue in St. Louis, a house they own on a mortgage. Henry, 30, a plumber, and Anna, 28, were both born in Missouri; this census says that Henry’s parents were born in Germany and Anna’s in Missouri, while the 1930 census will show the reverse. Henry Jr. is five and David is two.

For the 1930 census the family is at 3016S Chippewa Street in St. Louis, a house they own outright that is valued at $12,000. Henry is still a plumber, Henry Jr. is 16, David is 13, and sister Anna Maxine is three.

As a teenager Dave was an accomplished athlete. He first attained prominence as a high school swimmer from 1934-36, winning various events, mostly freestyle, not only in school competitions but AAU and YMCA meets as well. From the March 12, 1936, St. Louis Neighborhood News:

Another Johnny Weissmuller and “Buster” Crabbe, are the complimentary comparisons being tendered Dave Bartosch, Cleveland aquatic star, this week. It was a pleasure, an awesome one at that, to see Dave actually lap the field in the 220 yard breast stroke event of the fourth annual Public High League swim meet, held Saturday evening in Wilson Pool, Washington University…

Dave finished high school that spring and then signed a contract with the St. Louis Cardinals. He was sent to the Daytona Beach Islanders of the Class D Florida State League, where he played right field. He hit .285 and slugged .375 in 37 games, and then was moved to another Class D league, the Alabama-Florida League, and the Union Springs Springers, where he played center field and hit .304/.345/.411 in 31 games. In December, back in St. Louis, Dave lost in the semi-finals in the Globe-Democrat Golden Glove squash tournament.

For 1937 the Cardinals kept Dave in Class D, but this time with the Union City Greyhounds of the Kitty (Kentucky-Illinois-Tennessee) League. He played left and center and hit .337 to lead the league; he slugged .477 with 31 doubles, eight triples, and eight homers in 505 at-bats, also leading the league in hits, total bases, and RBI (103). After the season he was moved all the way up to AA, to the roster of the Columbus Red Birds of the American Association. In December he won a Sidney Hills health club’s squash instructors squash tournament; in March 1938 he was competing in a badminton tournament for the Leon’s Health Club team.

Dave opened the 1938 season not with Columbus but with the Asheville Tourists of the Class B Piedmont League. In June he was sent back to Class D and the Kitty League, this time to the Paducah Indians, who had replaced Union City as the Cardinals affiliate in the league. An article in the June 23 Paducah Sun-Democrat said that:

Three players assigned to the Indians still have not arrived. They are Dave Bartosch, hard-hitting outfielder from Asheville who went to St. Louis to talk matters over with [St. Louis general manager Branch] Rickey after his transfer here…

An article on the front page of the same edition of the same newspaper reported that Dave was accompanying Rickey, who had been invited to attend that evening’s game by the Paducah Junior Chamber of Commerce, to town.

Dave played left for Paducah, and filled in at first base due to an injury. He hit in his first 15 games, through July 5; on July 11 it was announced that he had been voted to the Kitty League all-star team that would play against first-place Mayfield on the 13^th. Also on the 11^th Dave and his teammates appeared in an item in the Society News section of the Paducah Sun-Democrat:

Mr. and Mrs. Bryan Hosts At Supper

Mr. and Mrs. Holland G. Bryan complimented members of the Paducah Indians baseball team at a chicken and watermelon supper Sunday evening at their home on Woodland drive. Supper was served buffet style on the lawn.

The July 14 Sun-Democrat included an account of the all-star game, in which Dave batted third and played first base, and the following item: “Dave Bartosch, Paducah first baseman, and Tom Franey, Mayfield rightfielder, forgot the Paducah-Mayfield athletic feud after the All-Star game and went to St. Louis together…”

On August 9 Dave moved back to the outfield, and immediately crashed into the fence and injured both wrists and his head. On the 12^th the Sun-Democrat reported that he had gone back to St. Louis for several days; on the 16^th they reported that he was back; on the 20^th he was recalled by Asheville. With Paducah he hit .290/.399/.477 in 176 at-bats in 46 games, and stole 12 bases. In his two stints with Asheville he hit .263/.306/.388 in 289 at-bats in 73 games.

In January 1939 the Cardinals moved Dave laterally to another Class B team, the Decatur Commodores of the Three-I League. A January 31 article in the Springfield Illinois State Journal mentioned that he had suffered from an illness during 1938, but I didn’t find any mentions of it at the time. In St. Louis in March, before leaving for spring training, he competed in another squash tournament.

Dave won a starting outfield berth with Decatur, but at the end of May they put him on the suspended list (which was basically an inactive list) to stay under the roster limit, and on June 12 the Cardinals sent him down to Class C, to the Portsmouth Red Birds of the Middle Atlantic League. With Decatur he had hit .253/.306/.407 in 26 games. The Portsmouth Daily Times mentioned on June 19: “Still talking about the shoestring catch by Dave Bartosch, new right fielder, which saved their 2-to-0 nightcap victory in the 11^th inning at Dayton Saturday night, the Portsmouth Red Birds returned home late Sunday…” On July 20 they reported:

Don’t think Dave Bartosch isn’t paddling the ball. In the nine games prior to Wednesday’s contest he hit safely 19 times in 32 times at bat for a .594 average. That’s what we call massaging the pellet or what have you…

On August 16 the Canton Repository reported that “a pitching speed meter” had “made its first Canton appearance at Lakeside last night” before a Portsmouth-Canton game; Dave was measured at 122 feet per second, which was third behind two players who hit 128. On August 25 he pitched the last five innings of a 13-2 loss, allowing two runs on two hits.

With the Red Birds Dave hit .304/.357/.401 in 319 at-bats in 83 games, and was named honorable mention on the league’s all-star team. The September 9 Portsmouth Daily Times ran a story on what the Red Birds were doing over the winter; after mentioning that pitcher Allen Turner might do some wrestling, the article continued:

Dave Bartosch’s ambition is far from wrestling. The fair-haired outfielder plans to study voice (he swings a mean baritone) wherever he is—in Portsmouth or at his home in St. Louis.

Despite Dave’s solid stint with Portsmouth, the Cardinals moved him down to the roster of the Williamson Red Birds of the Class D Mountain States League. By the time the 1940 season opened the census was taken, which showed the same five members of the Bartosch family living in the same house, though the address had been changed from 3016S to 3016A Chippewa Street, and the value of the house had plummeted from $12,000 to $3000. Henry, now age 50, had worked 20 hours the previous week, and 26 weeks of the previous year, as a plumbing contractor. Henry Jr. had worked 40 hours and 52 weeks, as a postal clerk earning $1900 a year. David is shown as not employed for pay, seeking work, and a baseball player for a semi-pro club [?] who earned $830 for 24 weeks of work in 1939.

I don’t know what Dave was doing that spring and summer—if he played for Williamson it wasn’t enough to get into the league stats—until June 29, when it was announced that he had been acquired from the Cardinals by the El Dorado Oilers of the Class C Cotton States League. He played four games at first base for El Dorado, including one in which he hit two home runs, before he went to another Cotton States team, the former Pine Bluff Judges, who had just changed their name to the Red Rovers and apparently started playing only road games.

Dave played mostly third base for the Red Rovers. His Cotton States stats for the season: .258/.314/.384 in 271 at-bats in 68 games.

At some point in 1940-41 Dave filled out his draft registration card. It’s undated, but he gives his age as 23, which puts it between March 1940 and March 1941. He gives his address as 3016A Chippewa, his employer as the Henry Bartosch Plumbing Company, and his appearance as 6-1, 180, hazel eyes, blonde hair, and light complexion.

Dave disappears for a bit after that. I found no evidence of his playing professional baseball in 1941, and at some point he joined the Coast Guard. He next pops up in the March 28, 1943, St. Louis Globe-Democrat:

Irene Kuehner Is Bride-Elect

Miss Irene Jane Kuehner, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George P. Kuehner, 5200 Tamm avenue, announced her engagement to David Robert Bartosch, United States Coast Guard. The prospective bridegroom is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Bartosch, 3016 Chippewa street.

Miss Kuehner is a graduate of Fontbonne College.

Same newspaper, May 15:

234 Orchids Worth $1100 for Wedding of Coast Guardsman

What was termed the largest single order of orchid bouquets in the history of St. Louis was being made up yesterday by the Witek Flower Company, 4732 McPherson avenue, for the wedding at 7 p.m. today of Miss Irene Kuehner, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Kuehner, 5200 Tamm avenue, to Coast Guard Seaman David Bartosch, 3016A Chippewa street, at Memorial Presbyterian Church.

The bride and her attendants will carry eight bouquets valued at $1100. Fred Strohmeyer, Witek manager, said.

Miss Kuehner’s bouquet will consist of 72 white orchids, while the five bridesmaids will hold orchid chains 4 feet long and containing 30 flowers each. The two flower girls will carry clusters of six orchids each. The church chancel will be decorated with white gladioli and white larkspur.

Miss Kuehner is a graduate of Fontbonne College and for the last three years has been assistant secretary to her father, a wholesale florist and orchid importer. Bartosch is stationed at the Coast guard office in the Old Federal Building.

Dave was honorably discharged in December 1944, and he was invited to 1945 spring training with the Cardinals; he made the team. On April 28 he made his major league debut at Cincinnati, pinch hitting for second baseman Emil Verban against Arnold Carter in the top of the seventh in a scoreless tie. He grounded out to Carter, and the Reds went on to win in the bottom of the ninth.

His next appearance was in the second game of a doubleheader in Pittsburgh on May 2. He pinch-hit for pitcher Stan Partenheimer in the top of the eighth, down 11-1, and singled against Max Butcher. On May 6 the Providence Journal reported:

The Cardinals tried out an outfielder, Dave Bartosch, this Spring who once didn’t know whether he would pursue a career on the ball field or in the opera…So he picked the diamond and decided his rich baritone wouldn’t be completely wasted—in the shower-room quartet…[ellipses part of original]

A week later he pinch-hit against Vic Lombardi at Brooklyn and doubled and scored a run. Two days later, still in Brooklyn, he got his first major league start, leading off and playing right field against Tom Seats; he went 1-for-4 as the Cardinals lost 7-0. He led off the game by reaching first on an error on Eddie Stanky—this was followed by three singles yet somehow Dave only made it to third base before the third out.

Dave got five more starts in the outfield in May, the highlight coming on May 21 on another trip to Brooklyn when he got three singles and a walk, scored a run and batted in another. He got into several games in the first half of June but played sparingly after that, and on July 24 the Cardinals sent him to Columbus. This concluded his major league career, in which he hit .255/.340/.277 (the one double was his only extra-base hit) in 47 at-bats in 24 games. The Cardinals voted him a half share of their second-place portion of the World Series money.

Dave played the outfield for Columbus, and hit just .223/.274/.277 in 184 at-bats in 50 games; this concluded his minor league career, at age 28. Over the next several years his name appeared regularly in the St. Louis newspapers, as he pitched in semi-pro and amateur baseball and appeared in golf and bowling tournaments. In the 1950 census Dave, 33, his marriage apparently over, is living with his parents and sister (Henry Jr. has moved out) at 3016A Chippewa. Henry, 61, worked 40 hours the previous week as a journeyman plumber, Dave 40 hours as an insurance salesman, and Anna Maxine, 24, 40 hours as a grade school teacher.

Four months later, in August, Dave married 26-year-old Dorothy L. Huggins. In 1960 he was on a list of 55 former major league players living in the St. Louis area who had been invited by the Cardinals to a ceremony in their honor before the game of July 1 (the Cardinals would do this again in 1963). Also in 1960 he was a member of a Citizen’s Committee formed to back a sewer bond issue. In 1961 he ran for the city council of Florissant, a suburb to the north of St. Louis, but lost. In 1963 he was appointed City Treasurer of Florissant after the resignation of the predecessor.

In 1966 Dorothy gave birth to son Jeffrey, in Los Angeles; I’m not sure how or when they ended up there, or what Dave was doing. In 1969 Dave was hired as a scout by the Cardinals. From the June 30, 1974, Springfield Republican:

Scouting: ‘A Job Nobody Quits’

By Tom Shea

Republican Staff

“It’s the kind of job that no one quits. Most are very happy with it. It’s the kind of job you don’t get rich, but there are benefits that are unseen. Like watching a boy progress, meeting some nice people and having the pleasant occupation of watching baseball for a living.”

The above is a description of Dave Bartosch’s job. He happens to be the Northeast Scouting Supervisor for the St. Louis Cardinals.

His duties are to view high school and college games in the spring prior to the June Free Agent Draft. His territories cover New Jersey to Maine.

Bartosch had a half dozen or so scouts under him. The arrangement being a scout will recommend a player to be drafted, and it will be Bartosch that makes the final decision to recommend the prospect to be drafted.

“We cross check the scouts to really see who has the potential to play pro ball,” noted the Suffield, Conn., resident who played in the Cardinal chain…

Dave moved to the Cubs organization in 1980, and to the Padres in 1982; he was mentioned in a March 1983 article as being involved in the scouting of a player in Mexico. On October 14, 1985, Dorothy passed away in Newhall, Los Angeles County, at age 62.

On October 1, 1992, Dave, then 75, was one of four scouts whose contracts the Padres announced they would not be renewing. He passed away on April 30, 2006, about a month after his 89^th birthday, and was buried in Newhall with Dorothy.

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/B/Pbartd102.htm

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/bartoda01.shtml

Jim Pittsley

 

Jim Pittsley pitched for the Royals and Brewers from 1995-99.

James Michael Pittsley was born April 3, 1974, in DuBois, in western Pennsylvania northeast of Pittsburgh. He lettered in baseball and basketball at DuBois High School, and pitched in American Legion ball. As a senior in the fall of 1991 he signed a letter of intent to play baseball at North Carolina State, but following his 1992 graduation he was drafted in the first round by the Royals and he signed with them. A draft preview in the May 31 Atlanta Journal & Constitution speculated on the Braves picking Jim and said:

Jim Pittsley: A righthander out of DuBois (Pa.) High, Pittsley is 6-7 and struck out 88 in 45 innings. He is rated as having the best velocity of any high school senior, according to the publication Baseball America.

Sporting News columnist Peter Pascarelli, in the June 15 issue, wrote that Jim “might have been the most talented high school pitcher in the draft.” He had been the Yankees’ plan B for their number six pick in the first round, if they didn’t get Derek Jeter. Jim was sent to the Royals’ team in the Rookie Class Gulf Coast League; on August 3 he filled out a questionnaire in which he listed his nickname as “Pitts,” his size as 6-7, 215, his hobbies as hunting and fishing, and mentioned that he had an uncle, Johnny Pittsley, who had played in the New York Giants organization. From the August 23 Memphis Commercial Appeal:

Righthander Jim Pittsley, chosen in the first round of last June’s free-agent draft, is rapidy making progress with the Kansas City Royals’ Rookie League team in the Gulf Coast League.

Pittsley, the 17^th player selected and the first high school pitcher chosen, is 4-1 with a 3.52 ERA and 39 strikeouts and 14 walks in 38 1/3 innings. Take away his professional debut, a one-inning calamity when Pittsley gave up three hits and six runs and walked three, and Pittsley has pitched very well.

“I feel more comfortable each time I go out there,” he said.

Pittsley’s velocity reached 88 mph recently but has typically ranged between 84-86. Pittsley isn’t throwing across his body as much as he did as an amateur. Otherwise, the Royals have made few changes to Pittsley’s delivery and aren’t looking at anything drastic.

“He has a tendency to tilt forward just a little bit,” Cram said. “Down the road, we’ll try to get him to stand up straighter and get more of a downward plane. He really doesn’t have bad mechanics. They just have to be refined a little bit.”

4-1 turned out to be Jim’s final record in the Gulf Coast League, in ten starts, with a 3.32 ERA in 43 1/3 innings. Somewhere along the way he made one three-inning start in the Class Advanced A Florida State League, allowing no runs on two hits.

In 1993 Jim pitched for the Rockford Royals of the Class A Midwest League. He had a couple of stints on the disabled list with injuries to his pitching shoulder and upper back; for the season he had a 4.26 ERA in 80 1/3 innings in 15 starts, with 87 strikeouts and 32 walks.

For 1994 Jim moved up to the Wilmington Blue Rocks of the Advanced A Carolina League, where he had an 11-5 record and 3.17 ERA in 161 2/3 innings in 27 starts, with a league-leading 171 strikeouts. He was named to the league’s all-star game.

Jim then skipped over Class AA and went to the Omaha Royals of the American Association for 1995; he was said to be the youngest player in the league. He got off to a good start, and was called up to Kansas City, where he made his major league debut on May 23 at Toronto, getting the start. His first batter was Devon White, who singled, and then Alex Gonzalez hit a home run. Shawn Green hit a solo homer in the second, and Gonzalez led off the third with his second homer. After Jim allowed a walk and a double with one out in the fourth he was relieved. He didn’t get the loss, though, as the Royals came back to take a brief lead before losing 10-6. 

He lost his next start to a rainout, and was sent back to Omaha to get two more starts there before coming back to Kansas City. But, as the Rockford Register Star reported on June 1:

Pittsley faces surgery

Jim Pittsley may face elbow surgery after tearing a ligament in his right elbow.

Pittsley made his major league debut with the Kansas City Royals earlier this season, then was sent back to the minors for two starts before he was scheduled to return to the American League.

In his first minor league start, he injured his elbow. He hopes treatments and a rehabilitation program will build up his elbow to avoid surgery. If it doesn’t work, Pittsley will have a ligament from another part of his body removed and inserted in the elbow.

“There’s no risk involved,” Pittsley said. “All the players who have had the surgery have come back and thrown well. The only setback is you’re out a year before you can come back. That’s quite awhile. That’s why we’re trying to postpone this as long as we can. Who knows? It might come around and we won’t have it.”

Pittsley was sent home June 24 to DuBois, Pa., to rest his arm for a month.

“If it’s surgery, that’s what it will be,” Pittsley said. “I’ll be back, It’s not like my career is over.”

Same paper, August 13:

Good news for Pittsley

The Kansas City Royals received some good news Aug. 4 when Jim Pittsley, a 1992 first-round pick, did not have to undergo “Tommy John surgery” to repair his right elbow…

Instead, Dr. Frank Jobe was able to surgically repair a slight tear in the ulnar collateral ligament in Pittsley’s right elbow.

Immediately afterward Jim was recalled to the major league roster and placed on the 60-day disabled list. His Omaha stats were a 4-1 record and 3.21 ERA in 47 2/3 innings in eight starts with 39 strikeouts; with Kansas City he had a 13.50 ERA in the one start.

In March 1996 Jim signed a new KC contract, and on April 1 he was placed on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to March 22. On April 12 he threw batting practice for the first time. In June he was sent back to Wilmington for a rehab assignment, where he pitched nine innings over two starts and allowed eleven earned runs; he struck out ten but gave up four home runs. He then moved to Wichita of the Class AA Texas League, where in three starts he went 3-0 with a 0.41 ERA in 22 innings, allowing just nine hits but, unusually for him, only striking out seven.

In July Jim was moved up to Omaha, where he spent the rest of the season. He went 7-1 in 13 starts with a 3.97 ERA in 70 1/3 innings, striking out 53 and walking 39.

Jim went to spring training 1997 projected as the leading candidate for the Royals’ fifth starter slot, but in mid-March he was optioned back to Omaha. On March 23 a Detroit News article on rotisserie league sleepers (likely written before Jim’s demotion) said:

Jim Pittsley, Royals: He’s had health problems, but he’s 6-foot-7, has a 92-93 mph fastball, and can throw his curve and change-up for strikes.

Jim got one start for Omaha before getting called back up when Chris Haney broke his ankle. He started for the Royals at home against Texas on April 16, and pitched well but lost 2-0 to John Burkett. This was followed by a series of poor starts; the Detroit News reported on May 11:

Pittsley struggling, but still confident

By David Srinivasan

The Detroit News

Royals Manager Bob Boone was less than flattering when he talked about right-hander Jim Pittsley on Thursday.

“He’s 0-3,” Boone said. “He’s struggled with his control. He’s pitched a couple of good games, but he’s given up big home runs in every outing.”

Ouch.

“He’s got a pretty good fastball, (but) there are no free rides (in the big leagues).”

That’s dire talk, but there’s promise here despite Pittsley’s 7.08 earned-run average.

In the minors, he showed a solid ability to change speeds and location with a change-up, a curve and a cut fastball.

His regular fastball is straight, but it hit the low 90s before he underwent elbow surgery last season, Even though Pittsley missed most of ’96, he says his arm strength has returned.

But he isn’t a top prospect just because of his control and stuff, he’s also bright and confident.

“In 1995, I pitched in Toronto (he allowed five runs in 3 1/3 innings in his major-league debut). That woke me up, ‘cause I got hit around,” Pittsley said.

He said that was the last time he felt nervous on the mound.

And during his time on the disabled list last season, Pittsley studied the game.

In addition to learning on his own, Pittsley credits veterans on the Royals with helping him. He says Tim Belcher, a former Tigers starter, has helped him especially. Belcher has taught Pittsley how to prepare mentally for starts and goes over hitters with him.

Pittsley makes sure to speak respectfully of his teachers—including the Triple-A coach who helped him with his mechanics—but his thoughts quickly return to his last start, the one in which he allowed six runs in 1 2/3 innings.

Boone was succinct in his analysis: “He got his (bleep) kicked.”

Pittsley was verbose: “I fell behind early in the count, I bounced a couple of curveballs, and my (cut fastball) wasn’t cutting.

“When you throw a straight fastball in this league, they’re gonna hit it. You have to have movement on your pitches (and throw strikes).”

Pittsley has a plan, has quality pitches, and good team [sic] of coaches working with him. Boone may have sounded gruff, but he was a great defensive catcher with a fine record of working with young pitchers. If things go right, Pittsley will be a productive member of Kansas City’s rotation by season’s end.

From I.J. Rosenberg’s “Midweek Baseball Report” in the June 4 Atlanta Journal:

Kansas City: With starter Chris Haney on the disabled list with a fractured ankle, the Royals were considering signing the recently released Dennis Martinez, thinking he could replace rookie Jim Pittsley (0-4, 7.04 ERA) in the rotation. But general manager Herk Robinson said, “I think Haney will be back in three weeks. Pittsley has pitched a little better his past two starts. I don’t think (signing Martinez) will happen. I don’t see it as necessary.”

On June 7, at home against the Rangers, Jim got his first win, giving up three earned runs in seven innings as the Royals won 10-4. Afterward a short filler item appeared in several newspapers, here as it ran in the Marietta Daily Journal on June 12:

Pittsley home like museum

KANSAS CITY, Mo.—Need some Jim Pittsley memorabilia?

In a china cabinet in DuBois, Pa., is everything you’ll need—pennants, plaques and about 100 game balls.

“My mom and dad always went and got the ball I hit for a home run when I was in Little League,” said Pittsley, Kansas City’s tall, tough right-hander. “We have one for my 100^th strikeout in Little League, home runs I hit, game balls from high school—No-hitters, home runs.”

Now they can add the ball from his first major league win.

From the Kansas City report in the June 23 Sporting News:

When pitcher Jim Pittsley bobbled a bunt, he ended the team’s streak of errorless play at 11 games and 106 innings, both club records. The team was four games shy of the Rangers’ A.L. record of 15 consecutive errorless games, set last season…Pittsley’s double against the Pirates was the first hit by a team pitcher since the D.H. was adopted in 1973…With Chris Haney back in the rotation, rookie Glendon Rusch was sent to the bullpen. Pittsley will continue to start, with Rusch available to “piggyback” him in the late innings… [all ellipses part of the original article]

After an excellent start against the Brewers on June 29 in which he allowed one run in eight innings but Jeff Montgomery blew the save in the ninth, Jim had back to back seven-run outings. He was then optioned back to Omaha on July 15, but on the 28^th he was recalled for one game when the Royals needed him to start. At home against the Twins, he allowed just three singles in six innings and got the win, putting his record at 3-7. He was recalled again for starts on August 23 and 29, then on September 2 he was brought back for the rest of the season. He started five games in September, winning two and losing one for a final record of 5-8, and gradually got his season ERA down to 5.46. He pitched 112 innings in 21 starts, striking out just 52, a very low ratio by his previous standards. For Omaha he had a 4.42 ERA in 38 2/3 innings in seven starts.

At spring training 1998 Jim failed to make the starting rotation, but he was out of options after all his bouncing back and forth in ’97, so the Royals put him in the bullpen for the first time in his professional career, since another team would have been able to claim him if they had tried to send him back to Omaha again.

Through the end of May Jim had made 14 relief appearances and had a 4.57 ERA. In his next outing, on June 2 at home against the Angels, he pitched 1 2/3 hitless innings with three strikeouts; he also hit one batter, which ignited a series of brawls and retaliatory pitches. From the next day’s AP account:

Four beanballs and two bench-clearing brawls led to 12 ejections in Anaheim’s victory over Kansas City.

The problems started in the top of the seventh, when Anaheim’s Phil Nevin was hit in the back by Kansas City pitcher Jim Pittsley. Nevin, who was also hit in his previous at-bat by Chris Haney, charged the mound and tried to tackle Pittsley, but the pitcher wrestled Nevin down and appeared to throw some jabs.

Both benches emptied, but apparently no other players threw punches. Nevin, Pittsley, and Kansas City coaches Rich Dauer and Jamie Quirk also were ejected…

From another AP article:

…The first hit batsman came in the fifth when Angels catcher Phil Nevin was hit by Kansas City starter Chris Haney two batters after Tim Salmon homered.

In the seventh, Nevin was hit in the back of the neck by fastballer Jim Pittsley.

“The second time, I know that it was deliberate,” Nevin said. “There was no doubt it came from the bench.”

Nevin went after the 6-foot-7 Pittsley, creating the first fight.

“I am shocked,” said Nevin, who was body-slammed by Pittsley. “I don’t have any bad blood with those guys.”

“I didn’t sense anything (between the teams),” Kansas City manager Tony Muser said.

Rich Delucia hit the Royals’ Dean Palmer with the first pitch of the eighth.

“Richie did what he thought he had to do,” Angels manager Terry Collins said.

“After we hit Palmer, it should have been over,” Nevin said. “It’s part of the game, but it’s unfortunate.”

Royals reliver Scott Service hit Darin Erstad with two outs in the ninth and was ejected.

Then came the bottom of the ninth. On the second pitch, Angels left-hander Mike Holtz hit Jose Offerman.

“I think that some words came out of the Angels dugout that got Offy excited,” Muser said. “That is what got it started.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IOPvBoCw_U

AP, June 4:

AL president calls Tuesday’s brawl ‘low point for major league baseball’

KANSAS CITY, Mo.—Calling the brawl between the Anaheim Angels and Kansas City Royals “a low point for major league baseball,” American League president Gene Budig hinted Wednesday that disciplinary action would be severe.

Budig happened to be in Kauffman Stadium Tuesday night when the Angels and Royals exchanged five beanballs and degenerated into a ninth-inning melee that led to 12 ejections. Budig said he would announce his decision on Friday, and indicated that managers Terry Collins of the Angels and Tony Muser of the Royals could be in trouble.

Both were ejected, along with three coaches.

“I was distressed by the utter disregard for safety on the field,” Budig said. “There was a clear breakdown in leadership on the part of the teams. Managers and coaches. Leadership on the field. I will respond in what I believe is a fair but very firm way.”

Budig suspended Collins and Muser for eight games each, and suspended nine players for from five games to one game each, including Jim for two, and fined three coaches. Jim had made another relief appearance on the 4^th and got his first start of the year on the 7^th, which was a 7-1 loss to the Astros. He served his suspension on the 12^th and 13^th, and got another start on the 22nd in Cincinnati, pitching the first five innings of a four-pitcher combined shutout.

After that Jim was back to the bullpen for the rest of the year. He ended up with a 6.59 ERA in 68 1/3 innings in 39 games, striking out 44 and walking 37.

In 1999 Jim won the fifth starter job in spring training. After five starts he had a 1-2 record and 6.94 ERA, with seven strikeouts and 15 walks in 23 1/3 innings. On May 16 he was designated for assignment, which meant that another team could claim him for the waiver price, and the Brewers did. From the May 22 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

“We just felt he’s a grade better than some of what we have in long relief right now,” said general manager Sal Bando, who watched middle relievers Steve Faltisek and Horacio Estrada get roughed up Thursday in a doubleheader sweep by the Mets.

“We have good reports on his stuff. He just hasn’t pitched well for whatever reasons. We’re going to see if we can help him pitch better. We thought it was a gamble worth trying.”

Same paper, June 30:

Brewers right-hander Jim Pittsley has moved ahead of struggling bullpen mate Al Reyes on Garner’s depth chart.

“Pittsley is going to get more work,” Garner said. “We’ve given Al a lot of chances but he hasn’t been getting it done.”

Pittsley, picked up on waivers from Kansas City on May 21, compiled a 1.29 ERA in his first nine appearances. He worked 14 innings, allowed nine hits and walked four while striking out nine. Opponents are batting .191 against him.

“He’s done the job for us just about every time he’s gone out there,” pitching coach Bill Campbell said. “He’s certainly earned a chance.”

At 6 feet 7 inches, Pittsley is Milwaukee’s tallest pitcher since 6-8 Jeff Juden exited last year. Unlike Juden, Pittsley has shown consistent mechanics and better-than-average control.

“He does a good job of throwing on a downhill plane,” Campbell said. “When you have a big guy that does that, the hitter has to make up his mind sooner whether or not he is going to swing.

“Pittsley is really big. Bob Melvin went out to warm him up between innings a few weeks ago and he came back to the bench and said, “It seemed like he was just going to hand the ball to me, he was so close.”

After two short outings that got his ERA down to 1.20, Jim had a four game stretch where he allowed eight earned runs in a total of 3 2/3 innings, which ballooned his ERA to 4.82. On July 19 the Brewers designated him for assignment, the Journal Sentinel reporting the next day:

In order to clear a roster spot for [Kyle] Peterson, the Brewers designated reliever Jim Pittsley for assignment. The club has 10 days to trade, release or assign Pittsley to Class AAA Louisville. Pittsley, already released by Kansas City this year, can refuse the assignment and become a free agent. “I hope he takes the assignment,” Brewers manager Phil Garner said. “He showed some signs of throwing the ball good.”

On Sunday afternoon, Pittsley continued his tough luck. He faced two batters and gave up a walk and a two-run double.

“That probably put him over the edge,” Garner said.

Jim stayed the rest of the season with Louisville, where he was returned to the starting rotation. In eight starts he went 2-4 with an 8.77 ERA, allowing 55 hits, 16 walks, and eight home runs in 39 innings. On October 15 he was granted free agency.

On February 23, 2000, the Salina Journal reported that:

The Royals, as desperate as anybody in baseball for pitching, said they may bring back former first-round pick Jim Pittsley, who pitched for the Milwaukee Brewers last year.

Herk Robinson said the club would bring Pittsley back as a reliever if he would change his delivery to throwing sidearm.

“We’d try to bring somebody in to work with him during extended spring training, but he has to be 100 percent committed to making the change,” Robinson said.

So much for the downhill plane. Apparently nothing came of that, and the next news of Jim I came across was an announcement from November 16, 2000, that he had signed a minor league contract with Tampa Bay and would be invited to major league spring training in 2001. This was the last update on Jim that I found.

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/P/Ppittj002.htm

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/pittsji01.shtml

Gus Yost

 

Gus Yost (or Jost) pitched one game for the 1893 Chicago Colts.

On June 12, 1893, the Chicago Colts played the Nationals in Washington. From the next day’s Chicago Daily Inter Ocean:

JOST WAS ONLY A JOKE

Anson Tried Comedy in the Game at Washington

MADE IT A WALKING MATCH

Runs Forced In by the New-found Apprentice.

Mauck Finally Substituted Too Late to Save the Colts from Defeat.

…Anson presented the most untamed pitcher that ever escaped from an asylum in the person of young Jost. The first eight balls pitched sent two men to base, and with an occasional strike and foul he kept it up until five consecutive contestants had entered in the walking match. To these were added a wild pitch and a base hit, and yet only two runs were scored. Anson’s lucky angel was on the watch and inspired Hoy and O’Rourke to try running instead of walking, and both perched at second and Larkin was the third out, when he tried to make three bases on Farrell’s single.

Anson hugged himself that he had gotten off with less than four or five runs and kept the young man at it until he had sent three more to first and two hits had been made in the third; then he jerked him out, put his other German, Mauck, who was quite as effective as on Saturday, except in one inning…

The June 17 Sporting Life summed it up as “Anson tried an amateur named Yost in the box, but he could not locate the plate and gave way to Mauck in the third inning.” Gus allowed four earned runs on three hits and eight walks in 2 2/3 innings, while striking out one. His teammates in the game included, besides manager/firstbaseman Cap Anson, Jimmy Ryan, Bill Dahlen, Walt Wilmot, and Bill “Little Eva” Lange; the Nationals lineup included Dummy Hoy, Jim O’Rourke, Sam Wise, Duke Farrell, and pitcher Al Maul.

The Chicago column in the June 24 Sporting Life mentioned that “Pitcher Yost, who was given a trial in Washington, was left behind.” Nothing more is known about Yost/Jost, except that he is listed as having been 6’5”, but I have no idea where that comes from. It’s very possible that he was a Washington D.C. area player whom Anson agreed to try out while the Colts were in town.

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/Y/Pyostg101.htm

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/y/yostgu01.shtml