Arthur Queisser

Was the Federal League of 1914 and 1915 a major league? If you answer “yes” to this question, Art Queisser was a major-league umpire, by virtue of having worked a four-game FL series between the St. Louis Terriers and Kansas City Packers from September 2 through 4, 1914. Queisser’s stint as an umpire capped his career in professional baseball, following a decade of minor-league playing and managing.

If your answer to the Federal League question is “no,” Queisser’s career takes on a different cast. He becomes a lifelong bush-leaguer whose career included more stops than a cross-country train, and a chronic cut-up and jokester who, for three days, traded his clown suit for umpire’s garb – the sort of implausible transformation that isn’t supposed to happen in an organization run to major-league standards.

Arthur Henry Queisser was born June 13, 1882, in Indianapolis, Indiana, the son of German immigrants Frank and Minnie (Karnatz) Queisser.1 His father worked for almost 50 years as a butcher in Indianapolis.2 The Queissers had five children – sons Arthur, Frank Jr., Oscar, and Walter, and daughter Alma.3

All four of the Queisser boys played or umpired professional or semipro baseball. This, combined with contemporary sportswriters’ tendency to refer to players by last names only, can create confusion regarding their baseball activities.4

In general, Art Queisser can be distinguished from his brothers in the historical record by his choice of position: He was the only one of the four to become a catcher.5 Walt Queisser, who began his career as a pitcher, and Art were teammates in 1905. They formed an all-Q battery in the Class C Western Association, some 75 years before such a combination was seen in the major leagues.6

Art Queisser’s professional baseball journey began in 1903, and early on he established a pattern of not staying in one place for long. In April, aged 20, he appeared at catcher in an exhibition game played by the Indianapolis Indians of the Class A American Association. An account of the game said he played well, but the team had signed catcher Sam Woodruff, making it unlikely that Queisser or another tryout catcher would stick with the Indians. They didn’t.7

Instead, Queisser split the season between two teams in the Class B Central League. One was in Evansville, Indiana; the other began the season in Anderson, Indiana, but moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan, in late May after receiving poor support in Anderson.8 Queisser – sometimes listed as Quiesser or Quiser – appears in a handful of line scores from Anderson and Evansville games over the course of the year. By the end of the summer, he was back in Indianapolis playing for an amateur team called the Washingtons.9 A news report from August 1903 also has Queisser umpiring in an Indianapolis amateur league called the Commercial League. It’s the only suggestion that he ever took an umpire’s role before his assignment in the Federal League.10

Subsequent seasons saw Queisser add more stops to his resume – Paris/Ardmore and Fort Worth of the Class C Texas League in 1904; Guthrie, Oklahoma, in the Class C Western Association in 1905; Danville and Cairo, Illinois, of the Class D Kentucky-Indiana-Tennessee League in 1906; a full season with the 1907 Leavenworth (Kansas) Convicts of the Western Association; and another split season in 1908 between Enid, Oklahoma, and Wichita, Kansas.

Queisser played in Wichita and Galveston, Texas, in 1909, before packing his bags and splitting 1910 between Fort Wayne, Indiana, and Denver, Colorado.11 He divided 1911 between Waterloo, Iowa, of the Three-I League12 and still another team on the move, the Grand Rapids, Michigan/Newark, Ohio team of the Class B Central League.13 He enjoyed a last good season with Keokuk of the Class D Central Association in 1912, when he hit .313 as a 30-year-old player-manager, before wrapping up his professional playing days with the Danville and Springfield, Illinois, teams of the Three-I League in 1913.14 In one of his last hurrahs, Queisser hit a solo homer on August 20, 1913, to give Springfield a 1-0 win over Davenport in the second game of a doubleheader.15

As of February 2023, Queisser’s playing record on Baseball-Reference included a questionable final entry, crediting him with two games in the outfield with the Cleveland Green Sox of the 1913 Federal League. The Feds of 1913 were an independent league that had not yet made their bid for major-league status but had taken some steps to draw attention, such as signing the legendary Cy Young to manage the Cleveland team.

On May 17, 1913, the Green Sox were in Indianapolis to play a doubleheader against the Indianapolis Hoosiers. A player listed as “Quiesser” appeared in right field for Cleveland in both games. The following day’s Indianapolis Star described “Quiesser” as “an Indianapolis player” who joined the Cleveland team the previous day; he went 3-for-7 with a double and a run scored in the two games.16 Art Queisser’s Baseball-Reference entry, as of February 2023, lists him as playing for the Green Sox on this date.

This credit is questionable, however, because Queisser was elsewhere on the day of the game – specifically, playing for Danville in the Three-I League. A box score printed in the Decatur, Illinois, newspaper indicates that he was Danville’s starting catcher on May 17, 1913, going 1-for-3 and being hit by a pitch in a game played in Peoria, Illinois.17 Art’s younger brother Walt – formerly a pitcher – is on record as signing as an outfielder with the Indianapolis Reserves, a local independent team, in the summer of 1913.18 Based on this evidence, it seems likely that the “Quiesser” who briefly played for Cy Young’s team was Walt, not Art.

What can we learn by tracking Art Queisser through his many stops? For one thing, there’s no sign that he was a serious big-league prospect, spending most of his career at least two levels below the major leagues. According to one 1909 story, he regularly placed among the top hitters in Class C ball and was “a sweet catcher” defensively – but, in the same breath, was described as “a little shy on the tricks of the game for Western league class.”19 In a country thronged with professional baseball leagues – 31 in 1903, more than 45 in 1913 – Queisser was good enough to find steady minor-league work, but not good enough to rise to the top. (He did play at least two preseason exhibition games against major-league teams in 1909.20)

We learn that he suffered his share of injuries, which began to mount up near the end of his career. He suffered a broken kneecap with Wichita in 190821 and a sore arm for much of 1910, at which point he was described as “hardly fit for further playing.”22 Several articles from 1913 mention him manning a coach’s box, too injured to play.23Conditioning may have had something to do with it: By 1911 he was being described as “rotund.”24 The following season, a Central League umpire complained that he had to guess on ball-and-strike calls while working behind Queisser because the catcher was too large to see around.25

But more than anything, the Art Queisser who springs from the pages of old publications is a joker with a constant line of patter, a “comedian catcher,”26 “full of fun … making jests which keep the grandstand in good humor,”27 a man with a broad smile that looked like “a slice out of a watermelon.”28

One writer called him “a jolly Dutchman and a good ball player” whose “coaching and talking alone are worth the price of admission.”29 Another gave him the closest thing he ever got to a major-league endorsement: “If noise was any recommendation Art would be a star in the big leagues.”30 And a third, describing the “lurid” new uniforms worn by the 1907 Leavenworth team, said: “They are so loud that the players cannot sleep in the same room with them. They make a noise like thunder or Art Quiesser [sic].”31

Gifted with an appealing baritone singing voice,32 Queisser toured the vaudeville circuit in the 1909-1910 offseason, performing skits and sketches with several other players.33 He complemented his off-the-field presence by dressing well, earning the name “the Beau Brummel of the Western Association.”34

Despite his reputation as a showman, Queisser held a fair degree of respect from fans and players. He was described as peppery, a hard worker and an inspiring leader.35 As a catcher, he earned praise for “ginger and generalship.”36

His sole managing job,37 with Keokuk in 1912, was marred by injuries to many of his players.38 In late July, as Keokuk stood seventh in an eight-team league with a 32-49 record, Queisser submitted his resignation. His team’s poor play reportedly caused him great concern.39 He agreed to complete the season as manager, though, when his intended replacement was delayed in arriving.40 Two future major-leaguers played for Queisser in Keokuk in 1912. Pitcher Jesse Barnes, then 19, went on to a 13-season major-league career in which he won 152 games and two World Series titles with the 1921 and 1922 New York Giants. Outfielder Pat Hilly played eight games with the 1914 Philadelphia Phillies.

In 1914, Queisser’s baseball meanderings seemed to have ended. News stories reported that he had thrown in baseball for a job in a department store in Danville, Illinois.41 It didn’t last: By late July, Queisser had applied for a position umpiring in the Three-I League.42

That didn’t come through, but a month later, he’d landed a bigger plum – a job umpiring in the Federal League, which had elbowed itself into stronger competition with the American and National leagues. “Art Quiesser [sic], former manager of the Independence Western Association ball team, is now a Federal League umpire. It’s dollars to doughnuts he’s a good one, too,” one paper reported.43

How did a man with no professional umping experience – a man who’d once been arrested after assaulting an umpire44– end up in the Federal League? The only available explanation comes from a news article headlined “How Quiesser [sic] Became Umpire.”45 According to the story, an out-of-work Queisser had traveled to Chicago to seek a department-store job, but was beaten to all available openings. He decided to look up a friend, Lloyd Rickart, who had become secretary of the Federal League.46 Rickart wasn’t in the office,47 but league president James Gilmore was, and the two began talking.

Queisser mentioned his job search and asked whether Gilmore needed umpires; Gilmore confirmed that he “could use a couple of good live men.” Queisser immediately presented himself as a new arbiter. Gilmore was so impressed by the visitor’s nerve that he gave Queisser a contract and sent him out to be fitted for an umpire’s suit. Not until Queisser returned did Gilmore learn that his new hire had no umpiring qualifications to speak of. No matter, Gilmore declared. He said he’d hired only experienced umps and had been disappointed by their performance, so he was willing to try a newcomer for a change.

The source of this story had to have been Art Queisser – Gilmore wouldn’t have told it – and given Queisser’s reputation as a joker, it should be taken with a grain of salt. At the same time, it’s as plausible an explanation as any: Perhaps a show of chutzpah to the right man at the right time really did create Queisser’s opportunity. It’s also a matter of historical fact that umpiring was a headache for the first-year Federal League. Of the circuit’s eight original umps, two were fired in midseason, and three others were not retained for 1915.48 A problem existed, even if Queisser was not its permanent solution.

One news story had Queisser replacing umpire Steve Cusack,49 but that appears incorrect, because Cusack worked two of the same three days as Queisser.50 Instead, Queisser’s pairing with Barry McCormick suggests that Queisser was temporarily replacing Spike Shannon, a midseason hire who had been McCormick’s regular partner throughout August and paired again with him for a few weeks in September.51 This raises the unanswered question of whether Queisser’s hire was meant to be permanent, or whether he was only brought on to cover for Shannon during a short-term vacancy.

Accounts of Queisser’s four games – single games on September 2 and 3 and a doubleheader September 4, all at Federal League Park in St. Louis52 – are available from several St. Louis newspapers and one Kansas City newspaper.53 The stories share one thing in common. None of them make any mention of the umpiring – no rhubarbs, no ejections, no disputed calls.54 Perhaps it was beginner’s luck, or perhaps he was legitimately talented, but nothing in the contemporary record suggests that Art Queisser was anything less than a competent umpire in his brief trial. He worked home plate for the first game of the September 4 doubleheader, a three-hit, 1-0 shutout by Kansas City’s George “Chief” Johnson, and umpired on the basepaths for the other games.

From there, Queisser’s umpiring career goes cold: There is no “How Quiesser Stopped Being an Umpire” story to tell us whether the Feds chose not to extend him, or whether he decided the arbiter’s life was not for him.55 He reportedly stayed in baseball in 1915 as playing manager of a semipro team in Danville, his last recorded involvement in the sport.56 His 1917-18 draft registration card lists him as having a “right injured knee,” which may have spelled an end to his time on the ballfield and a full-time start to his career in business.57

In 1918, Queisser was one of three people listed as directors and incorporators of the Sanitary Novelty Co. of Indianapolis, makers of tape and “gummed tape sealers.”58 Four years later, he served a similar role with the Elkhart Enamel and Paint Corporation of Elkhart, Indiana.59

Younger brother Walt worked for 38 years on the sales staff of Advance Paint Co. of Indianapolis.60 Art left the Elkhart company to join him there in 1927. This sparked legal action by Elkhart Enamel and Paint, which sued Art Queisser, Advance Paint, and others, accusing them of taking proprietary paint formulas. The case, brought seeking damages of $325,000, was decided in the Elkhart company’s favor for the much lighter sum of $45,000 in March 1928.61

This inauspicious beginning didn’t damage Art Queisser’s career in sales at Advance Paint. He was still working there at the time of his death of a heart attack on December 9, 1947, at age 65. Queisser had become “widely known among commercial and industrial paint users of the Middle West,” his obituary declared.62 The obit made no mention of Queisser’s four days as an umpire but mentioned his professional baseball career, as well as his latter-day fondness for golf and his membership in several community organizations.

Queisser was survived by his second wife, Frances;63 daughters Suzanne and Joanne; and siblings Walter and Alma. His surviving kin also included a pair of ballplayers. Herb Queisser, Walt’s son, played a single season as an infielder with the Albany Senators of the Class A New York-Pennsylvania League in 1937.64 And a second Art Queisser, the son of Arthur’s brother Oscar, was a semipro catcher who had an unsuccessful spring tryout with the 1927 Chicago Cubs.65

Acknowledgments

This article was reviewed by Rory Costello and Mike Eisenbath and fact-checked by David Kritzler.

Sources and photo credit

The author consulted Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org for background information on players, teams, and seasons.

Photo of Art Queisser from the April 2, 1903, Indianapolis News: 11.

Notes

1 Information on Queisser’s parents taken from his second marriage certificate, posted on FamilySearch.org and accessed December 29, 2022.

2 “Frank F. Queisser” (obituary), Indianapolis Star, April 28, 1911: 6.

3 “Frank F. Queisser,” Indianapolis Star, April 29, 1911: 6. Family information posted on the elder Frank Queisser’s FindAGrave page indicates that Art was the third-youngest of the Queisser children. In order, they were Oscar (born 1875), Frank Jr. (born 1879), Arthur (born 1882), Walter (born 1885), and Alma (born 1888). Page accessed December 29, 2022.

4 The Queisser family researcher must also contend with a variety of misspellings of the family name, including Quiesser, Queiser, Quisser, and Quiser.

5 Art Queisser’s Sporting News player contract card lists him as a catcher and first baseman.

6 Dan Quisenberry and Jamie Quirk of the Kansas City Royals formed the majors’ first all-Q battery on April 13, 1980. ESPN.com, “On This Date: Quisenberry and Quirk Team Up for First QQ Battery,” accessed December 29, 2022. The earliest game the author could find with Walt and Art Queisser forming an all-Q battery took place May 9, 1905, when the Queissers’ Guthrie, Oklahoma, team took on Oklahoma City. “Storm Made Them Nervous,” Oklahoma State Capital (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma), May 10, 1905: 2.

7 “Ten of Last Year’s Team Now in Fold,” Indianapolis News, April 8, 1903: 11. The other tryout catcher was identified as Bob Drury; no player by that name appears on Baseball-Reference’s page for the 1903 Indianapolis Indians, accessed December 29, 2022. The article mentions Indians manager Bill Watkins, along with two players, James Tamsett and Frank Killen, who played for the team in 1903.

8 “Change in Central League Circuit,” Evansville (Indiana) Journal-News, May 28, 1903: 1.

9 He is mentioned as a catcher for the Washingtons as early as July 28, and appeared in games for them in September. “A Few Amateur Notes,”Indianapolis Star, July 28, 1903: 7; “Danville Browns Win,” Indianapolis Journal, September 8, 1903: 6.

10 “Commercial League Meeting,” Indianapolis Journal, August 12, 1903: 6. The Commercial League appears to have been made up of teams of employees from local businesses. Other news items from 1903 warned that teams in the league would be required to forfeit games if they used players who were not bona fide employees of the sponsoring business. “Clubs Pay $1 a Week,” Indianapolis News, March 21, 1903: 10.

11 As of February 2023, Queisser’s Baseball-Reference page did not include his brief, late-season stay in Denver, but a news story cited below mentions the Denver team picking him up in late August, and he appears in a few printed box scores playing with Denver. For example, he caught both ends of Denver’s season-closing doubleheader on October 2, according to the Sioux City (Iowa) Journal, October 3, 1910: 3.

12 Illinois, Indiana, and Iowa.

13 Several news stories refer to Queisser being suspended in 1911. By one account, he disagreed with the Denver team over salary, refused to report there, and was suspended. Eventually, he was declared a free agent and resumed his career in Newark, Ohio. “Queisser Signs to Manage Club,” Keokuk (Iowa) Daily Gate City, November 3, 1911: 8.

14 Information on Queisser’s itinerant career is taken from his Baseball-Reference page, accessed December 29, 2022, and supplemented by news reports. Baseball-Reference does not list his stint with the Danville team in 1913, but news accounts make clear that Queisser played there for part of the season.

15 “Sox Lose First in Ten Rounds,” Davenport Daily Times, August 21, 1913: 11.

16 Eddie Ash, “Fed Clubs Split Bargain Day Bill,” Indianapolis Star, May 18, 1913: 33.

17 “White Holds Peoria to Only Five Bingles,” Decatur (Illinois) Daily Herald, May 18, 1913: 7.

18 “Reserves Sign Quiesser,” Indianapolis Star, June 26, 1913: 7.

19 “Western League Notes,” Topeka (Kansas) Daily Capital, May 17, 1909: 3. The league that Queisser apparently lacked the “tricks” to play in, the Western Association, was a Class C circuit, three levels below the majors.

20 On March 28, 1909, Queisser caught for the Wichita team against the Washington Senators in a 6-2 Senators victory, according to a line score published in the Topeka (Kansas) Daily State Journal, March 29, 1909: 2. And on April 5, 1909, Queisser caught for Wichita in a preseason game against the Detroit Tigers. He collected a double in four at-bats as Detroit won 15-7. “Willetts Batted Pair of Homers,” Detroit Times, April 6, 1909: 2. Queisser might have played in additional such exhibitions.

21 “Western Association Gossip,” Topeka (Kansas) Daily State Journal, July 7, 1908: 3.

22 “Art Quisser Recalled by Denver,” Fort Wayne (Indiana) Journal-Gazette, August 25, 1910: 6. The Denver Grizzlies of the Class A Western League were the highest-level team Queisser is known to have played for. Despite this article’s description of Queisser as too injured to play, newspaper box scores from 1910 indicate he did make some appearances with the Denver team.

23 “Old Poke,” “Crouch Winner over Danville,” Davenport (Iowa) Daily Times, June 24, 1913: 11; “Old Poke,” “One Bad Round Spells Defeat,” Davenport Daily Times, June 26, 1913: 13.

24 “Lack of Pinch Hits Loses for Prodigals,” Davenport Daily Times, September 8, 1911: 8.

25 “Sporting Views,” Keokuk Daily Gate City, May 20, 1912: 6. This issue also reported on a recent flap in which manager Queisser, disagreeing with an umpire’s decision, marched his team off the field and took a forfeit.

26 “Old Poke,” “Sporting Editor’s Notes,” Davenport Daily Times, August 7, 1913: 9.

27 “Sportlettes,” Wichita (Kansas) Eagle, May 28, 1908: 7.

28 “A Quiet Bunch,” Leavenworth (Kansas) Post, August 26, 1907: 6.

29 “Wichita to Play Here,” Wellington (Kansas) Daily News, March 23, 1909: 1.

30 “Western League Notes,” Topeka State Journal, May 14, 1909: 2.

31 “Western Association Gossip,” Topeka State Journal, June 3, 1907: 2.

32 “In Baseball Circles,” Wichita Beacon, May 27, 1908: 7.

33 “Catcher Arthur Quiesser Is a Vaudeville Man,” Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette, April 17, 1910: 14.

34 “Just a Dozen of the Jobbers Here,” Wichita Beacon, March 22, 1909: 7.

35 “Obituaries are Not in Order,” Keokuk (Iowa) Daily Gate City, April 7, 1912: 6.

36 “Baseball,” Independence (Kansas) Evening Star, January 19, 1910: 8.

37 As of December 2022, Baseball-Reference listed Queisser as managing both the Kewanee and Keokuk teams of the Central Association in 1912. News stories from that season indicate that Queisser was Keokuk’s manager at the start and end of the season; the author found no record that Queisser managed the Kewanee team.

38 “Art Queisser with Danville,” Davenport Daily Times, January 29, 1913: 13.

39 “‘Wee Will’ Prout to Manage Indians,” Keokuk Daily Gate City, July 22, 1912: 6.

40 “Keokuk Not to Change Managers as Reported,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, August 4, 1912: 2B.

41 “Arthur Quiesser Has Quit Baseball,” Decatur Herald and Review, January 15, 1914: 4; “Sport Stories Briefly Told,” Decatur Review, April 11, 1914: 5.

42 “Quisser an Umpire?,” Decatur Review, July 23, 1914: 5.

43 “Federal Umpire,” Independence Evening Star, September 1, 1914: 8.

44 “Just Bounders,” Wichita Beacon, June 2, 1909: 7; “Around the Diamond,” Enid (Oklahoma) Daily Eagle, June 3, 1909: 8. Gilmore seems unlikely to have known about this incident, and Queisser would have been even more unlikely to have told him about it.

45 This and the next paragraph are based on “How Quiesser Became Umpire,” Decatur Daily Review, August 31, 1914: 5. The copy of the story in Newspapers.com is in poor condition, but can be read with attention. A note at the beginning of the article suggests it originally ran in a Danville, Illinois, newspaper. (Incidentally, as of January 2023, the Giamatti Research Center at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum did not have a clip file of stories about Art Queisser.)

46 One of the great unanswered questions of this story is how Queisser and Rickart knew each other. Rickart had served as secretary of the St. Louis Browns from 1902 to 1913 before taking his position with the Federal League. In his research for this biography, the author found no references to connect Queisser to the Browns. Associated Press, “Lloyd H. Rickart, 72, Succumbs at Toledo,” Baltimore Sun, August 1, 1943: 4.

47 The Federal League was based in Chicago until August 1915, when it moved its headquarters to New York City. “Gilmore to Locate Here,” New York Times, July 15, 1915: 10.

48 David W. Anderson, “Bill Brennan,” SABR Biography Project, accessed December 29, 2022. Steven Kane and Garnet Bush were the FL umpires fired during the season; Monte Cross, Steve Cusack, and Al Mannassau were not brought back for 1915.

49 “Queisser Named ‘Ump’ by Federal Officials,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 28, 1914: 12.

50 According to Retrosheet, Cusack worked the Baltimore-Pittsburgh doubleheader on September 3 and the Baltimore-Buffalo game the following day, while Queisser was umping the St. Louis-Kansas City series.

51 1914 day-by-day game logs for McCormick and Shannon are available on Retrosheet.

52 Also known as Handlan’s Park.

53 Articles consulted included: From the Kansas City Times, “Packers Lost in St. Louis,” September 3, 1914: 6; “In a 12-Inning Victory,” September 4, 1914: 8; and “Won and Lost in St. Louis,” September 5, 1914: 8. From the St. Louis Globe-Democrat: Glen L. Wallar, “Davenport Gets Hit Freely, but Lands Game, 4-3,” September 3, 1914: 6; Glen L. Wallar, “Kansas City Takes First, 1-0; Locals Take Second, 2-1,” September 5, 1914: 7. From the St. Louis Star: “Feds are Staging Season’s Farewell Battles This Week,” September 3, 1914: 8; “Feds Bid Farewell to St. Louis after Today’s Twin Bill,” September 4, 1914: 6; Billy Murphy, “Feds Bid Adieu to St. Louis for Season of 1914,” September 5, 1914: 6. From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “Terriers Game, but Lose when Pitcher Cracks,” September 4, 1914: 10.

54 Brief wire-service roundups of the games that appeared in papers across the U.S. also made no mention of any controversy – although given the stories’ short length, anything short of a benches-clearing brawl would probably have gone unmentioned.

55 Queisser’s umping career was so brief that some U.S. newspapers were still running a wire-service item about his appointment after his four-game stint was over. An example is “Now an Umpire,” Buffalo Enquirer, September 10, 1914: 8.

56 “Three-I Grist,” Moline (Illinois) Daily Dispatch, March 11, 1915: 12.

57 Arthur H. Queisser draft card, accessed via FamilySearch.org December 29, 2022.

58 “Incorporations,” Indianapolis Star, August 6, 1918: 10; “Novelty Manufacturers” (classified ad), Indianapolis Star, November 10, 1919: 19. Queisser’s draft card, cited above, lists his occupation as sales manager with the Sanitary Novelty Co. at 1061 Udell St., Indianapolis.

59 “Incorporations,” Indianapolis Star, October 21, 1922: 16.

60 “Walter Queisser, Ex-Pitcher, Dies,” Indianapolis News, July 5, 1954: 24.

61 “Fear Paint Formulas Going to Rival Firm,” Muncie (Indiana) Evening Press, August 19, 1927: 7; International News Service, “Advance Company Loses Paint Suit,” Indianapolis Star, March 4, 1928: 27. For context, an online CPI inflation calculator provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Services indicates that $325,000 in August 1927 would have the same buying power as more than $5.6 million in November 2022. A sum of $45,000 in March 1928 had the same buying power as $783,450 in November 2022.

62 “Arthur H. Queisser, Paint Company Employee, Dies,” Indianapolis Star, December 10, 1947: 31.

63 Queisser’s first marriage, in 1908, was to Pearl Speakman, according to Indiana marriage records accessed through FamilySearch.org. That marriage ended in divorce in 1916, according to his second marriage license, cited above. A daughter, Mildred, is listed on Queisser’s 1917-18 draft card as his closest relative.

64 As of December 2022 he was listed in Baseball-Reference as “Herb Quiesser.” “Walter Queisser, Ex-Pitcher, Dies” confirms the relationship between Walt and Herb Queisser.

65 “Kids Envy Him,” Indianapolis Times, January 12, 1923: 10; Irving Vaughan, “Deluge Deprives Cubs of Chance to Throw Steers,” Chicago Tribune, April 1, 1927: 25.