On this day, 70 years ago, Montana-born ballplayer, William Shepherd, was killed in action while serving with the army in the Pacific.
William J. Shepherd, the son of Mr. and Mrs. James J. Shepherd, was born in Helena, Montana on December 24, 1906. Shepherd, who attended Helena schools and graduated from Carroll College in 1925, was a star first baseman with Webster Cigars of the Helena City baseball league. He was described by the Helena Independent-Record as “one of the popular Sixth ward boys who helped keep athletics alive in Helena.”
Shepherd entered military service in 1941 and served in the Pacific with the 116th Medical Battalion of the 41st Infantry Division. Thirty-seven-year-old Private First Class Shepherd was killed in action on June 9, 1944, during the 41st Division's bloodiest engagement on the island of Biak, off New Guinea's coast.
He is buried at Resurrection Cemetery in Helena, Montana.
Milt Drumm played three seasons in the minors and batted .330 with the Kearney Kapitalists in 1914. On this day in 1918, he lost his life on a French battlefield.
Clarence Milton “Milt” Drumm was born on October 28, 1889 in Bigelow, Kansas, a town in Marshall County that was located six and a half miles southwest of Frankfort. It was demolished during the construction of Tuttle Creek Lake in the early 1960s.
Drumm was educated in the public schools of Irving, Kansas and Grand Island, Nebraska. He later taught in the Grand Island Business College for one year, after which he engaged in farming. But Drumm also pursued a career in professional baseball.
In 1910, he signed with the Chapman club of the Class D Central Kansas League - a team that managed just 18 wins against 62 losses and finished the season 34-and-a-half games out of first place. The 20-year-old outfielder batted .236 with 29 hits in 123 at-bats. The Chapman team did not return in 1911 (in fact, the Central Kansas League disbanded half way through the season), and Drumm joined the Falls City Colts of the Class D MINK League for his sophomore year as a minor leaguer. In 94 games Drumm batted .302 as the Colts (1910 league champs) finished just two games behind the pennant winning Humbolt Infants.
In 1912 he was signed by the MINK League's Nebraska City Forresters. Batting a league best .341 with 65 runs scored and 23 stolen bases, the 22-year-old (playing first base for the Forresters) led the team to the league title, their first since the league was formed in 1910, during which time the Forresters had been the circuit’s basement team both seasons.
In 1913, Drumm spent spring training with the Monmouth Browns of the Class D Central League, but when the season started he was with the Waterloo Jays of the same league. Despite moments of greatness, including driving in the winning run two consecutive days in July, he never really got going and batted a disappointing .203 in 74 games in leftfield. Nevertheless, Drumm bounced back in style in 1914 with the Kearney Kapitalists of the Class D Nebraska State League batting .330 (second best in the league).
Despite this great comeback that was the end of Drumm’s professional baseball career. He probably returned to farming before entering the Second Officers’ Training Camp at Fort Sheridan, Illinois in 1917. Upon receipt of his commission Second Lieutenant Drumm was ordered overseas, sailing in January 1918. Upon arrival in France he received further training at an AEF school before being assigned to Company K of the 28th Infantry Regiment, 1st Division.
On May 28, 1918, the 28th Infantry Regiment captured the village of Cantigny from the German 18th Army, but 2/Lt. Drumm, who fearlessly led his platoon through shell and machine-gun fire, lost his life in the battle. He was 28 years old and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for bravery.
Six McDonnell, who had played high school baseball in Abilene, Kansas with Dwight Eisenhower and pitched against Drumm in 1913 for the Beatrice Milkskimmers, mentioned the ballplayer’s death in a letter to his fiancée while stationed at Fort Riley in 1918. "I read in yesterday’s Star where my old pal Milt Drumm (you've heard me speak of him) was killed in action in France . . . He sure was a swell fellow, honey, a real human."
Drumm was survived by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. William M. Drumm, and a brother, C. E. Drumm. He is buried at Greenwood Cemetery in Marshall County, Kansas.
Len Glica, a shortstop, played four seasons in the Brooklyn Dodgers' farm system before entering military service with the army. He died on this day in Korea in 1951.
Leonard G. “Len” Glica, the son of Henry and Caroline Glica, was born in Omaha, Nebraska on October 8, 1928. He played baseball at South High School in Omaha and signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers organization following graduation in 1947.
The right-handed hitting shortstop-second baseman was assigned to the Abilene Blue Sox of the Class C West Texas-New Mexico League where he batted .252 his rookie year with eight home runs. In September, after the regular season had finished and he was back home in Omaha, Glica was recruited to play for the Omaha Pros against the Satchel Paige All-Stars at American legion Field in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The Pros beat Paige’s All-Stars, 4-3, in 12 innings. Glica, playing second base, was 1-for-5 against Paige and Larry Napoleon.
Back with the Blue Sox in 1948, Glica spent spring training at Vero Beach, Florida, under the watchful eyes of such Brooklyn tutors as Fresco Thompson, Andy High, George Sisler and Pepper Martin. He batted .259 with 81 RBIs during the season and proved to be a fan favourite for his all-out style of play.
Glica was advanced to the Newport News Dodgers of the Class B Piedmont League in 1949. After playing 10 games and batting .258, he joined the Lancaster Red Roses of the Class B Interstate League, batting .261 in 126 games with six home runs. He remained with the Red Roses in 1950 and batted .253 with a career-high 10 home runs. On July 9 he had led Lancaster’s hit parade against the Hagerstown Braves with successive home runs in the third and fifth innings and a double in the sixth for his three for five, as the Red Roses walloped the Braves, 17-3.
"If I can't make the majors or high minors I would like to play out my string in pro baseball with Abilene," he confided to his friends in Omaha. "They play good ball down there and treat the players like heroes."
But Glica never had the opportunity to return to Abilene. He entered military service on November 30, 1950. Serving as a private with the 21st Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division in Korea, he was killed in action on May 26, 1951 at Sanghongjong-ni, just four days after arriving in the war zone.
"Of the players whom I had the pleasure of associating with during my three years with the Abilene club,” Howard L. Green, former GM of the Blue Sox told the Abilene Reporter News after hearing of Glica’s death, “Len Glica and Joe Konitzki stand out as all-time favorites, not because of their playing talents altogether, but because of their character and devotion to the game of baseball. Both of them joined us during the 1947 season when the club was hopelessly out of the race but they hustled every inning as if a World Series were at stake. It was spirit like that which enabled us to average 1,200 [spectators per game] during the last three weeks of the season with nothing more to lure the customers than the promise of a ball game.
"Many of us thought they were headed for the majors. Joe may make it yet. He is now on the NDS list of the Minneapolis club in the American Association, having been drafted from the Dodger organization by the Giants [Konitzki peaked with 7 games for Minneapolis in 1950].
"If Len Glica isn't the first professional ball player killed in the Korean fighting, he is one of the first [he was, in fact, the second]. I think that the least that the Abilene club and their legion of wonderful supporters could do would be to set aside a night to the memory of Len Glica and to erect a memorial in the Abilene park in tribute to one of the finest competitors that ever represented Abilene in any sport. His life has ended far ahead of schedule, not through any fault of his, but the game of baseball will go on because of fellows like him who are called upon to fight so that we at home may continue to play.”
Len Glica is buried at Saint Johns Cemetery in Bellevue, Nebraska.
A star hurler at the University of Maryland, Springer played two seasons of minor league baseball before entering military service. His life ended on a battlefield in Germany in January 1945.
Earl V. "Lefty" Springer was one of 11 children born to Mr. and Mrs. Harry C. Springer in Hagerstown, Maryland. He was an excellent left-handed pitcher at Hagerstown High School, and also played with Sharpsburg and the Hagerstown Cabbies in the local Washington County League. In 1937, he enrolled at the University of Maryland, where he excelled at baseball and soccer. Playing for coach H. Burton Shipley, Springer blanked Dartmouth, 10-0, on April 7, and beat Georgetown, 4-0, with a one-hitter to finish the season with an 8-1 record. But the highlight of the year was his no-hitter against Rutgers on April 1, 1939. "Zipping his fireball through the murky air with electrifying force," announced the Washington Post the following day, "and mixing with it a hook which darted in and around enemy bats with snakelike effect ... Earl Springer ... pitched a fiveinning, no-hit, no-run game yesterday as Maryland blanked Rutgers, 3-0.
In 1940, his senior year, he beat Duke, 6-1, giving up two hits, and hurled one-hitters against William & Mary and George Washington University. Keeping a close eye on Springer throughout the season was former major league infielder Fritz Maisel, who, in 1940, was a club director with the Baltimore Orioles of the Class AA International League. Springer pitched against the Orioles for the University of Maryland, and on several occasions during the early part of the season he went to Oriole Park to workout and talk to manager Tommy Thomas. "All of our players said Springer had plenty on the ball and was tough to hit," declared Thomas. "Pitchers, especially southpaws, with promise aren't easy to pick up these days, but I think Earl has a real chance of going places."
On May 27, 1940, Springer was signed by the Orioles and made 18 appearances over the season for a 1-2 record and 4.28 ERA. In 1941, he got off to a poor start, and on June 24, the Orioles optioned the 22-year-old to his hometown Hagerstown Owls of the Class B Interstate League. Springer helped the Owls to a second-place finish with a 5-8 record and 2.91 ERA in 14 appearances, and struck out 67 in 99 innings.
On January 15, 1942, Springer entered military service with the Army. He trained at Fort Knox, Kentucky, with the 7th Armored Infantry Battalion, 8th Armored Division, which later moved to Camp Polk, Louisiana. Sergeant Springer pitched a number of games for the division baseball team at Camp Polk, where one of his teammates was Emmett "Heinie" Mueller of the Philadelphia Phillies. In October 1944, the 8th Armored Division left Louisiana for Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, staging camp for troops being deployed to Europe. The division sailed on November 7, and arrived in England on November 22. They encamped at Tidworth Barracks and began six weeks of preparation for combat in Europe.
The division arrived in France at the beginning of 1945. In freezing winter conditions it advanced to Pont-a-Mousson in northeast France, arriving on January 12. After dark, on January 24, 1945, the 7th Armored Infantry Battalion moved north to its assembly point at Besch, Germany, in preparation for the next day's attack at Nennig. At 5:50 A.M. on January 25, the battalion launched an attack against strong enemy resistance. Springer was with Company B which attacked in M3 armor-plated half-track vehicles and suffered heavy casualties including the death of the company commander, Captain Grover Hermann, and the division's pitching ace, Sergeant Earl Springer.
Springer was buried at the Luxembourg American Cemetery, where, since 1945, local resident, Jean Folschette, has carried flowers to the grave of the man he never knew. Folschette "adopted" Springer's grave as an expression of gratitude to American soldiers who liberated his homeland from the grip of the Nazis. Folschette has corresponded with the Springer family for many years and regularly sends photos of the newly decorated grave. He has always refused offers from the family to pay for the flowers.
Bill Stearns was a veteran of the American Civil War, a pitcher in the first professional baseball league and a volunteer during the Spanish-American War where he met his fate.
William E. “Bill” Stearns was born on March 20, 1853 in Washington, DC. Despite being only 12 years old at the end of the American Civil War, he served in that conflict in some capacity. Thousands of boys and girls participated in the Civil War as drummers, messengers, hospital orderlies, and often as fully fledged soldiers. They carried canteens, bandages, and stretchers, and assisted surgeons and nurses. Exactly what Stearns role was I do not know, but as a member of the Grand Army of the Republic (a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the American Civil War), he certainly was involved.
The American Civil War had ended six years earlier and baseball was still very much in its infancy when the National Association was founded in 1871. This was the era of Al Spalding and Harry Wright. Bill Stearns, just 18 years old, pitched for the Washington Olympics that year. He only made two appearances (Asa Brainard pitched the other 30 games the Olympics played that season) but won them both, beating Cleveland 16-3 on June 26 and Chicago 13-8 on June 30.
In 1872, he pitched for the National Association’s Washington Nationals, completing all 11 of the team’s games and losing them all. In 1873, with the Washington Blue Legs he managed 7 wins but this was eclipsed with 25 losses. He spent 1874 with the Hartford Dark Blues and was 3-14, then posted a 1-14 record with the Washington Nationals in 1875 – the last year of the National Association.
The National League replaced the National Association in 1876 and Stearns was never seen again in professional baseball. He finished his career with a 13-64 won-loss record and 4.28 ERA in 84 games.
More than 20 years later, 45-year-old Bill Stearns volunteered for military service with the outbreak of the Spanish-American War in 1898. He served as a private with Company H, First District of Columbia Volunteers; a provisional engineering unit that trained in military engineering procedures for the Puerto Rico expedition. They engaged in drills with pontoon trains, building bridge piers, building rafts, and loading and unloading field artillery onto rafts and boats.
On July 11, 1898, Company H boarded the transport ship Lampasas, and embarked for Key West, where they engaged in target practice. Guantanamo was the next stop where they built and dismantled piers, and loaded materials. They arrived in Guanica Harbor, Puerto Rico on July 25, and at the request of Commander Wainwright of the USS Gloucester, disembarked into the town, with a detachment of artillery, to clear the vicinity of Spanish troops. This was the first landing of the US Army in Puerto Rico. During the passage to the shore from the ship, the battalion was warned to be prepared to come under fire from the Spanish. The town was occupied by 300 Spanish troops and a skirmish line was formed and advanced, causing the Spanish troops to flee. The Americans then established outposts on the range of hills overlooking the bay. Company H, under command of Captain Looker, remained at Guanica, where the engineers constructed piers and roads, and landed the engineering stores of the expedition.
Stearns became ill during his time in Puerto Rico and was excused from all but light duties. One account referred to it as “poisoning of his stomach.”
On September 16, 1898, three weeks after arriving in Puerto Rico, Company H arrived back in United States aboard the transport Alamo. The three day voyage had been almost unbearable for the 500 men aboard, which certainly would have been difficult for an already ailing Bill Stearns. Apart from severe overcrowding and virtually inedible food, they encountered severe storms along the way.
Bill Stearns never recovered from his illness. In late December 1898, his conditioned worsened at his home in Washington, DC, and he died on December 30. His funeral was held on January 1, 1899, with Captain Looker and many men from Company H in attendance. As a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, a large number of his former Civil War comrades were also present. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.
While more than 500 ballplayers have lost their lives in military service not all have been isolated incidents. On a number of occasions, a military baseball team, usually in transit from one place to another, has suffered fatalities. Here is the fourth of a seven part series describing some of these tragedies.
Army Truck Hits Train in Belgium - 1945
Following the German surrender in May 1945, military baseball teams travelled across Europe entertaining troops. It was while traveling with the Army team near Brussels in Belgium that tragedy struck. The ball team was riding in the back of an Army truck when it struck a train. Among the injured was former minor league outfielder Sgt. Eugene L. Dellinger. Dellinger was badly burned and evacuated to the Veterans Hospital in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He was transferred to the Northington General Hospital before succumbing to his injuries on January 31, 1946.
Robert "Bun" Troy was born in Germany and made just one appearance in the major leagues in 1912. Six years later he was on the battlefields of France, fighting and dying against the people from the country of his birth.
Robert G. “Bun” Troy, the son of Mr. and Mrs. August Troy, was born on August 27, 1888 in Wurzach (now Bad Wurzach), a small town in southern Germany. He grew up in McDonald, Pennsylvania, about 20 miles southwest of Pittsburgh. Pitching for the Knoxville County team in 1909, Troy had a tryout with the Philadelphia Phillies at the end of the season and was signed in October. For 1910, he was sent to the Johnstown Johnnies of the Class B Tri-State League but, despite winning his only game, he was released. "He had the speed and curves," explained the Sporting Life, "but lacked control, and acted too much like an amateur on the ball field." He returned to the Knoxville team before signing later in the year with the McKeesport Tubers of the Class C Ohio-Pennsylvania League.
At 6-foot-4, and probably the tallest player in the league, Troy had an unmemorable rookie campaign with the Tubers; in 17 games he had 6 wins against 8 losses. McKeesport didn’t field a team for 1911 and Troy, together with six other players, was sold to the Wheeling Stogies of the Class B Central League. He didn’t stay long in Wheeling and returned to the Ohio-Pennsylvania League with the Steubenville Stubs for a second forgettable season. In 20 appearances he again had 6 wins but this time suffered 11 defeats.
In 1912, 23-year-old Troy joined the Adrian Lions of the Class D Southern Michigan League and truly showed his ability as a pitcher. In 43 games he led the league with a 23-14 record (he also led the league with 268 strikeouts), helping the Lions clinch the league title. Detroit Tigers’ owner Frank Navin, who hailed from Adrian, had been keeping an eye on Troy and when the Lions’ season ended he bought Troy’s contract and called him up to Detroit.
On September 15, 1912, Robert Troy made his one and only major league appearance, starting for the Tigers against Washington. A good crowd was on hand at Detroit’s Navin Field that afternoon to see the great Walter Johnson of Washington whose record 16-game winning streak had been snapped a few days earlier. With 25-year-old Ty Cobb in centerfield for the Tigers, Troy matched Johnson pitch-for-pitch and shutout the Senators for six innings, protecting a 3-0 lead. But in the seventh inning he got in trouble. Against Troy and Ed Willett – helped by some sloppy fielding - six runs were put across before the inning was over and the game was called after eight innings because of darkness with the Senators up, 6-3 (Cobb, who batted .409 that season, was 0-for-3 on the day).
Hugely disappointed with losing his first big league start, attributing much of the blame to poor support during crucial innings, he jumped the team and returned home to McDonald.
Troy was assigned to the Chattanooga Lookouts of the Southern Association for 1913, who, in turn returned him to Adrian in the Southern Michigan League, where he enjoyed another outstanding season. Again he won 23 games in 43 appearances as the Lions finished in second place behind the Battle Creek Crickets.
In 1914, the 25-year-old was with the Pittsfield Electrics of the Class B Eastern Association where he was 19-13 in 36 games, leading the league with 212 strikeouts. That was Troy’s last season in organized baseball. He signed with Pittsfield for 1915, but the league didn’t make it to opening day. There are reports of Troy pitching semi-pro baseball for Worcester, Johnstown, Canonsburg and McKeesport over the next two seasons.
By 1917, Troy was in military service. As an army sergeant with the 80th Division he served in France, fighting against men from the country of his birth. He was fatally shot in the chest on the battlefield during the Meuse Argonne campaign. He died on October 7, 1918 at Evacuation Hospital Eight, a mobile hospital which, at the time was located in an area referred to as Petit Maujouy, midway between the hamlets of Ancemont and Senoncourt, six miles southeast of Verdun.
Sergeant Robert Troy was buried in France but his body was returned to the United States in 1921. Together with the remains of two other soldiers, he arrived in Monessen, Pennsylvania on August 5 and was transported to McDonald where his funeral was held at the First Presbyterian Church, followed by burial at Robinson's Run Cemetery in McDonald.
Jim Ferguson was a 6-foot-6 right-hander who pitched just a handful of games in the minors before military service intervened. Ambushed by North Korean forces, his body has never been recovered.
James T. Ferguson and his twin sister, Joan, were born in Seattle, Washington on April 26, 1931. The son of Mr. and Mrs. James W. Ferguson, he attended West Seattle High School where he was outstanding in baseball and football, and all-city in basketball. Ferguson graduated in 1950 and was signed by New York Giants’ scout Dutch Reuther on June 11th of that year. He was originally assigned to the Idaho Falls Russets of the Class C Pioneer League but did not play and joined the Lawton Giants of the Class D Sooner State League. Under the watchful eye of former major league infielder Louis Brower, the 6-foot-6, 195-pound, right-hander made five appearances for the Giants. What may well have been his professional debut on July 2, was a humiliating 32-9 loss to the Ada Herefords, in which Ferguson was ejected from the game with two out in the first inning for arguing with the plate umpire. He also made a relief appearance against the Chickasha Chiefs on July 18, a complete game loss against Chickasha on July 23 and hurled the first inning of a 34-16 revenge win over Ada on August 30. Whilst exact pitching records for Ferguson are unavailable, I estimate he finished the year with a 0-2 won-loss record.
Ferguson was due to report to the Idaho Falls Russets for spring training in 1951, but was called for military service on January 18. Assigned by the army to Fort Lawton, near his home in Seattle, he pitched the camp baseball team to 16 straight victories during the summer.
Ferguson arrived in Korea in October 1951 and served with Company E, 2nd Battalion, 160th Infantry Regiment of the 40th Infantry Division. On June 17, 1952, only three weeks before he was to have been rotated home, Corporal Ferguson was with a patrol in Kumsong that was ambushed by North Korean forces. He was listed as Missing in Action and presumed dead on January 27, 1954. The 21-year-old’s remains were never recovered.
On May 8, 1954, Colonel Bernard A. Tormey, commanding officer at Fort Lawton, presented James W. Ferguson with his son’s Silver Star for extreme gallantry. Ferguson was also awarded the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantryman's Badge, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal. James Ferguson’s name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.
