Burial Sites of Hall of Famers

Graveyards are not a significant part of baseball lore. True, the 1919 Cincinnati Reds held spring workouts in a Texas town’s cemetery. Moe Berg, visiting a Baltimore cemetery after dark, is reported to have stood on the grave of Edgar Allan Poe and recited “The Raven” from beginning to end. Edd Roush administered a cemetery in Indiana for many years. Bored broadcasters sometimes mumble that Richie Hebner’s off-season occupation is grave-digging.

The burial sites and circumstances of baseball’s important figures can be an interesting area of research. I have found it so in the last couple of years, during which time I have researched the obituaries of all the deceased members of the Hall of Fame and have visited the last resting place of about one-half of those Cooperstown greats. The primary objective was to find out what kind of memorial remains for these sports heroes other than the plaque that is displayed at Cooperstown. Other questions raised in the research include: Do the tombstones include baseball references? Are the graves obscured or neglected? Is there more than one former star buried in a particular cemetery? What other prominent people are buried there?

My interest in this subject was sparked by an article by Tom Hufford in the 1976 Baseball Research Journal about the old Orioles reunited in New Cathedral Cemetery in Baltimore. Buried there are John McGraw, Wilbert Robinson, Joe Kelley, and Ned Hanlon, all prominent Orioles of the 1 890s who also managed major league clubs for a total of 74 years. Also buried in the cemetery are Bobby Mathews, a top pitcher in baseball’s early years, and Eddie Rommel, a pitcher and umpire in the 1920-1960 period. McGraw, Robinson and Keiley are in the Hall of Fame. No other cemetery has three Cooperstown greats, but several have two.

Sam Crawford and Bobby Wallace are buried in Inglewood Park, California, the westernmost of the eight cemeteries containing two Hall of Fame graves. Rube Waddell and Ross Youngs, both of whom died in their thirties, rest in Mission Burial Park, San Antonio, Texas. Zack Wheat and Satchel Paige, widely separated by age and racial barriers, are both buried in Forest Hill, Kansas City, Missouri. Paul Waner and his former manager, Bill McKechnie, lie in Manasota, just outside of Bradenton, Florida. Up the eastern seaboard, Brooklyn boys Willie Keeler and Mickey Welch are interred in Calvary Cemetery in nearby Queens, while Lou Gehrig and Ed Barrow are in Kensico in suburban Westchester County. The Heavenly Twins, Hugh Duffy and Tommy McCarthy, lie in Old Calvary just west of Boston. Across the Charles River, two 300- game winners, Tim Keefe and John Clarkson, are buried in the Cambridge city cemetery.

Other American notables share cemetery space with Cooperstown inductees. Duffy’s plot, for example, is in the shadow of the impressive obelisk erected over the grave of John L. Sullivan, the old-time boxing champion. A signer of the Declaration of Independence and firearms magnate Christopher Colt lie near John Montgomery Ward in Babylon, New York. That old cemetery, once neglected, has been restored. Grover Cleveland’s second Vice President, Adlai Stevenson, is buried a few yards from Charles “Old Hoss” Radbourn in Bloomington, Illinois. Governors, senators, judges, and 17 mayors are buried along with Sam Thompson in Detroit’s Elmwood Cemetery. Also interred there is a gentleman familiar to many baseball fans, brewer Bernard Stroh.

Humphrey Bogart and Clark Gable head an impressive list of Hollywood luminaries in world famous Forest Lawn. Those gaudy gardens contain no bigger actor than Casey Stengel, who, like another Forest Lawner, W. C. Fields, would rather be there than in Philadelphia. Back to back in the afterlife just as they were in the Yankees batting order, Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig are buried in adjoining cemeteries. Along with the Bambino in Gate of Heaven are New York Mayor Jimmy Walker and journalists Dorothy Kilgallen and Westbrook Pegler.

Prominent clergymen participated in the funerals of several Hall of Famers. Evangelist Billy Sunday conducted an emotional service for pitcher Addie Joss, struck down at age 3 1 in Toledo in 1911. Father Charles Coughlin, famed as the Radio Priest during the Depression years of the l930s, led prayers over the body of his good friend Harry Heilmann in Detroit in 1951. The Reverend Jesse Jackson eulogized Jackie Robinson at services held in Riverside Church in Manhattan in 1972.

Although I have not visited or seen pictures of the graves of all Hall of Famers, I would estimate that not more than ten percent incorporate baseball displays in their stone memorials. Hack Wilson, who died a pauper and whose body was not claimed for three days, has a large memorial in Rosehill Cemetery, Martinsburg, West Virginia. When his plight was publicized, contributions came from the National League, the Elks Club, former teammates and others. It is a tapered granite block ten feet high. Near the top are crossed baseball bats with the inscription ONE OF BASEBALL’S IMMORTALS — LEWIS R. “HACK” WILSON RESTS HERE.

Home Run Baker has a bat, ball and glove superimposed on a chapel window on his large stone in Easton, Maryland. Cap Anson, Babe Ruth, and Casey Stengel are among the others who have baseball motifs. Although Frank Navin, former owner and president of the Detroit Tigers, never made it to the Hall of Fame, his memorial in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery near Detroit is eye-catching because a large stone Bengal tiger is situated at each side of his mausoleum.

No Hall of Fame member rests in the nation’s most famous burial ground — Arlington National Cemetery in Northern Virginia. General Abner Doubleday, mistakenly credited with laying out the first baseball diamond, is buried there. Air Force General William Eckert, Baseball Commissioner from 1965 to 1969, also is interred there. The best player buried in Arlington is former first baseman Lu Blue, a World War I veteran who lived in the area.

There follows an alphabetical list of the final resting place of all deceased Hall of Famers. If readers have supplemental or corrective information on any of those on the list, the writer would appreciate hearing from you.

 

Burial Sites for Baseball Hall of Famers

• Grover Alexander, Elmwood, St. Paul, NE
• Cap Anson, Oakwood, Chicago, IL
• Frank Baker Spring Hill, Easton, MD
• Dave Bancroft, Greenwood, Superior, WI
• Ed Barrow, Kensico, Valhalla, NY
• Jake Beckley, Riverside, Hannibal, MO
• Chief Bender, Ardsly Burial Park, Philadelphia, PA
• Jim Bottomley, I.O.O.F., Sullivan, MO
• Roger Bresnahan, Calvary, Toledo, OH
• Dan Brouthers, Wappinger Falls, NY
• Mordecai Brown, Roselawn Memorial, Terre Haute, IN
• Morgan Bulkeley, Cedar Hill, Hartford, CT
• Jesse Burkett, St. John’s, Worcester, MA
• Max Carey, Woodland, Miami, FL
• Alexander Cartwright, Oahu, Honolulu, HI
• Henry Chadwick, Greenwood, Brooklyn, NY
• Frank Chance, Rosedale, Los Angeles, CA
• Oscar Charleston, Floral Park, Indianapolis, IN
• Jack Chesbro, Howland, Conway, MA
• Fred Clarke, St. Mary’s, Winfield, KS
• John Clarkson, City, Cambridge, MA
• Roberto Clemente, Lost at sea
• Ty Cobb, Village, Royston, GA
• Mickey Cochrane, Cremated
• Eddie Collins Linwood, Weston, MA
• Jimmy Collins, Holy Cross, Buffalo, NY
• Earle Combs, City, Richmond, KY
• Charles Comiskey, Calvary, Chicago, IL
• Tommy Connolly, St. Patrick’s, Natick, MA
• Roger Connor, Old St. Joseph’s, Waterbury, CT
• Sam Crawford, Inglewood Park, Inglewood, CA
• Candy Cummings, Ware, MA
• Ki Ki Cuyler, St. Ann’s, Harrisville, MI
• Dizzy Dean, Bond, Wiggins, MS
• Ed Delahanty Calvary, Cleveland, OH
• Martin Dihigo, Cienfuegos, Cuba
• Hugh Duffy, Old Calvary, Mattapan, MA
• Billy Evans, Noilwood Mausoleum, Cleveland, OH
• John Evers St. Mary’s, Troy, NY
• Buck Ewing Mt. Washington, Cincinnati, OH
• Red Faber, Acacia Park, Chicago, IL
• Elmer Flick, Crown Hill, Twinsburg, OH
• Rube Foster, Lincoln, Chicago, IL
• Jimmie Foxx, Flagler Memorial Park, Miami, FL
• Ford Frick, Christ Church Columbarium, Bronxville, NY
• Frank Frisch Woodland, Bronx, NY
• Pud Galvin Calvary, Pittsburgh, PA
• Lou Gehrig, Kensico, Valhalla, NY
• Josh Gibson, Allegheny, Pittsburgh, PA
• Warren Giles, Riverside, Moline, IL
• Goose Goslin Baptist, Salem, NJ
• Clark Griffith Fort Lincoln, Suitland, MD
• Lefty Grove, Memorial, Frostburg, MD
• Chick Hafey, St. Helena, St. Helena, CA
• Jesse Haines Bethel, Phillipsburg, OH
• Billy Hamilton Eastwood, South Lancaster, MA
• William Harridge Memorial Park, Chicago, IL
• Bucky Harris, Pittstown, PA
• Gabby Hartnett, All Saints, Des Plaines, IL
• Harry Heilmann Holy Sepulchre, Southfield, MI
• Harry Hooper Mount Calvary, Aptos, CA
• Rogers Hornsby Hornsby’s Bend, TX
• Cal Hubbard, Milan, MO
• Miller Huggins, Spring Grove, Cincinnati, OH
• Hugh Jennings, St. Catherine, Scranton, PA
• Byron Johnson, Spencer, IN
• Walter Johnson, Union, Rockville, MD
• Addie Joss, Woodlawn, Toledo, OH
• Tim Keefe, City, Cambridge, MA
• Willie Keeler, Calvary, Queens, NY
• Joe Kelley, New Cathedral, Baltimore, MD
• Mike Kelly Mt. Hope, Boston, MA
• Chuck Klien, Holy Cross, Indianapolis, IN
• Bill Klem Graceland Memorial Park, Miami, FL
• Nap Lajoie Cedar Hill, Daytona Beach, FL
• Kenesaw Landis, Cremated
• Fred Lindstrom, All Saints, Chicago, IL
• John Lloyd City, Atlantic City, NJ
• Connie Mack, Holy Sepulchre, Philadelphia, PA
• Larry MacPhail, Elkland Township, Cass City, MI
• Heinie Manush, Memorial, Sarasota, FL
• Rabbit Maranville, St. Michael’s, Springfield, MA
• Rube Marquard, Hebrew, Baltimore, MD
• Christy Mathewson, City, Lewisburg, PA
• Joe McCarthy, Mt. Olivet, Buffalo, NY
• Tom McCarthy, Old Calvary, Mattapan, MA
• Joe McGinnity, Oak Hill, McAllister, OK
• John McGraw, New Cathedral, Baltimore, MD
• Bill McKechnie, Manasota, Oneco, FL
• Joe Medwick, St. Lucas, St. Louis, MO
• Kid Nichols, Mt. Moriah, Kansas City, MO
• Jim O’Rourke, St. Michael’s, Bridgeport, CT
• Mel Ott, Metairie, New Orleans, LA
• Satchel Paige, Forest Hill, Kansas City, MO
• Herb Pennock, Union Hill, New York, NY
• Eddie Plank, Greenlawn, Gettysburg, PA
• Charles Radbourn, Evergreen, Bloomington, IL
• Sam Rice, Cremated
• Branch Rickey, Deer Run, OH
• Eppa Rixey, Greenlawn, Milford, OH
• Jackie Robinson, Cyprus Hills, Brooklyn, NY
• Wilbert Robinson, New Cathedral, Baltimore, MD
• Amos Rusie Acacia Memorial Park, Seattle, WA
• Babe Ruth, Gate of Heaven, Hawthorne, NY
• Ray Schalk, Evergreen, Chicago, IL
• Al Simmons St. Adalbert’s, Milwaukee, WI
• George Sisler, Cremated
• Albert Spalding, Cremated
• Tris Speaker Fairview, Hubbard, TX
• Casey Stengel, Forest Lawn, Glendale, CA
• Sam Thompson, Elmwood, Detroit, MI
• Joe Tinker, Greenwood, Orlando, FL
• Pie Traynor, Homewood, Pittsburgh, PA
• Dazzy Vance, Stage Stand, Homosassa Springs, FL
• Rube Waddell, Mission Burial Park, San Antonio, TX
• Honus Wagner, Jefferson Memorial Park, Pittsburgh, PA
• Bobby Wallace, Inglewood Park, Inglewood, CA
• Ed Walsh Forest Lawn, Pompano Beach, FL
• Lloyd Waner, Rosehill, Oklahoma City, OK
• Paul Waner, Manasota, Oneco, FL
• John Ward, Rural, Babylon, NY
• George Weiss, Evergreen, New Haven, CN
• Mickey Welch, Calvary, Queens, NY
• Zack Wheat, Forest Hill, Kansas City, MO
• Hack Wilson, Rosehill, Martinsburg, WV
• George Wright, Holyhood, Brookline, MA
• Harry Wright, West Laurel Hill, Philadelphia, PA
• Thomas Yawkey, Cremated
• Cy Young, Methodist Church, Peoli, OH
• Ross Youngs, Mission Burial Park, San Antonio, TX

Click here for an updated list of Hall of Fame gravesites maintained by SABR member Stew Thornley.