Solly Salisbury

Solly Salisbury was an adventurer, a newspaperman, a soldier, a certified hero, and a ballplayer. He bombed in his only two professional games for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1902, but he was still good enough to be remembered in his home state 50 years after leaving the game.

Solly was born William Ansel Salisbury on November 12, 1876, in Algona, Iowa. His father was Egbert Silas Salisbury (1843-1906). Born in Whitewater, Wisconsin, Egbert was a farmer and later a merchant and a bailiff in a district court in Iowa.1 Mother Jane Galbraith (1848-1915) was originally from Johnstown, Wisconsin. Siblings included an older sister, Isabella Olive (1874-1938), and two younger sisters, Beatrix Irene (1878-1946) and Stella (1883-1949).

A right-handed thrower and batter who packed 180 pounds on a six-foot frame, Salisbury pitched in 1897 “with such success that he was asked to join [Des Moines] next season,” declared the Algona Republican.2 But Salisbury never played for that club. On April 26, 1898, while working as a printer on the Wesley News in Des Moines, the 21-year-old Salisbury enlisted as fourth corporal in Company F, U.S. 52nd Infantry during the Spanish-American War.3 Salisbury enlisted five days after the outbreak of the war.

The 52nd Regiment trained for three months, but when deployment orders came for Puerto Rico, their services were no longer required. They returned home, were granted a 30-day furlough, and then reported back to camp. By October, however, the entire unit was mustered out.4 Salisbury’s total service lasted five months.

During training, he pitched for a military baseball team.5

In a letter to his parents—later reprinted in the Algona Upper Des Moines—Salisbury expressed the monotony of camp life: “We hear rumors this morning that we are to go to Porto Rico, but will not believe it till we get on the train. I hope it is so for nothing is so tiresome as sitting around in camp the way we have done for three months. I think the war is nearly over, but even if it is there is no telling when we will get home.”6

Early on, the young athlete also described the physical demands of training. “Yesterday we went out in the country about seven miles and formed skirmishing parties on both sides of the reserve, which marched in the road. The skirmish squads had to climb hills, wade rivers, and climb through barb wire fences. We started at 9 o’clock and didn’t get back until after noon. Lord, but how hungry and tired I was. In the afternoon we went at 2:30 and didn’t get back until after 5 o’clock. A soldier’s life is not such a lazy one as some people imagine—at least it’s no dream.”7

Salisbury was never deployed overseas.

The next year Salisbury, “well known throughout the county by his fame on the base ball diamond, and his business tact and ability,”8 was promoted to chief engineer of the Titonka Topic, a newspaper in Iowa. Salisbury’s previous employer, the Algona Courier, joked that “there is no doubt that he and Miss Graham will get out a good paper.”9 Six months later, Salisbury and Ella Graham, “the fair editor”10 of the Topic, were married in Wesley, Iowa. Over the next 17 years, the couple had 10 children.11

While maintaining a career as a letterpress printer, Salisbury sharpened his pitching enough to break into the minor leagues in 1900. He began with the Helena Senators in the Montana State League.12 In 1900, he played for two other minor-league clubs: the Sacramento Gilt Edges and the Stockton Wasps, both of the California League. As a member of the Wasps, Salisbury “prove[d] himself to be the best pitcher in Southern California,”13 losing just two games that season, with half his wins being shutouts. After leaving California, he pitched briefly in the independent Montana League in 1900.

Salisbury started the 1901 season pitching for the Portland Webfoots of the Class D Pacific Northwest League, where his teammates included future Hall of Famer Joe Tinker.14 Solly won the season opener against the Spokane Blues, 8-6, a rain-shortened five-inning contest.15 In late May, the club returned to Portland from a “triumphal tour in Washington” state to play the Seattle Clamdiggers before 6,000 people at newly opened Vaughn Street Park.16 With Salisbury in the box, the Webfoots cruised to an 11-2 victory.

Later in the campaign Salisbury held a team without a hit for 10.2 innings—the closest he came in his career to throwing a no-hitter. With two men out in the 11th inning and Portland leading, 6-0, “a Seattle batsman slapped a ground ball toward shortstop.” Tinker “was lightning fast—but this time he covered too much ground” and fumbled the ball, a miscue that cost Salisbury the no-hitter.17 Portland scored four in the 11th to win 6-2.18 At season’s end, the Webfoots (73-35, .676) were the PNL pennant winners.

In 1901, Salisbury distinguished himself as “the most dependable twirler” and, according to Portland manager John Grim, “the best pitcher in that League.”19 For the season, Solly went 28-14 (.667) and notched 145 strikeouts. And remarkably, Salisbury threw only one wild pitch all season. He was also a “heavy hitter, fast on his feet and [had] barrels of steam.”20

Salisbury’s reputation as “the headiest pitcher last year in the Pacific Northwest League” caught the attention of Bill Shettsline, manager of the National League’s Philadelphia Phillies. Salisbury, “the famous Portland, Ore., twirler,”21 was one of six pitchers Shettsline signed in February 1902 to help rebuild the Phillies staff.22

But success did not follow.23 Salisbury was lifted in the fourth inning after yielding three runs in his April 19 major-league debut against the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds, but a mid-contest rally got him off the hook. Reliever Cy Vorhees was credited with the Phillies’ come-from-behind 6-4 victory.24 Summoned in relief five days later against the Brooklyn Superbas during a home game at Baker Bowl, Salisbury allowed eight hits, seven earned runs, and a home run to Tim Flood, the first in Flood’s career, in the three innings he pitched. By the end of the week, Philadelphia had released Salisbury, bringing his brief major-league career to a close.

By May 30, Salisbury was back in Portland25, where he signed with the Webfoots for the remainder of the season.26 In July, his wife came down with a “serious illness” that required him to leave a game in Spokane.27 On August 3, Portland manager Sammy Vigneux released Salisbury.28 The Montana Record-Herald reported that Salisbury had “not been anxious to stay with Portland and that may account to some extent for his not having his heart in the game.”29 The Sunday Oregonian observed that: “While Salisbury is a good twirler, he has not been pitching winning ball since rejoining the team, and the management thought it best to dispense with his services.”30

After being released by Portland, he was picked up by another PNL club, the Tacoma (Washington) Tigers, only to be released yet again. After a brief stint with the Pendleton (Oregon) Indians of the Inland Empire League,31 he finished the season with a third PNL team, the Butte (Montana) Miners.32 He returned to form in his first games with Butte and proved himself to be “a Good Thing,”33 winning on September 11. Butte won the pennant that year.34 “Old Reliable” (as he was dubbed by the Montana Record) “showed himself to be a ball player and a pitcher at every turn” and “the coolest man in the box that has appeared on the Butte diamond this season. He keeps the base runners hugging the bases and fields his position cleanly and coolly, if one is to judge by the sample of his work shown here. Salisbury was touched up occasionally by the visitors, but he kept the hits well scattered and in no inning did the Spokanes accumulate more than two safe hits.”35

Salisbury pitched for Venice in an amateur summer league in California in 1908.36 That season, he returned to the mound for the San Francisco Seals of the Class A Pacific Coast League.37 On July 4, the Seals scored nine runs in two innings against the Portland Beavers and played “the sort of ball now that wins a game of ball every day and a double header Sunday and holidays.”38 “Pitchers came and went so rapidly,” wrote W. J. Slattery, the reporter on the scene, “that the rooters were unable to keep a line on who was twisting the ball over the plate. There were close decisions and long hits and glaring errors in plenty till the game resembled the side show layout of a circus in a country village.” Portland was leading 4-0 until the fourth inning, when Salisbury was put in to relieve Oscar Jones, whose pitches “looked like cocoanuts suspended in mid air.”39 Salisbury “got along nicely till the seventh” inning “twisting nice hesitating curves” before being relieved after giving up two runs. Salisbury and the Seals won, 9-4.40

By the end of July, the Seals had a 50-50 record and sat in third place in the four-team league. Salisbury “did very well” in a loss to the Oakland Athenians, 8-4.41 But the spirit had seemed to have left the pitcher, by then 30 years old; the Seals cut him from the roster after only three appearances.42 The Oregon Daily Journal announced the release thus: “Solly Salisbury, the ancient slowball pitcher, who used to fling ’em down the alley for Portland in the old days, and who showed up here a couple of weeks ago with the Seals, is not on the job now. Solly was tried and found wanting and Danny Long was compelled to slip him the ultramarine envelope. Perhaps Solly could get on with Dan] Dugdale, [a scion of Pacific Northwest baseball] if he half tried.”43

In March 1910, Albany, Oregon’s independent team and its Inter-City League team consolidated into what became the Albany Athletics. Salisbury was appointed captain, coach, and member of the board of directors. The team played in a league fielding teams from Eugene, Springfield, Cottage Grove, and Albany. The season opened on April 24, with Albany facing Cottage Grove. The new team boasted that “fast ball is to be guaranteed” at their games.44 Salisbury pitched for the Albany Colts (an early name for the Athletics) at the start of the 1911 season, a team that claimed to have an “invincible line up” with his help.45

In midseason 1911, Salisbury earned more local acclaim. On Sunday, July 16, Solly and a group of friends went swimming in the Willamette River near Albany. Three of them decided to race to shore. Another swimmer, Arch Ramsden, “who had become exhausted in the deep water,” called for help.46 Salisbury swam back to help him—and nearly died himself. “Ramsden had gone down three times before Salisbury reached him and then he caught Salisbury with a death grip,” reported the Morning Oregonian. Salisbury “gamely fought his way to the top with his helpless companion,” and he might have drowned had his friend Elba Burnette not helped Salisbury, “thoroughly exhausted in saving Ramsden” and tired from the race, to stay afloat until Clare Baker could get a boat to rescue them.47 Five years later, Salisbury and another rescuer were awarded $1,000 and a bronze medal for heroism from the Carnegie Hero Fund.48

For the rest of 1911, the Albany team played at Athletic Park in Albany. Salisbury, by then 34, “twirl[ed a] fine game for the local nine” in a win against the Salem Senators49 and was named an “all-star” in the Inter-City League.50 Salisbury continued pitching for the Athletics until he retired at the age of 37 at the end of the 1913 season.51 He was dragged onto the pitch one last time for a local exhibition game on April 20, 1922, when he was 45. This was something of a celebrity game. The Vancouver, Washington Chamber of Commerce hosted a “Fats and Leans” game for 4,000 people at the Army barracks diamond. The silent screen movie star Viola Dana threw out the opening pitch. The teams, “attired in miscellaneous uniforms,” put on a show, with Salisbury pitching for the Leans until the fifth, when he was relieved by Harvey Terrill after giving up a seven-run lead. The “obese chamber members” won the game 15-2.52

Salisbury’s playing made an impression on Oregon baseball. In a July 5, 1921 “Do You Remember?” column, the Morning Oregonian asked readers if they remembered “the famous Portland Northwest league baseball team [that] comprised these players: Joe Tinker, third; Jake Deisel, short; Andy Anderson, second; Lou Mahaffey, first; Max Muller, left; Bob Brown, center; Weed, right; Sammy Vigneaux, catcher, and George Engle, William Salisbury and Martin Glendon, pitchers?”53

Salisbury, a “Portland Diamond Favorite,” was remembered for his deliberate style of throwing. He “was not of the sensational order, for he was quiet in his mannerisms and deliberate in his actions when occupying the box. He was not a great curve-ball pitcher, and neither did he possess speed above the ordinary, yet he was a consistent winner, and his main stock in trade was a clear head and fine control.”54

Salisbury, who had enlisted to fight in the Spanish-American War when he was 21, remained committed to the military throughout his life. On December 19, 1914, he was elected commander of Camp Philips, No. 4, Spanish-American War Veterans of Albany.55 He was active in reviving the Spanish Veterans’ Rifle club in the Albany armory56 and was on the committee that oversaw a preparedness parade and “monster demonstration” at the armory. “The Spanish veterans,” the Albany Daily Democrat teased readers, “will probably ride in cars.”57 He was involved in military recruitment efforts58 and in 1918 registered with Army during World War I.59

By 1921, Salisbury was working as a printer for the (Vancouver, Washington) Columbian and lived in the suburb of Orchards. By 1928, the family had moved to The Dalles, Oregon, where Salisbury worked as a printer for Chronicle Publishing Company. He stayed active, playing tennis,60 motorcycling,61 and hunting pheasants.62

Reflecting on the game of baseball in 1941, Salisbury told Associated Press staff writer Fred Hampson that pitchers of the day “don’t get enough work.” He and George Engle were the two pitchers for the 1901 Northwest-pennant winning team, and they pitched two to three times a week, and, Salisbury remarked, “I don’t remember that we ever lost a series. When Engle and myself, and later Martin Glendon, were on the mound in 1901 we could hit a nickel. And there were countless others who did just as well.” As for injuries, forget it. “Sore arm?” Salisbury said. “Not as many as they have today. Engle did his share as a pitcher and he’s still throwing—40 years later.”

In what would be Salisbury’s last interview, Hampson recorded the old pitcher’s “dislike” for “the lively ball” because it changed “the game of baseball into something else. Base-running became a lesser art; such diamond subtleties as the hit-and-run and squeeze plays almost disappeared. Finesse was sacrificed for the home run. Maybe the new fan, accustomed to power baseball, wouldn’t relish the trickery of old. It took a skilled fan to realize what was going on when a baserunner and batter matched wits with a pitcher. Anybody can see a home run.”63

Salisbury moved to Rowena, Oregon, in 1950. He died of a heart attack at his home there on January 17, 1952, at the age of 75.64 He was buried in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Cemetery in The Dalles, Oregon.

Acknowledgments

This story was reviewed by Bill Lamb and Rory Costello and fact-checked by Paul Proia.

Photo credit

Courtesy of Linda McBurney, granddaughter of Solly Salisbury.

Sources

In addition to the sources shown in the Notes, the author used Baseball-Reference.com.

Notes

1 “Unexpected Call.” An undated clipping, likely published in the late 1906 and found in the “Solly Salisbury” file available in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

2 “Briefer Local Mention,” Algona (Iowa) Republican, July 21, 1897, 5.

3 “Shaw Wants More Men,” (Algona, Iowa) Upper Des Moines, April 27, 1898, 1. Also see Benjamin F. Reed, History of Kossuth County Iowa (Chicago: S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1913), 464.

4 “Spanish American War Fifty-Second Infantry Historical Sketch,” http://genloc.com/SpAMWar/52ndReg.htm.

5 “Plum Creek Locals,” Algona Republican, July 13, 1898, 8.

6 “An Interesting Letter,” Algona Upper Des Moines, August 3, 1898, 4.

7 “Local Affairs,” Algona Republican, May 11, 1898, 5.

8 “The Topic’s Editor to Wed,” Estherville (Iowa) Daily News, June 22, 1899, 11.

9 “Local News,” Algona (Iowa) Courier, January 6, 1899, 5.

10 Same as above.

11 The Salisbury children were Lila Jean (May 6, 1900–1980); Eleanor (October 20, 1903–1994); a stillborn son in 1902; Irene May (April 27, 1905–2004); Dorothy (May 11, 1907–1986); Egbert Graham (June 10, 1910–1984); Elizabeth (February 14, 1912—about 2001); Ruth Agnes (October 22, 1913–1991); Donald Ansel (July 9, 1915–1961); and William Richard (June 4, 1917–1997).

12 “Solly Salisbury,” Baseball Reference, https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=salisb001wil.

13 “Sporting,” The Los Angeles Times, March 19, 1900, 8.

14 “Portland Baseball,” PdxHistory.com, http://www.pdxhistory.com/html/portland_baseball.html

15 “Portland Players Win,” The (Portland) Oregonian, May 23, 1901: 3.

16 “Portland 11, Seattle 2,” The Oregonian, May 31, 1901, 3.

17 Ron Finney, “Sportopic.” An undated clipping, likely published in the late 1940s and found in the “Solly Salisbury” file available in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

18 “Seattle Lost Last Game,” Oregonian, October 1, 1901, 3.

19 “Phillies Sign Salisbury,” Philadelphia Times, February 11, 1902, 10.

20 “Magnates and Players,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, March 4, 1902, 6.

21 “Phillies Sign Salisbury,” above.

22 Same as above.

23 https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/S/Psalis101.htm

24 https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NY1/NY1190204190.shtml

25 “Salisbury to Rejoin Portland,” (Spokane, Washington) Spokesman-Review, May 30, 1902, 3.

26 “Will Return to Portland Team,” (Portland) Morning Oregonian, May 30, 1902, 5.

27 “Salisbury Returns Home,” The Oregonian, July 17, 1902, 5.

28 “Pitcher Salisbury Released,” Salt Lake Herald, August 3, 1902, 4.

29 “Salisbury with Spokane,” (Helena, MT) Montana Daily Record, August 7, 1902, 2.

30 Same as above.

31 During his stay with Pendleton, Salisbury appears to have seen no game action.

32 “Notes of the Diamond,” Anaconda (Montana) Standard, September 6, 1902, 10.

33 “Six in Single Inning,” (Helena) Montana Record, September 12, 1902, 6.

34 “Butte Has Pennant,” Spokane Chronicle, October 10, 1902, 12.

35 “Six in Single Inning,” (Helena) Montana Record, September 12, 1902, 6.

36 “Noted in Press Box,” Los Angeles Evening Express, Saturday, June 20, 1908, 6.

37 “Beavers Allow Fourth Victory,” (Portland) Oregon Daily Journal, July 4, 1908, 9.

38 W.J. Slattery, “Seals Are on the Job with Another One,” San Francisco Call, July 4, 1908, 14.

39 Same as above.

40 Same as above.

41 T.P. Magilligan, “Eagan Hits the Ball Terrible Belt on Gaziz,” Oakland Tribune, July 20, 1908, 8.

42 “Solly Salisbury,” Baseball Reference, as above.

43 “Red Hot Gossip for Rabid Fans,” (Portland) Oregon Daily Journal, July 29, 1908, 9.

44 “Baseball,” Albany (Oregon) Democrat, March 4, 1910, 5.

45 “A Fine Game Is Promised for Sunday,” (Salem, Oregon) Capital Journal, August 11, 1911, 2.

46 “Swimmers Save Two,” Morning Oregonian, July 17, 1911, 3.

47 Same as above.

48 “Local Man Is Given a $1000 Check by Carnegie Hero Fund,” Oregon Daily Journal, October 29, 1916, 4. See also, “Two Oregonians Get Hero Medals,” Oregon Daily Journal, April 29, 1916, 3.

49 “Athletics Defeat Salem Senators,” Albany Democrat, August 16, 1912, 7.

50 Samuel Gore, “My All-Star Inter-City League Team,” Atchison (Kansas) Daily Globe, September 13, 1913, 5.

51 “Colts Defeat Albany Men,” Eugene (Oregon) Guard, April 11, 1913, 11.

52 “Fats Better Than Leans,” The Oregonian, April 21, 1922, 21.

53 “Do You Remember?” Morning Oregonian, July 5, 1921, 12.

54 “Lest We Forget,” Portland Oregonian, November 6, 1911, 8.

55 “Former Star Twirler Honored,” Morning Oregonian, December 19, 1914, 12.

56 “Citizens Rifle Club is Revived,” Albany Daily Democrat, April 1, 1916, 1.

57 “Big Preparedness Parade Planned Tuesday,” Albany Daily Democrat, May 26, 1916, 1.

58 “Army Officer Here After More Recruits,” Albany Daily Democrat, July 28, 1916, 1. See also, “Lebanon Sets New Recruiting Record,” Albany Daily Democrat, July 31, 1916, 1.

59 “World War 1 Draft Registration Card, https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/records?recordId=26745251&collectionId=6482&tid=&pid=&queryId=9419e5c1-28d3-4a7c-a4e7-69a648c43213&_phsrc=AJv1466&_phstart=successSource

60 Harry Leeding, “Californians Lead Net Play,” Oregon Daily Journal, July 8, 1939, 5.

61 “Take Long Motorcycle Trip,” Albany Democrat, October 10, 1913, 1.

62 “Hunted Afar, Pheasants Feed in Yard,” Albany Democrat, October 17, 1913, 3.

63 Fred Hampson, “Pitchers Lack Work Says Old Timer,” Capital Journal, June 26, 1941, 6.

64 “Salisbury Funeral to Be Held Saturday,” The Dalles Chronicle, January 18, 1952, page unknown. From a typewritten manuscript available in the “Solly Salisbury” file in the Baseball Hall of Fame.