Milt Drumm - France - 1918

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.

Bun Troy - France - 1918

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.

Welcome to the Baseball's Greatest Sacrifice Blog!

Thanks for dropping by. The Baseball's Greatest Sacrifice blog has been created to highlight stories that appear on my website www.baseballsgreatestsacrifice.com

I intend to feature biographies and stories of ballplayers who lost their lives while serving with the armed forces from the 1800s to the present day. Look out for the first blog entry over the next few days.