Frank Kreeger played one game for the Kansas City Cowboys of the Union Association in 1884.
Edward Frank Kreeger was born in Ohio in 1860, the fifth of
six children of Peter Kreeger and Mary Madden Kreeger. The 1870 census found
them living in Pana, Illinois, southeast of Springfield. Peter is a railroad
foreman; oldest child Robert is out of the house, leaving Louisa, 16; Mary
Margaret, 14; James, 11; and Edward, 9—William, the youngest, is not listed.
In 1880 the family is in Tower Hill Township, a little east
of Pana. Peter is now a farmer; he has aged from 43 to 54 since the prior
census while Mary has aged from 38 to 55. Edward, listed as a laborer, and
William, 18, listed as a farmer, are the only children still at home.
On July 28, 1884, Edward, now known as Frank, played his one
major league game. I know nothing of how he got there. He was the starting
pitcher for Kansas City, at home against the St. Louis Maroons; the Cowboys
lost 8-2, which is not surprising given that the Maroons would go on to win the
pennant with a 94-19 record while the Cowboys would go 16-63. Frank gave up five
runs in seven innings before being moved to centerfield for the eighth, during
which the Maroons scored their final three runs; current stats credit him with
all eight runs, so perhaps he started the eighth and allowed three baserunners
before being removed with no outs. The Sporting Life description of the
game was:
At Kansas City, July 28, the home club, while playing a
better game in the field, was easily whipped by St. Louis. The base hits were
equal in number, but St. Louis bunched theirs and thus piled up runs. Sweeney,
late of Providence, played left field for Lucas’ team, and led at the bat.
Frank went 0-for-4 at the plate. None of his teammates had
memorable major league careers, but the Maroons lineup included Fred Dunlap,
Orator Shafer, Joe Quinn, and the above-mentioned Charlie Sweeney.
Frank then vanishes until March 1886, when various news
stories named him as one of the players signed by the St. Joseph Reds of the
Western League. The Leavenworth Standard of March 11 added:
Their suits will be green with red stockings, made by
Spaulding Bros., Chicago. It is said, their smallest man, except Flynn, weighs
174 pounds; they will be dubbed the “giants” of the Western league.
I found no St. Joseph stats, so I can’t say for sure that
Frank actually played for them. He next turns up in the St. Louis Globe-Democrat
of June 24, 1887:
Panas, 20; Shelbyvilles, 18.
Special Dispatch to the Globe-Democrat.
PANA, ILL., June 23.—The Comets of this city defeated the
Shelbyville club in a game here to-day, 20 to 18, though the Shelbyville scorer
claimed a tie. In the third inning the Pana catcher was hit by a batter and
retired, the score then being 11 to 9 in favor of Shelbyville. Frank Kreeger
and Nin Alexander, the once famous meteor battery, being present, the latter
now manager of the St. Joe club, and home on a visit, were put in for Pana in
deference to the crowd and by the courtesy of the Shelbyville players, and held
the sluggers down thereafter, making the game interesting and exciting
throughout.
Then there’s nothing until June 21, 1892, from the same
newspaper:
Held Up by Foot-Pads.
Joseph Dwyer and Frank Kreeger were held up on Fourteenth
and Biddle street early yesterday morning by three foot-pads. Dwyer resisted
and was shot in the left arm by one of the highwaymen, receiving a slight flesh
wound. The robbery was reported to the police, and yesterday Joseph McGarry, a
notorious Third District character, was arrested by Officer Ballinger. He was
positively identified as one of the foot-pads. Dwyer resides at No. 1116 Cass
avenue.
Later in the afternoon Officer McDaniels arrested Eugene
Hubersmith, about the age of McGary, for complicity. He was lodged in the Third
District Station, and was identified by both Dwyer and Kreeger. Dwyer is positive
that Hubersmith is the one that shot him. The identity of the third party is
known, but he has not yet been located.
Frank’s last name was spelled in a variety of ways during
his life, and afterwards. On July 12, 1899, he drowned, as reported in the next
day’s Muscatine News-Tribune:
Two Men Drowned.
Pana, Ills., July 12.—While bathing in Okaw river, southeast
of this city, Frank Crager, aged 36 [probably 38], a saloonist, and Charles
Pope, aged 27, a union miner, both of Pana, were taken with cramps and were
drowned. The bodies were rescued and brought to Pana.
From the July 19 Lanark Gazette:
Frank Kreiger and Charles Pope of Pana withdrew from a
fishing party on the Okaw River, five miles east of Ramsey, and went in
bathing. Later, they were heard crying for help, but before assistance reached
them they were drowned.
And from the July 15 Freeport Deutscher Anzeiger:
Bei Pana, Christian County, Ill., sing am 11. Beim Baden im
Okaw Flusse Schankwirth Frank Crager und ein benarbeiter namens Pope ertranken.
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