Society for American Baseball Research
Collegiate Baseball Committee Newsletter
February 2004 (04-1)

Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the position or official policy of SABR or its Collegiate Baseball Committee

WEBSITE UPDATE

As of the end of 2003, 1012 four-year colleges and universities have been researched and pages have been posted for 682 schools to our website (www.ncaa-baseball.com/sabr). This total includes all Division I programs, and those Division II, Division III and NAIA programs which have at least one major league baseball player. This number will increase as we welcome 3 new schools to our list- Bellarmine (KY), Limestone (SC) and Mercy (NY) all produced their first major league products in 2003. A complete listing of players who debuted in the major leagues and came from college programs is included in this newsletter.

I am in the process of doing a mass update of the existing pages to include the 2003 debuts and to include all the new information obtained since the last posting. We have decided to delay adding the junior college programs and closed colleges until later in the year in order to concentrate on completing the information for the four-year schools.

GROVE CITY COLLEGE

Grove City is a small college located in northwestern Pennsylvania. Their baseball program is Division III and has not produced a major league baseball since before World War I, but they had quite the program prior to then. Six major leaguers are known to have attended Grove City, with two having been confirmed as having played there. William R. (Doc) Marshall captained the 1898 team, and Samuel W. Brown participated on the 1901 squad. There the information dies. Grove City’s yearbook, The Ouija, began in 1912, and they did not have a school newspaper during the crucial time period of our players. Perhaps a search of the Pittsburgh newspapers for the period of 1895-1904 might produce confirmation of the participation of the Grove City Six. Anyone interested in finding out? ( www.ncaa-baseball.com/sabr/database/schools/grovecity.htm)

MANHATTAN COLLEGE

With three major league baseball teams in the New York City area, and numerous minor league teams, it is no wonder that many a player were signed from the Manhattan baseball team. The exact number is unknown, but 25 players are listed as possible players. The Manhattanite, the student yearbook extends back to 1910, but leaves two-thirds of the players unaccounted for. Five of the players are members of the Hall of Fame—Pat Duff, Buddy Hassett, Nick Tremark, Chuck Schilling and Bob Chlupsa. Others such as Jim Hanley, Anton Karl, Joe Gallagher, Xavier Rescigno and Tom Waddell are listed on Manhattan’s baseball website (www.manhattan.edu/athletics) as being former Jaspers. In addition to the named 25, the 19th Century Committee is looking at William Geer as being a possible Jasper. And I suspect that there might be a few others lurking out there from prior to 1900. Anyone have a subway token? Year-by-year win-loss records would also be appreciated. ( www.ncaa-baseball.com/sabr/database/schools/manhattan.htm)

NIAGARA UNIVERSITY

We have sixteen (16) major leaguers that we believe attended Niagara and likely played intercollegiate baseball for. One player, Walter E. Lynch, is a member of Niagara’s Athletic Hall of Fame. Two others, Harry T. Croft and John C. (Shad) Barry were found by the 19th Century Committee to have played on Niagara’s 1897 team. However there the information ends. The student yearbook, The Niagaran, published only two volumes prior to 1935—1917 and 1931. Contact with the Sports Information Director reveals that baseball was dropped then reinstated in 1931, but they do not have any additional records. The Archivist is part-time and has been unable to shed any additional light on the situation. Nearby SUNY Buffalo and Buffalo State did not have baseball teams at the time Niagara was most active in producing major leaguers. Is anyone interested in helping us to complete our record on Niagara? A complete listing of year-by-year win-loss records would be very helpful as well. ( www.ncaa-baseball.com/sabr/database/schools/niagara.htm)

SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY/WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY

These two schools are located with a mile of each other in downtown Saint Louis. As with Manhattan, their proximity to two major league baseball teams and a slew of minor league teams and semi-pro leagues made their baseball program vulnerable to the promise of financial gain. Unfortunately the Archives of both schools are sorely lacking in any information on college baseball history. I would expect that the Saint Louis newspapers of the era might have contained box scores of the colleges’ baseball games. A year-by-year listing of win-loss records for each school is needed too. ( www.ncaa-baseball.com/sabr/database/schools/stlouis.htm) ( www.ncaa-baseball.com/sabr/database/schools/wshngtonmo.htm)

WHERE WERE THEY THEN?

Steve Christmas: Steve was drafted out of Colonial HS, Orlando FL in June 1975, but did not sign. He was then signed as a free agent by Cincinnati in February 1977. The Sporting News Baseball Register says he attended Oklahoma City (OK) Southwestern Junior College. I have not been able to find such a school. I contacted Southwestern Oklahoma State University and Oklahoma City Community College, but neither school claims him. A letter to Mr. Christmas did not receive a reply. Does anyone know where Steve played baseball in 1976 and 1977?

Eustace J. (Doc) Newton: Doc was born in Mount Carmel, IN on October 26, 1877. An article in the Sporting Life (April 1907) says he got his baseball start by participating on the Morris Hall College team. Other publications list the school as variously “Morris Halo” and “Morris Hale”. Only one problem, none of them ever existed. It’s possible that Morris Hall is actually Moores Hill College, which closed in 1915. I have contacted Bradley University, as they apparently received some of Moores Hill’s old records, but they were unable to locate Doc Newton. Contact with Taylor University, Butler University, Indiana University Archives, Crown Hill Cemetery, Indiana Historical Society, Indiana State Medical Association, Indiana State University, Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis have all come up empty. Anyone want to tackle him?

Samuel M. (Mike) Wilson: Mike Wilson was born December 2, 1896 in Edge Hill, PA and made his major league debut with the Pittsburgh Pirates June 4, 1921. He attended Syracuse University, Muhlenberg College and Lehigh University. He played on the 1920 Lehigh baseball team. What was he doing the summers of 1915-19?

GEORGE H. FLETCHER

The sixth edition of Total Baseball lists George Horace Ellis Fletcher as having played 2 games in the outfield for the 1872 Eckfords, debuting on June 21, 1872. His birthday is listed as 4/21/1845, but no place of birth is given. Bill Carle, of the Biographical Committee, tells me that George H.E. was a lawyer in New York City after his playing career.

George Harley Fletcher was born in Lyndon, VT on 9/19/1852. He attended Dartmouth College, graduating in 1872 with an A.B., then attending New York University Law School and graduating there in 1874 with an LLB. He played on the Dartmouth class baseball team in 1870, and his hometown was listed as Lake City, MN. He made the second team in 1871, then became the regular 2B in 1872. His hometown was then listed as Saint Johnsbury, VT. George Harley was a member of the Delta Kappa fraternity while at Dartmouth. He became a lawyer in New York City, before passing away there on 5/27/1940. His parents were Joel and Zerviah Townsend (Meigs) Fletcher.

Could the George Fletcher on the 1872 Eckfords, be our boy George Harley Fletcher of the Dartmouth 1871-72 baseball team?

RESEARCH PROJECTS

We would like to hear about what research projects committee members are working on, and whether you would like to share the details of your project with other committee members. Also, we would like you to consider using the Committee as a source to exchange information and request assistance.

COLLEGE PLAYERS – 2003 MAJOR LEAGUE DEBUTS