Ralph Works

The idiosyncratic Ralph Works produced a memorable, if not very successful, baseball career. After a promising major-league debut with Detroit in 1909, he proved a “persistent in-and-outer” with the Tigers over the next several seasons, never consistently successful and often clashing with manager Hughie Jennings.1 A long, restless denouement followed, with Works on the move for almost a decade. In the early 1920s, he finally left baseball and settled down, living a seemingly comfortable and serene life in Southern California. In August 1941, this existence came to a sudden, violent end.

Ralph Talmadge Works was born on March 16, 1888, in Payson, Illinois. He was the youngest of Perry and Lavina (née Cunningham) Works’s four children. The family farmed. After completing several years of high school, Ralph abruptly left home one day, without a word of his plans.2

By 1906 he was pitching, as one of a handful of men, on a Bloomer Girls’ team.3 He came to the attention of the Peoria Distillers, who signed him for the following season.4 Works pitched for the Class B Distillers in April 1907, demonstrating promise but also wildness. Jack Benny, leading his Medicine Hat team through the Midwest on a spring training sweep, saw Works in action and struck terms with Peoria for his release.5

Medicine Hat belonged to the Class D Western Canada League, “commonly styled the ‘Twilight League,’ owing to the fact that during the entire season the games were played after 6 o’clock in the evening.”6 Works emerged as a prime attraction on the Canadian prairies, a right-hander standing 6-foot-2 and weighing 185 pounds “whose only fault is wildness.”7 “He has a most amazing delivery,” a Calgary sportswriter noted, “He throws up the ball as if he was a human derrick, and every time he started the swing the fans could not resist giving ‘yo-heave-yo’ in unison.”8 In the pennant race’s final stretch, Works pitched each of the Hatters’ final five games, winning four, with another resulting in a tie.9 Medicine Hat captured the flag with a 58-32 record. Works went 26-11.

Syracuse of the Class B New York State League drafted Works from Medicine Hat. He again proved a workhorse, going 21-17 as the Stars finished fourth in the 1908 standings. “The big fellow surely has some nice curves and a barrel of speed,” an Albany admirer stated.10 Yet a Syracuse paper, while admiring his “dash and ginger,” thought “he loses his nerve” under duress.11 On August 7, Detroit purchased him from the Stars.12 As the Tigers took down the pennant in a thrilling race that fall, they had no need for Works.

At the Tigers’ San Antonio spring training camp in 1909, Works initially impressed reporters as a grinning, over-eager rube.13 Veteran players commandeered the room he shared with fellow rookie Kid Speer for nightly poker games, forcing the pair to sleep in the lobby.14 Works endured the hazing in good cheer, while sassing opponents such as Browns manager Jimmy McAleer.15 Plus he pitched well — including five innings of shutout ball against Walter Johnson and the Senators.16 “Works is a hit,” Detroit beat writer Joe S. Jackson declared, “because of his earnestness, grit and willingness to learn.”17

Yet a quintet of returning starters — Ed Summers, George Mullin, Bill Donovan, Ed Willett, and Ed Killian — were locked into place. “If I don’t land this time,” Works said of his odds of sticking, “I’ll be up again, and I’ll come back with stuff that will make them hold me.”18 Detroit placed him on waivers in late April, only to quickly withdraw his name, promising him a chance as Donovan and Killian battled early-season injuries.19

The opportunity came on May 1, as the Tigers hosted the Browns. On a “bitterly cold” afternoon, with a “knife-like wind” and the game twice stopped due to blinding snow squalls, Works “made good on his touting as a twirler with absolute confidence in himself.”20 Although he allowed 11 hits, and shortstop Donie Bush committed three errors behind him, Works led Detroit to a 5-2 victory.

Despite the gutsy debut, Jennings favored his veterans and kept Works on the bench. At the end of May, he again sought to send Works down for more minor-league seasoning. But the Boston Doves claimed Works when he was waived, and Jennings reeled him back in.21 On June 26, as the first-place Tigers prepared to battle the last-place Browns in St. Louis, Donovan was laid low with a queasy stomach. Works had just had four teeth pulled but eagerly seized the opportunity.22 He shut down the Browns for eight innings before tiring in the ninth en route to a 6-2 victory.

Jennings thereafter made greater use of the rookie. Catcher Charley Schmidt thought that Works possessed one of the American League’s best fastballs.23 But he struggled to develop off-speed pitches and his modified delivery, a corkscrew-like effort with “wiggles and twists and hitches,” remained cumbersome.24 Works finished the campaign with a 4-1 record, two saves, and an ERA+ of 129 in 64 innings. Detroit clinched their third straight pennant, finishing 3½ games ahead of Philadelphia with a 98-54 mark.

After being routed by the Cubs in the previous two World Series, the Tigers faced the Pirates for the 1909 Championship. After splitting the first two games in Pittsburgh, the teams played Game Three in Detroit on October 11. Summers started and was knocked out of the box in the first inning. Willett relieved him and pitched well, allowing three hits and one unearned run, but trailed, 6-0, as Detroit came to bat in the bottom of the seventh. The Tigers rallied and, after pushing a run across, had men at first and second with one out as Willett’s place in the order came up. Jennings had Matty McIntyre pinch hit. Nick Maddox fanned him, but Detroit scored three more runs.

Now down, 6-4, Jennings placed Works in action. It had been overcast all afternoon, with periodic showers. Now increasing darkness made it “hard for both players and spectators to follow the ball.”25 Works yielded a ground-rule double to Bill Abstein but escaped the eighth. Rain came back as the ninth opened. Works “experienced difficulty controlling the sphere,” and yielded three hits and two runs.26 Down by four runs, Detroit again rallied in the bottom of the frame, but fell short, 8-6.

Jennings likely wanted to save Mullin and Donovan, who had gone the distance in the first two games, from the fray. But sportswriter Francis C. Richter later faulted him for relieving Willett with “an utterly inexperienced young pitcher” like Works, instead of a veteran like Killian.27 Detroit went on to lose the Series in seven games. After Game Three, Works stayed on the bench.

The next time Works relieved Willett was in the second game of the 1910 season, against Cleveland, after Detroit had rallied to tie the affair in the bottom of the ninth. Works got clobbered for four runs, as the Tigers lost, 6-2. Jennings promptly benched him, and favored other young arms (Frank Browning, Hub Pernoll, Sailor Stroud) over the next two months. A possible trade with the Browns, with Works included, came to naught.28 Instead he “warmed up regularly and provided ample hitting practice.”29 But after a 3-9 slide that took Detroit from first place on June 19 to six games out on July 2, Jennings again handed the ball to Works the next day against Cleveland. He went the distance as Detroit triumphed, 4-3.

The Tigers soon fell out of the race. Works, although sidelined for several weeks with a broken finger, pitched more regularly that summer.30 His efforts occasionally made onlookers “wonder why he was not trotted to the slab once in a while during the time all the veterans were in a slump earlier in the season.”31 But mostly he was inconsistent and wild. His sophomore season line: 3-6, one save, and an ERA+ of 74 in 85⅔ innings. That offseason Detroit yet again attempted to send him to “a strong minor league for more experience,” but withdrew him from the waiver list once two other teams claimed him.32

Critics later pointed to Jennings’s “inconsiderate condemnation of youngsters for mistakes” as being partly responsible for his failure to develop pitchers.33 Yet his relationship with Works suggests a degree of patience. The young twirler’s enthusiastic confidence had initially appealed to Jennings.34 Works also began studying law after the 1910 season. Perhaps Jennings, a practicing lawyer in the offseason, influenced Works on this point. Or, as these studies seemed to drift along for several years without any defined progress, perhaps Works sought to influence Jennings on this point. Whatever the case, as the 1911 season dawned, Jennings expected Works to develop and execute as a veteran. Noted the manager in spring training: “Ralph grew up to be a man before his mind was really mature.”35 Vowed the pitcher: “I’m going to play this year more with my hands than my mouth. Watch me and see if I don’t keep that promise.”36

Works and his teammates stormed through the first month of the 1911 campaign. After throwing his second shutout on May 9, Works sported a 5-0 record, and Detroit comfortably led the American League with a 21-2 mark. The previous season, Jennings had Works study Mullin’s “slow ball” and, as the younger pitcher developed his off-speed offerings, “Ralph learned to work the corners of the plate.”37 Noted a local scribe: “The Detroit club held on to Works for three years and is now realizing on its investment.”38

Yet Works soon began allowing runs at an alarming pace. Sometimes, such as when he yielded eight White Sox tallies in relief on June 18, Detroit’s offensive attack still carried the day. On other occasions, as when Jennings blamed “Works’s lack of judgement” for surrendering five runs at Boston in a June 10 start, the Tigers could not dig themselves out of the hole.39 Starting against the Browns on June 29, Works fielded his position poorly, crossed up catcher Oscar Stanage, and generally his offerings “went everywhere but over the plate.”40 Jennings promptly benched him for three weeks. Two ineffective relief appearances in July followed. Then Detroit’s skipper again put him out of action.

By early August, with the local press concluding that “Works is seldom in shape and toils in form on rare occasions,” Jennings unsuccessfully attempted to deal him (with prospect Jack Wuffli and cash) to the Red Sox for Eddie Cicotte.41 Works took the ball more regularly in the season’s closing months. He finished with an 11-5 record and an ERA+ of 90 in 167⅓ innings. The Tigers finished a distant second, doomed by a staff ERA+ of 93.

Of the increasingly dysfunctional relationship between manager and pitcher, a Detroit sportswriter noted that winter, “Jennings doesn’t like him and doesn’t hesitate to say so and Works probably wouldn’t sell his overcoat at this time of year to buy presents for Hughie.”42 Yet Works reported to spring training, worked with coach Deacon McGuire to modify his delivery out of the stretch, and again earned a roster spot.43 A broken finger on his left hand delayed his 1912 debut until May 2, when he shut out St. Louis, 1-0. “Works had a fine, quick-breaking curve, lots of speed and a slow ball, mixing these things with excellent judgement,” a correspondent observed.44

His next start came in New York on June 13. After pitching well for four innings, he allowed a few scratch hits and hit a batter as four Highlanders scored in the fifth. Trailing, 5-3, Jennings pinch hit for him in the sixth. From this point onward, the Tigers, especially catcher Stanage, “looked very much as if they were trying to show their manager up for having jerked Works against their judgement.”45 Detroit went on to lose, 15-4. Twelve days later, starting in Chicago, he walked the first two batters and yielded three first-inning runs. Then Works settled down and the game went into extra innings, tied 4-4. White Sox fans began cheering him for his determined efforts. Ping Bodie won the game for Chicago with a seventeenth-inning walk-off single.46

Yet, once again, Works failed to maintain early-season momentum. After allowing four runs in five innings of relief work in Washington on August 23, his record stood at 5-10 with one save and an ERA+ of 77 in 157 innings of work. It was his last appearance as a Tiger. On September 4, with Detroit floundering in the second division, Jennings at last successfully waived Works, farming him out to Providence. Noting that “nobody can accuse me of dissipation while I have been here,” Works attributed his failure as a Tiger to his inability to “get along with Manager Jennings.”47

In mid-September, by lot Works was subjected to the draft.48 With his former battery mate Schmidt recommending him to Cincinnati president Garry Herrmann, the Reds grabbed him.49 Works made two unimpressive relief appearances for Cincinnati. Then, as he had so many times with the Tigers, he redeemed himself. In a rainy, abbreviated seven-inning affair in Chicago on September 28, he one-hit the Cubs en route to a 12-1 victory.50

“I know I can pitch for any club but the Tigers,” declared the ever-confident Works that off-season.51 He returned to Detroit and sold life insurance. He and Jennings spent a week as competing headliners on neighboring vaudeville stages.52 In March, Works married Nellie Barnes of Farmersville, Louisiana, who he had met when Detroit trained in nearby Monroe.

Works demonstrated a “good curve ball and a lot of speed” early in the 1913 season.53 But he allowed 15 hits, walked eight, and hit three batters in 15 innings of work. Determining “that Works will not win for the club,” Reds manager Joe Tinker engineered his release to the American Association’s Indianapolis Indians.54 Works pleaded to stay, to no avail.55 He compiled an 8-18 record with the last-place Indians in 1913.

Works and his bride settled in New Orleans that offseason, where he pitched winter ball.56 He began the 1914 campaign with another AA squad, the St. Paul Apostles. In spring training, gunning a fielded bunt to first, Works blew out his arm. Soon afterwards he damaged his knee.57 He never pitched effectively again.

For almost another decade, he roamed the country, sticking briefly with one organization after another. After being released by St. Paul in 1914, he pitched for Memphis and Ashville, tried to land with the Chicago Cubs and the Federal League’s St. Louis Terriers to no avail, and performed on a Fort Scott, Kansas, vaudeville stage.58 He began 1915 being released by Kansas City, then unsuccessfully sought to coach baseball at Washington and Jefferson College outside of Pittsburgh, pitched with Wheeling and Richmond, then sold cars and played semipro ball in Detroit.59

By early 1916, Works was on the West Coast, first trying out with Los Angeles and Oakland, then pitching semipro ball in Santa Barbara while dabbling in stunt work for the movies.60 He ineffectively pitched for Mobile, and managed New Orleans in winter ball.61 He briefly managed the Greenville, Mississippi, club in 1917, then served as an athletic director with a Memphis high school.62 He was the athletic director of Beaumont, Texas, schools in 1918, then accepted a similar position in Tulsa that August.63

In 1919, he joined the St. Louis Republic’s sports writing staff. The paper merged with the Globe-Democrat at the end of the year, leaving him out of work.64 Staying in St. Louis in 1920, he contributed to The Sporting News while coaching Washington University baseball. His writing was unmemorable, except perhaps for a vehement defense of the White Sox as “clean-cut, high-minded fellows” who “spurned bribes and played the game straight away and to win” in the previous season’s World Series.65 He abandoned both roles that April to take over the helm of a Madison, South Dakota, squad.66 Dismissed that August, he hit the road as a traveling salesman, then took on an athletic director job with a St. Paul high school.67

The following June, “while motoring from St. Paul to Waukegan, Ill.,” he stopped by Marshfield, Wisconsin, and pitched his services to the hamlet’s leaders.68 He took over their town team and was appointed secretary of the city’s Chamber of Commerce.69 Yet, by 1922, Works was managing a team in Fulton, Kentucky.70 That September, he was again on the West Coast, employed by the University of Southern California to coach baseball.71 Remaining in Los Angeles, he left USC in December to join Rand McNally as a sales representative.72

At some point, his marriage with Nellie had dissolved. Their two sons, Ralph and William, remained with their mother in Louisiana. In August 1924 he married Linda Happy, a young widow of some means from Mayfield, Kentucky, nearby to Fulton where Works had managed two years earlier.73 Their marriage was childless. Works continued with Rand in the years ahead, occasionally participating in a local old-timers game, and quietly residing in Pasadena.

On August 24, 1941, noting newspapers piled on the grass and neighbors’ reports of not recently seeing the couple, a highway patrol investigator who lived nearby called the Pasadena police. An arriving officer described the scene:

“The house was in disorder. Furniture had been broken, the lights were still on, an electric fan was running and the radio apparently had been on until it burned itself out. The place was littered with beer and whisky bottles, some of them partly filled. Four shots had been fired. The one that killed Mrs. Works entered the back of her head. Works evidently shot himself through the temple.”74

The coroner determined the likely date of the murder-suicide as August 8. Ralph Works was buried nearby in Altadena’s Mountain View Cemetery.

Acknowledgments

This biography was reviewed by Rory Costello and Norman Macht, and fact-checked by Chris Rainey.

Sources

In addition to the sources noted in this biography, the author also accessed Works’s file from the National Baseball Hall of Fame and the following sites:

ancestry.com

cdnc.ucr.edu

genealogybank.com

newspapers.com

online.canadiana.ca

Notes

1 Francis C. Richter, “The 1912 American League Teams,” 1913 Reach American League Base Ball Guide (A. J. Reach, Philadelphia, 1913): 45.

2 Joe S. Jackson, “Indianapolis Weather Returns to Form and Scheduled Game Is Off,” Detroit Free Press, April 9, 1909, 7.

3 For an account of one of his Bloomer Girls’ games, see “Bloomer Girls Fail to Bloom,” Decatur (Illinois) Herald, June 13, 1906, 5. For more background on his Bloomer Girls’ play see Joe S. Jackson, “R. Works Will Stick, If Self-Confidence Counts,” Detroit Free Press, March 16, 1909, 9.

4 “The National Association,” Sporting Life, November 24, 1906, 10.

5 For a Works’ performance with Peoria, see “Quincy Again Defeats Peoria,” Chicago Inter Ocean, April 8, 1907, 9. For Benny’s memories, see “Works is a Star,” Cincinnati Enquirer, September 29, 1912, 25.

6 B. L. Robinson, “Western Canada League,” 1908 Spalding Official Baseball Guide (American Sports Publishing, New York, 1908): 241.

7 “Athletics,” Medicine Hat Times, August 27, 1907, 2.

8 “How Hatters Won,” Calgary Herald, September 10, 1907, 7.

9 A. J. N. Terrill, “Western Canada League,” 1910 Spalding Official Baseball Guide (American Sports Publishing, New York, 1910): 268.

10 “For Fans,” Binghamton Press, July 14, 1908, 8.

11 “For Fans,” Binghamton Press, July 23, 1908, 8.

12 “Gossip Around the Baseball Circuit,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, August 7, 1908, 14.

13 Paul H. Bruske, “Tiger Recruits as They Size Up After Week of Training Toil,” Detroit Times, March 16, 1909, 3.

14 Paul H. Bruske, “Big Works and Little Speer Think They Have Kick Coming,” Detroit Times, March 26, 1909, 7.

15 Jackson, “Indianapolis Weather.”

16 “Told About the Tigers,” Detroit Free Press, May 1, 1909, 7.

17 Joe S. Jackson, “Soon Start North,” The Sporting News, April 1, 1909, 6.

18 Joe S. Jackson, “Will Put the Polish in Coming Exhibitions,” Detroit Free Press, April 4, 1909, 23.

19 “Sporting Notes,” Detroit Times, April 27, 1909, 4; Paul H. Bruske, “Players Willing to Stay Where It’s Warm,” Detroit Times, April 29, 1909, 1.

20 Joe S. Jackson, “Tiges Grab Freak Game,” Detroit Free Press, May 2, 1909, 17, 22.

21 Joe S. Jackson, “Next Five Days to be Time of Fine Battling for League Leadership,” Detroit Free Press, May 28, 1909, 6.

22 Paul H. Bruske, “Tigers Long Run of Victories is Fractured,” Detroit Times, June 28, 1909, 5; “Tooth-Pulling Training Stunt is Work’s Latest,” Detroit Times, June 29, 1909, 5.

23 “Charlie Schmidt Opines That Works Has Big Speed,” Detroit Times, July 10, 1909, 7.

24 “Told About the Tigers,” Detroit Free Press, September 9, 1909, 9; Harry Neily, “Mullin is Driven from the Mound,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, July 4, 1909, 13.

25 Francis C. Richter, “Pittsburg Captures Third,” Sporting Life, October 16, 1909, 5.

26 “Pirates Capture Batting Contest,” Washington Herald, October 12, 1909, 8.

27 Francis C. Richter, “Great 1909 Battle of the Major Giants,” Sporting Life, October 23, 1909, 3.

28 “No Chance for a Trade,” Detroit Free Press, June 2, 1910, 10.

29 “Pony Battery is Full of Hustle,” Detroit Times, June 24, 1910, 7.

30 E.A. Batchelor, “Karger Will Try to Grab Another Game,” Detroit Free Press, August 4, 1910, 8.

31 “Told About the Tigers,” Detroit Free Press, August 26, 1910, 9.

32 Judge [pseud.], “Deals Fall Flat,” The Sporting News, December 21, 1910, 7.

33 Thomas S. Rice, “Why Can’t Hugh Jennings Develop Pitching Talent,” The Sporting News, November 13, 1919, 6.

34 On this self-confidence see Billy Evans, “The Bush League Recruit,” (Washington DC) Evening Star, April 19, 1914, 37-38.

35 Paul H. Bruske, “All Sorts of Specialties Included in Repertory of Young Tiger Pitchers,” Detroit Times, March 6, 1911, 17.

36 Bruske, “All Sorts of Specialties.”

37 Paul H. Bruske, “New York’s Dreaded Debut Partakes of Aspect of a Joke,” Detroit Times, May 10, 1911, 8.

38 Bruske, “New York’s Dreaded Debut.”

39 “Told About the Tigers,” Detroit Free Press, June 11, 1911, 17.

40 Paul H. Bruske, “Two Upsets Show There Isn’t Anything Sure in Baseball,” Detroit Times, June 30, 1911, 6. See also: “Told About the Tigers,” Detroit Free Press, June 30, 1911, 9.

41 “Tiges Second; Can They Climb Back?” Detroit Times, August 5, 1911, 6; E.A. Batchelor, “Taylor Wants the Earth for Cicotte and the Trade is Off,” Detroit Free Press, August 7, 1911, 8.

42 E.A. Batchelor, “Rowdy Ball Will Not Be Tolerated,” Detroit Free Press, January 10, 1912, 11.

43 E.A. Batchelor, “Stiff Muscles Are Evident in Monroe,” Detroit Free Press, February 29, 1912, 10; “Works’ New Style of Delivery Comes Natural to Him, He Says,” Detroit Times, March 5, 1912, 7.

44 E.A. Batchelor, “Remodeled Tiges Blank St. Louis in Snappy Game,” Detroit Free Press, May 3, 1912, 12.

45 Ralph L. Yonker, “Though Erratic, Works Has the Confidence of His Tiger Teammates,” Detroit Times, May 30, 1912, 7. See also: “Yanks Rout Tigers; Poor Game on Hill,” New York Times, May 14, 1912, 12.

46 E.A. Batchelor, “Struggle Ends When White Sox Lug Home Run in Seventeeth,” Detroit Free Press, May 26, 1912, 17, 21.

47 “Ralph Works Says He Never Wants to Wear Detroit Togs Again While Jennings Rules,” Detroit Free Press, September 5, 1912, 10.

48 “Flocks of Baseball Players Are Drafted by the Major League Clubs,” Cincinnati Enquirer, September 17, 1912, 6.

49 Ralph L. Yonker, “Handful of Fans Out for Final Game,” Detroit Times, September 24, 1912, 1.

50 Jack Ryder, “Glory Just Missed by Works,” Cincinnati Enquirer, September 29, 1912, 24.

51 “Ralph Works, Once Tige, Now Red, Returns with Winged Collar, Blackstone and Rumors of Wedding,” Detroit Times, November 15, 1912, 7.

52 “Works Bucks Jennings in Vodveel; the Baseball Fans Are Snickering,” Detroit Times, December 12, 1912, 8.

53 “Notes of the Game,” Cincinnati Enquirer, April 29, 1913, 6.

54 “Notes of the Game,” Cincinnati Enquirer, May 5, 1913, 8.

55 “Brewers Win Final Game,” Louisville Journal-Courier, May 17, 1913, 10.

56 “Gaslights Defeat Buckhorns 9 to 0,” New Orleans Times-Democrat, January 19, 1914, 9.

57 “The Diamond,” Paducah (Kentucky) Evening Sun, April 2, 1914, 2; Ralph T. Works, “The Player’s Viewpoint,” The Sporting News, March 8, 1920, 4.

58 Dick Jemison, “Jack Doscher Scores Fifth Win of Season Over Chicks; Welchonce Back in Stride,” Atlanta Constitution, June 25, 1914, 6; “Mountaineers Take a Couple,” Charlotte Observer, August 16, 1914, 25; “In the Spotlight of Sport,” Lincoln (Nebraska) Daily News, August 6, 1914, 7; “Ralph Works Will Sign Cub Contract,” Asheville Citizen, September 8, 1914, 10; “At Pictureland,” Fort Scott (Kansas) Republican, December 16, 1914, 1.

59 “Around the Circuit,” Louisville Courier-Journal, March 8, 1915, 7; “Pitcher Works Would Coach W&J Team,” Pittsburgh Gazette Times, March 20, 1915, 10; “Players Released in Farrell Wheel,” Scranton Republican, May 17, 1915, 9; “Bitter Dose is Served to Climbers By Grays,” Richmond Times-Dispatch, June 23, 1915, 8; “Ralph Works a Detroiter,” Detroit Free Press, July 10, 1915, 12; “St. Louis Club Plays Ann Arbor,” Detroit Free Press, September 12, 1915, 19.

60 “Angles and Tigers Primed for Opener,” Salt Lake Telegram, April 2, 1916, 13; “‘Rowdy’ is Offered Ralph Works,” Oakland Tribune, April 29, 1916, 8; “Baseball Gossip,” Los Angeles Times, May 5, 1916, 24.

61 “Mobile Puts Up Putrid Defense, and with Couchman Pitching a Four-Hit Game, Starrs Win, 10-0,” Arkansas Democrat, July 6, 1916, 7; “Herbert Effective Against Bogalusa,” New Orleans Daily States, October 2, 1916, 7.

62 “Finis Wilson a Manager Now,” New Orleans Item, May 24, 1917, 10; “Tigers to Memphis For Game Saturday,” Arkansas Democrat, October 23, 1917, 15.

63 “Ralph Works is Director of Athletics in Schools,” Moline (Illinois) Daily Dispatch, January 18, 1918, 12; “Athletic Director Resigns,” Houston Post, August 25, 1918, 9.

64 “Quincy Hot After Berth in Three-I; Works to Manage,” Moline (Illinois) Daily Dispatch, December 30, 1919, 12.

65 Ralph T. Works, “The Player’s Viewpoint,” The Sporting News, March 15, 1920, 4.

66 “League Timber for S.D. Clubs,” (Sioux Falls) Argus-Leader, April 10, 1920, 2.

67 “Local News,” Madison (South Dakota) Daily Leader, August 7, 1920, 5; “Four St. Louis Boys Advance in Minors,” St. Louis Star and Times, November 18, 1920, 23; “Ralph Works is Now in St. Paul,” (Sioux Falls) Argus-Leader, December 27, 1920, 2.

68 “The Story of Works’ Coming to Marshfield,” Marshfield (Wisconsin) News-Herald, June 22, 1921, 7.

69 “New Secretary for Marshfield is Ralph Works,” Marshfield (Wisconsin) News-Herald, July 1, 1921, 1.

70 “Ralph Works Engaged to Manage Fulton Team,” Paducah (Kentucky) News-Democrat, April 5, 1922, 12.

71 Harry A. Williams, “Sports Shrapnel,” Los Angeles Times, September 26, 1922, 36.

72 “Trojans Lose Big Baseball Professor,” Los Angeles Times, December 21, 1922, 37.

73 “Mrs. Linda Happy is Wed in West,” Paducah (Kentucky) Evening Sun, August 7, 1924, 7.

74 “Former Pitcher Kills Wife, Self,” Wilkes-Barre Record, August 26, 1941, 18. See also “Couple Found Dead in Home,” Los Angeles Times, August 25, 1941, 16.