Lake View Cemetery

Formed in 1869 by a group of Cleveland’s leaders, the Lake View Cemetery Association established the285-acreLake View Cemetery. Located where Cleveland, Cleveland Heights and East Cleveland join, Lake View is best known as the burial site of James Abram Garfield, twentieth President of the United States, and John D. Rockefeller, founder of the Standard Oil Company.

Among the many prominent people buried at Lake View, several were major league baseball players. The most famous ballplayer interred there is Raymond Johnson Chapman (1891-1920), the only major league player to die as a result of being hit by a pitched ball. Bill James, noted baseball analyst, wrote of Chapman in his Historical Baseball Abstract (1985): “Chapman was a tremendous offensive and defensive player, probably destined for the Flail of Fame had he lived.” Mike Sowell’s gripping 1989 book The Pitch That Killed describes the arguments that resulted in Chapman being buried at Lake View Cemetery.

Peter James (Monkey) Hotaling (1856-1928) was a nineteenth-century star outfielder in the `70s and `80s. He compiled a .267 average in his years with several teams. Noted as a good fielder and speedy runner, Hotaling played five years for Cleveland teams in the National League and American Association.

Edward William McFarland (1874-1959) was a major league catcher for 14 seasons from 1896-1908, principally with Philadelphia in the National League and Chicago in the American. He played in 887 games and compiled a .275 lifetime batting average. He had one unsuccessful World Series pinch-hit at-bat in 1906. The fact that McFarland played major league baseball was not mentioned in his obituaries.

Charles “Heinie” Berger (l882-1954) pitched for the Cleveland Naps between 1907 and 1910, winning 32 and losing 29 games. Berger hurled for the Columbus Redbirds during their pennant-winning years of 1905, 1906 and 1907. In 1906 he led the American Association pitchers with a record of 28 and 13. A spitball pitcher, Berger’s best Cleveland year was 1908 when he won 13 and lost 8 with a 2.12 ERA. After he left the Naps, Berger pitched for Cleveland amateur teams on the sandlots.

Although his real name was Wilbur Arlington Tarbert (1904-1946), the gravestone at Lake View simply reads Arlie Tarbert. A star baseball and basketball player at Ohio State University, Tarbert was with the Boston Red Sox during parts of the 1927 and 1928 seasons. An outfielder, Tarbert played in 39 games with a batting average of .186.

A prominent person in the history of Cleveland baseball, Alva Bradley (1884 -1953) is also buried at Lake View Cemetery. From a successful lake shipping and Cleveland downtown real estate family, Bradley and other Cleveland businessmen purchased the Indians in 1927 and sold then) to a Bill Veeck-led group in 1946. During Bradley’s tenure, the Indians frequently finished in the first division and in 1940 lost out to the Tigers by one game. Several great players were secured by Bradley during this period including Earl Averill, Wes Ferrell, Bob Feller, Mel Harder, Bob Lemon and Hal Trosky. One of his major decisions was to name the 24-year-old Lou Boudreau manager for the 1942
season.