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Although the title of my first book prominently calls out a “Global Disaster”, referring to Dilbeck’s attempt to form a third Major League, this man was really a hero in many ways. I may have been a little harsh in…
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Happy Birthday to Steel Arm Tyler – Evansville’s Major League record holder
His nine victories with the Memphis Red Sox in 1925 are the most by a 17 year-old pitcher in Major League baseball history. https://www.seamheads.com/NegroLgs/player.php?playerID=tyler01ste Born in Evansville in 1907, he began his professional pitching career at the young age of…
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The Continuing Story of Wee Willie
My second book has gone to print, so I’m back with more of what didn’t make my first book (see Books section). I devoted a short piece in my first book to this young phenom, who pitched a no-hitter for…
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Black Ball in Evansville: Diamonds in the Shadows 1900-1960s.
Now Available. Don’t Miss It. While researching my first baseball in Evansville book I knew I had to write another on the subject. I urge baseball lovers to step up to the plate for another taste of baseball in the…
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Corky – The Long Road
Another in the winter series of basketball stars who played baseball in Evansville. This one is a little longer because there’s a lot to tell. As the 1956 season was nearing an end, a sports story started with a single…
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Ralph Beard – The Last At Bat
Another in a series of basketball stars who took to the diamond in Evansville. After St. Louis University won the 1948 NIT at Madison Square Garden, Ralph Beard and the Adolph Rupp-led Kentucky Wildcats captured the NCAA Championship at the…
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Hank Raymonds – Who Knew?
Third in a series of basketball stars who also played baseball in Evansville, following Frank Schwitz and Clarence Kraft. In March of 1948 the St. Louis University Billikens won the National Invitation Tournament college basketball crown at Madison Square Garden…
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Big Boy Kraft – The Wonder from the Y
Second in a series honoring players who went from the hardwood to the diamond, joining Frank Schwitz. A largely unknown story of baseball in 1910 featured an Evansville River Rat who went to bat just one time. It was what…
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Chuck Tanner – Evansville’s Ultimate One and Done Player
Local fans got literally the briefest glimpse possible of a future major league managerial star in late July 1946 when 17-year-old outfielder Charles “Chuck” Tanner took his place in the batter’s box at Bosse Field as an Evansville Brave. The…
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Charlie Dexter – Hero
In 1895, an Evansville boy, Charlie Dexter, returned to his hometown after studying two years at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. Charlie was drawn to theatrics and the stage at an early age and was frequently seen…
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Cotton – Fame by a Few Inches
The NCAA Division I Basketball Championship is over. So, this will be my final entry about Evansville baseball and prominent college basketball players. Charles Francis “Cotton” Nash was a Kentucky basketball legend along the lines of Corky Withrow, but unlike…
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Frank Schwitz – Coach
To kick off high school and college basketball season I’ll begin a series on minor leaguers who went from the hardwood to the diamond at Bosse Field. I’ll begin with a hometown boy, Frank Schwitz. The 18-year-old was signed right…
Baseball in Evansville
Stories From the Cutting Room Floor
