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In
1904, Davy Jones played 98 games for the Chicago Cubs. Pictured
here is a dapper 24-year-old Jones posing near the West Side Grounds grandstand.
Before the Cubs moved to Weeghman Park (now called Wrigley Field) they
played here. From 1906 to 1912, Jones was a fixture in the Detroit Tigers
outfield. Before embarking on a successful Major League career, he played
for the Rockford Red Sox in the Three Eye's inaugural 1901 season. Jones
is profiled on the Players page. |
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During
the 1905 season, Three Eye veteran Claude Elliott pitched for the
World Champion New York Giants. Under the direction of legendary New York
Giants skipper John McGraw, Elliott became one of the first relief specialists
in big league history. In 8 appearances as "rescue pitcher," he saved 6
games, finishing with a 2.88 ERA in 25 innings of relief work. In the inaugural
Three-I League season of 1901, Elliott led the circuit in strikeouts (297),
ERA (3.13), and games (40, tied with Eugene McGreevy of Bloomington) while
winning 26 and losing 11. His strikeout total stands as the league's all-time
best. |
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A
Daily News photographer captured a sullen-looking Lou Fiene
at South Side Park (the forerunner to Comiskey Park) during the 1905 season.
Fiene, a righthanded pitcher known as "Big Finn," did not make an official
appearance that year. From 1906 through 1909, he appeared in 26 games for
the White Sox. Although he finished his big league career with 3 wins and
8 losses, he completed 7 of his 10 career starts. In 1904, Fiene, then
pitching for the Cedar Rapids Rabbits, led the Three-I League in victories
(23) and ERA (2.45). After the Majors, Fiene enjoyed some success in the
American Association with Minneapolis, Toledo, and Kansas City. In the
A.A. he also played a little first base and outfield. |
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In
1905, Joe "Iron Man" McGinnity won 21 and lost 15 for the World
Series champion New York Giants. He is pictured here at the West Side Grounds.
After his big league career, McGinnity played 12 full seasons in the minors,
including a brief stop with the 1922 Danville Veterans (see the Cooperstown
page for details). His first minor league career predates the Three Eye.
In 1898, McGinnity won 10 and lost 3 for the semi-pro Peoria Distillers. |
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This
photograph shows Pirates righthander Howie Camnitz warming up at
the old West Side Grounds during the 1910 season. The year before, "The
Kentucky Rosebud" (as Camnitz was called) won 25 and lost 6 as Pittsburgh
claimed its first World Series crown in franchise history. His final two
years in the Majors were spent with the Pittsburgh Rebels of the Federal
League. Camnitz finished his big league career with 133 wins and a 2.75
ERA. In 1904, the Pirates loaned their promising prospect to the Springfield
Hustlers of the Three-I League. He appeared in 19 games for Frank Donnelly's
pennant winning club, finishing with a .737 winning percentage. |
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This
1911 Chicago Daily News photograph shows Mordecai "Three Finger"
Brown warming up at the Cubs West Side Grounds. Ten years earlier,
Brown pitched for Terre Haute, winning 23 and losing 8. After a long and
productive big league career (239-129 with a 2.81 ERA), he returned to
the Illinois-Indiana- Iowa League as player-manager for his former team.
In 1919 and 1920, Brown appeared in 46 games, winning 20 and losing 12.
Despite his efforts on the field, Terre Haute (renamed the Browns during
his managerial tenure) struggled, finishing a combined 39 games below .500
over two seasons. |
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In
1883, a corn shredder severed Mordecai Brown's right index finger.
Shortly thereafter, a second injury left two other fingers permanently
misshapen. With his hand held up against a dark metal beam, one can see
the crooked middle finger and the malformed pinky. In 1915, a Chicago
Daily News photographer took this picture at Weeghman Park (now called
Wrigley Field). By releasing the ball off his mangled fingers, "Three Finger"
added a wicked spin to his repertoire of pitches. In 1949, the Committee
on Baseball Veterans elected Brown to the Baseball Hall of Fame. |
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Jim
Bluejacket (born James Smith) poses for a Chicago Daily News
photographer in 1914. That season, Bluejacket pitched for Brooklyn of the
financially precarious Federal League. The Tip-Tops were in Chicago for
a series against the hometown Chi-Feds. In two seasons with Brooklyn and
one with the Cincinnati Reds, Bluejacket finished his brief big league
career with 14 wins and 17 losses. In 44 appearances (30 starts, 13 complete
games, and 3 shutouts) he finished with a 3.46 ERA. The year before this
photograph was taken, Bluejacket played for Bloomington of the Three-I
League. That season, the righthander led the Class B circuit with 23 wins
and 189 strikeouts. The Bloomers won 65 and lost 71, finishing the year
in seventh place. |
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Harold
Irelan's big league career consisted of 67 games (44 at second base)
for the 1914 Phillies. He's seen here at Chicago's old West Side Grounds.
In 165 plate appearances, he batted. 236 with 16 RBI and 3 stolen bases.
The previous season, Irelan (no "d" at the end of the name) played for
the Sacramento Salons of the Pacific Coast League. As a utility infielder,
he appeared in 121 games, batting .264 with 15 stolen bases. He spent the
1911 season with the Hopkinsville Hoppers of the Class D Kitty (Kentucky-Illinois-
Tennessee) League. In the 1920s, Irelan managed the Decatur Commodores
and the Quincy Indians of the Three-I League. He was one of four managers
for the 1924 Decatur club and he led the Commies for the entire 1926 and
1927 seasons. In 1928, he served as Quincy's skipper during the second
half of the split season. In 1926, the Commodores finished 69-67 in what
proved to be Irelan's only winning season in the Three Eye. |
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Chicago
White Sox manager Clarence "Pants" Rowland (right) is seen shaking
hands with an unidentified baseball manager in this 1915 Daily News
photograph. The previous year, Rowland was skipper of the Three-I League's
Peoria Distillers. Rowland also managed the Class B loop's Dubuque franchise
in 1903, 1908, and 1911-1913. Chicago newspapers were quick to criticize
magnate Charles A. Comiskey for bringing in an untested "busher" to manage
his high-profile A.L. club, and Rowland never earned the respect of veteran
players. Still, the Pale Hose defeated John McGraw's New York Giants in
the 1917 World Series. Rowland was let go after a disappointing sixth-place
finish the following season. |
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Giants
first baseman Walter Holke poses for the camera in this 1917 Daily
News photograph. He is standing in foul territory at Weeghman (now
Wrigley) Field. During his 11-year tour of the Majors, Holke also played
for the Braves, Phillies, and Reds. He retired with 1,278 hits, 487 RBI,
and a .287 batting average. Holke's association with the Illinois-Indiana-Iowa
League included stints as player and manager. In 1912, he played for the
Peoria Tractors, leading all Three Eye first baseman in putouts. After
his Major League career, he returned to the Class B loop and managed for
six years (two each in Quincy, Terre Haute, and Springfield), finishing
with a combined 334-285 (.540) record. Holke's 1929 Quincy Indians and
1932 Terre Haute Tots were crowned champions. |
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In
1937, Ben Tincup, a full-blooded Cherokee from Oklahoma, managed
the Three-I League's Peoria franchise. The Reds finished the season with
46 wins and 65 losses. The year before, Tincup managed Paducah of the Class
D Kitty League. During his lengthy association with baseball, he also acted
as pitching coach and scout for the New York Yankees, Pittsburgh Pirates,
St. Louis Browns, and Philadelphia Phillies. Tincup is pictured here in
1918, in the third year of his short-lived big league playing career. That
season he appeared in 8 games for the Phillies, finishing with 1 loss in
16-plus innings. |
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Chicago
Cubs shortstop Charlie Hollocher rounds third base in this 1919
photograph taken at Weeghman (Wrigley) Field. In 1916, Hollocher and Bob
O'Farrell played for the Peoria Distillers of the Three-I League. After
a year in the Pacific Coast League, "Holly" served as the Cubs shortstop
for parts of seven seasons. A mysterious stomach ailment first interrupted
and then ended his once-promising career. In 1922, his last full season,
he batted .340 with 201 hits and 37 doubles. In 592 at-bats, he struck
out only 5 times. After an abbreviated 1924 season, he ended his career
in self-imposed exile. On August 14, 1940, Charlie Hollocher committed
suicide. |
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In
1915, the Chicago Cubs signed 18-year-old Bob O'Farrell to a big
league contract. After riding the bench for parts of two seasons, he received
seasoning in the Three-I League. O'Farrell played two seasons for the Peoria
Distillers (1916 and 1917) before returning to the Cubs. By the mid-1920s
he was recognized as one of the finest catchers in the Major Leagues. This
informal half-length portrait dates to 1921 and shows a 24-year-old O'Farrell
sitting in a Weeghman Field dugout. In 1926, he earned National League
MVP honors for the World Series Champion St. Louis Cardinals. After his
big league career, O'Farrell returned to the Three Eye to manage the Bloomington
franchise. In 1938, the Bloomers won 56 and lost 65, finishing a disappointing
seventh in the eight-team circuit. |
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After
a 19-year big league career, Burleigh "Ol' Stubblebeard" Grimes
acted as player-manager for the 1935 Bloomington Bloomers. In his only
Three Eye season, he led the Bloomers to the league pennant, winning 10
of his last 15 decisions. In this 1921 photograph, Grimes, then playing
for the Brooklyn Robins, poses on the Cubs Weeghman Field. That season,
he won 22 and lost 13 in 37 games. He completed 30 of 35 starts and finished
the year with a 2.83 ERA. In 1964, Grimes received the call from the Baseball
Hall of Fame. |
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Bob
Fothergill poses in front of the Comiskey Park grandstand during his
1922 rookie season with Detroit. In 42 games, he batted .322 with 49 hits,
12 doubles, 4 triples, and 29 RBI. In the 1920s, the portly Fothergill
served as outfielder and pinch hitter for the Tigers. During his productive
big league career, he tallied 1,064 hits and 582 RBI. He also batted .325
lifetime despite a playing weight frequently exceeding 260 pounds. In 1920,
Fothergill, playing for Bloomington, led the Three-I League in at-bats
(542), hits (180), total bases (261), triples (15), RBIs (116), and batting
average (.332). The Bloomers won 82 and lost 57 en route to their second
consecutive pennant. |
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Bat
in hand, Indians second baseman Bill Wambsganss poses for a Daily
News photographer in 1922. Wamby (as he was listed in box scores and
newspaper write ups) played 13 seasons in the big leagues, all but three
with Cleveland. In the fifth game of the 1920 World Series, he completed
the only unassisted triple play in post-season history. After hanging up
his gloves, Wambsganss managed the 1931 Springfield Senators of the Three-I
League. Springfield finished the split-season atop the standings but lost
the post-season playoff to the Quincy Indians. In the 1940s, he managed
the Fort Wayne Daises and the Muskegon Lassies of the All-American Girls
Baseball League. |
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White
Sox outfielder Johnny Mostil poses for a Daily News photographer
during the 1923 season. At this time, Mostil was one of the better outfielders
in the American League. In 1923, he appeared in 153 games, batting .291
with 159 hits, 37 doubles, and 15 triples. His 41 stolen bases ranked second
best in the A.L. In March 1927, Mostil attempted suicide (13 self-inflicted
razor cuts to his wrist, neck, and arms) at a Shreveport, Louisiana hotel.
Although he eventually recovered, he was never the same ballplayer. In
1941, he replaced Jim Brewer as skipper of the White Sox Three-I League
affiliate in Waterloo. He led the White Hawks in 1942 and 1946 (the league
suspended play from 1943 through 1945), and in 1947 the front office replaced
him with "Happy Jack" Onslow. |
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During
the 1925 season, Connie Mack, manager of the Philadelphia Athletics,
and his son, coach Earle Mack, posed for a photograph at Comiskey
Park. From 1920 through 1922, Earle acted as player-manager for Moline
of the Three-I League. In 1921, the Plowboys captured the pennant with
a 78-55 record. In 1920 and 1921, Mack led Three Eye first baseman in assists.
He finished his three-year tenure in Moline with 196 wins and 214 losses.
Earle Mack's minor league managerial career included stops in the North
Carolina State League and the Blue Ridge League. He returned to Philadelphia
in 1924 and served as his father's longtime assistant manager. Of Connie
Mack's three sons, Earle was the only one to play in the big leagues. Between
1910 and 1914, he appeared in 5 late seasons game for his father's Athletics. |
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Utility
infielder Mike Gazella is seen standing at third base during the
1926 season. Gazella's Yankees were at Comiskey Park for a series against
the hometown White Sox. That season he appeared in 66 games (45 at third
and 11 at short) as the Miller Huggins-led Yankees captured the A.L. pennant.
From 1937 through 1940, Gazella managed the Moline Plowboys of the Three-I
League. In 1937, the Plowboys finished with the circuit's best record (74-41),
and then defeated the Clinton Owls in the post-season playoff 4 games to
2. After finishing the next year 67-49 and qualifying for the league playoffs,
Gazella's teams stumbled to consecutive seventh-place finishes. He ended
his Three Eye managerial career with 236 wins and 251 losses (.485). |
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Clyde
Sukeforth, a backstop for the 1928 Cincinnati Reds, poses for the camera
at Wrigley Field. He served primarily as a supporting player in Cincinnati
and Brooklyn, and only once (in 1931) did he appear in more than 100 games
in a season. In 1937, Sukeforth managed the Clinton Owls of the Three-I
League. The Owls (62-44) and the pennant-wining Moline Plowboys (74-41)
were the only two clubs to finish league play above .500. Sukeforth later
served as the longtime coach and scout for the Dodgers. In 1945, on special
assignment for Branch Rickey, he traveled to Chicago to interview Jackie
Robinson (the Kansas City Monarchs were in the Windy City to play the Lincoln
Giants). The two men talked for several hours and Robinson followed Sukeforth
back to New York to meet Rickey. As luck would have it, Sukeforth was acting
as Brooklyn's interim manager when Robinson made his Major League debut
on April 15, 1947. |
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Although
Elmer Yoter's Major League appearances were short-lived and unremarkable,
he enjoyed a long and productive minor league career. In 1928, Yoter, playing
for the Cubs, posed for a Daily News photographer. He appeared in
only 1 big league game that year. He spent most of the 1928 season with
the Minneapolis Millers of the American Association. The year before, he
played in 13 games (11 at third base) for the Cubs. Previously, he had
a cup of coffee with both the Athletics (3 games in 1921) and the Indians
(19 games in 1924). In 1929 and 1930, he played solid ball in the American
Association, though he never returned to the Major Leagues. Yoter managed
for one season in the Three Eye. In 1932, Yoter's Danville Veterans finished
the first half of the season with 27 wins and 30 losses. On July 11, Decatur
and Springfield folded, and the following day Danville shifted operations
to Springfield. It didn't matter, because the league disbanded on July
15, unable to remain afloat during the grim early years of the Great Depression. |
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Ossie
Bluege of the Washington Senators takes a practice cut at Comiskey
Park during the 1929 season. During the 1930s, the Chicago native was one
of the sharpest fielding third baseman in baseball. He retired in 1938
having played his entire career (1922-1939) for Clark Griffith's Nationals.
After hanging up his glove, he acted as Washington's coach (1940-1942),
manager (1943-1947), and farm director (1948-1956). He then served as the
organization's comptroller (1957-1971) during the move to Minnesota. Bluege
played for the Peoria Tractors of the Three-I League in 1920 and 1921 before
he was signed by Washington scout Joe Engel. In his last Three Eye season,
he batted .293 in 140 games. The Tractors won 70 and lost 69, finishing
the season in fourth place, 11 games behind pennant winning Moline. |
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This
1929 photograph captures White Sox righthander Red Faber (inducted
into the Hall of Fame in 1964) during spring training in Dallas, Texas.
That season, Faber went 13-13 with a 3.88 ERA for seventh-place Chicago.
He finished his career with 254 wins and 213 losses, remarkable totals
when one considers that the White Sox were a second-division club for most
of his career. In 1909 and 1910, Faber pitched for the Dubuque Dubs of
the Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League. The Dubs struggled both years with consecutive
sixth-place finishes. In his second year of Class B ball, Faber won 18
and lost 19 with 200 strikeouts and a 2.03 ERA. On August 18, 1910, he
threw a perfect game against the Davenport Prodigals. |
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A
26-year-old Carl Hubbell pauses for the camera during the 1929 season.
The Wrigley Field grandstand looms in the background. In only his second
year in the big leagues, the lefthander went 18-11, completing 19 of his
35 starts with a 3.69 ERA. "King Carl" was one of the greatest pitchers
of the 1930s, winning 20 or more games from 1933 through 1937. He finished
with 253 career wins, all with the New York Giants. Two years before this
picture was taken, Hubbell pitched for the Decatur Commies. During his
season in the Three Eye, he won 14 and lost 7 with 76 strikeouts in 185
innings of work. He received the call from Cooperstown in 1947. |
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In
1929, a Daily News photographer captured a 24-year-old Chuck
Klein at Wrigley Field. Though the outfielder was in his first full
season of big league ball, he was already putting up prodigious offensive
numbers. In 146 games for the Phillies, he recorded 219 hits, 45 doubles,
43 home runs, and 145 RBI. The next year he would drive in a remarkable
170 runs. In 1927, Klein played for the Evansville Hubs of the Three Eye.
He batted .327 over 14 games before an ankle injury cut short his first
professional season. The future hall of famer split the following year
between Fort Wayne of the Class B Central League and the Philadelphia Phillies. |
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Charlie
"Chinski" Root of the Cubs relaxes for a Daily News photographer
during the 1929 season. Root had good reason to smile. The righthander
was enjoying one of the finest seasons of his productive career. He won
19 (second best in the N.L.) and lost 6 for the pennant-winning Northsiders.
His 3.47 ERA was the third best in the senior circuit. Root finished his
big league career with 201 career wins and a lifetime 3.59 ERA. More than
60 years later, he remains the only Cubs pitcher with more than 200 wins.
He then extended his baseball career as a player-manager for the Hollywood
Stars of the Pacific Coast League. Root spent two years (1921 and 1922)
in Terre Haute of the Class B Three-I League. In 1922, his 16-14 record
included a no-hitter. |
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In
1930, a Daily News photographer snapped a picture of Neal "Mickey"
Finn tossing a ball at Wrigley Field. That season, the 26-year-old
Finn appeared in 87 games (81 at second base) for Brooklyn, batting .278.
In 1923, his first season of professional baseball, he appeared in 112
games for the Bloomington Bloomers. After one more year of low minors,
Finn spent five seasons in the highly regarded Pacific Coast League. After
three seasons in Brooklyn, he was sent to the Phillies. During the 1933
season, he complained of stomach pains and died in July after undergoing
an operation in Allentown, Pennsylvania. He was 29-years old. |
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