Charlie High

The most athletically gifted of three big league brothers, Charlie High hit .323 across 14 minor league seasons, but could not turn that heavy hitting into anything more than a pair of September tryouts with the last-place Philadelphia Athletics in 1919 and 1920.

Charles Edwin High was born December 1, 1898, in Ava, Illinois, to Richard and Margaret (Aird) High. The Highs met while Richard, an army musician, was stationed at Jefferson Barracks near St. Louis; Margaret and her widowed mother were living nearby after emigrating from Ireland. The Highs married in 1885 and returned to Richard’s hometown of Pottsville, Pennsylvania, where their first son Hugh was born in 1887. In 1894, the Highs moved to Ava, where Richard took a job as an engineer at the small town’s grain mill. There Andy was born in 1897 and Charlie a year later.

When Charlie was four years old, his father, seeking better schools for his children and better employment for himself, moved the family away from rural southern Illinois and into the baseball-rich neighborhood of Kerry Park in St. Louis. The High boys found accredited high schools with sports programs and innumerable amateur and semiprofessional baseball teams, including the famed Wabadas, which had graduated Muddy Ruel and Charlie Hollocher into professional baseball the year before Charlie High joined the team in July 1916.1

In those days, any boy playing baseball in St. Louis was known to Charley Barrett. After his minor-league career ended in 1906, Barrett returned to St. Louis and began scouting for Branch Rickey and the St. Louis Browns.2 Barrett, the “King of the Weeds,” had an unmatched eye for finding baseball talent seemingly anywhere. In one summer, he placed a record 57 prospects with minor league clubs.3 By 1919, both Rickey and Barrett had moved to the Cardinals front office when the Houston Buffaloes approached the well-respected scout looking to sign a pitcher, a shortstop, an outfielder, and even a new manager after Pat Newnam quit the previous July.4

The outfielder Barrett suggested was Charlie High, and though newspapers in both Houston and St. Louis reported that High would play for the Buffaloes in 1919, he never did. The Buffaloes claimed to have never received High’s contract, so he instead tried out with the Evansville (Indiana) Evas, in the Class B Three-I League.5 Evas manager Johnny Nee was so “well pleased with the hitting ability of the newcomer,” he signed the left-handed hitting, right-handed throwing High after just one workout.6 In preparation for the opening of the season, the Evas played the Charles Denbys, a local semipro outfit sponsored by the Fendrich Cigar Company.7 High hit a home run said to have “landed somewhere in Scott Township” 15 miles from Evansville.8

High played every outfield position for Evansville and even seven games at third base. After he started hitting with “the velocity of a shrapnel shell,” he was placed in the Evas’ cleanup spot on August 1.9 Two weeks later, High was hitting .320 and the Philadelphia Athletics outbid both the Detroit Tigers and Chicago Cubs, paying $2,000 for High, then the most ever for a Three-I Leaguer.10

After being swept by the Boston Braves in the 1914 World Series, the A’s were a last-place team for seven straight seasons. They were so bad in 1918 that Charlie’s big brother Hugh refused to play for them and instead accepted a suspension when the Yankees tried selling him to the A’s.11 The Mackmen were even worse in 1919, having been in last place for nearly four months when the 20-year-old Charlie High joined them on September 4.12 Manager Connie Mack pinch-hit High for pitcher Win Noyes in the bottom of the seventh in their September 5 game against the Red Sox.13 (History had already been made four innings earlier when Babe Ruth hit his 25th home run of the season to tie the American League record set by Buck Freeman in 1899.)14 Sad Sam Jones retired the 5-foot-10, 170-pound High and the A’s eventually lost, 15-7.15

High’s first start came on September 6 against the Red Sox. He got his first hit on September 9, singling off the Tigers’ Doc Ayers to drive in the winning run for the A’s in the bottom of the ninth. High was one of six “callow youths from the underbrush” to start that game, and his game-winning hit “caused a smile to appear on the careworn features of Connie Mack, where a smile has not dared to show itself all summer.”16 High got just one more hit in his 11-game trial, a single off the Browns’ Rasty Wright on September 19, to finish with a .069 batting average.

Hoping to spark a rise from the American League cellar, Mack fielded major league baseball’s youngest team for 1920. Mack had no aspirations for a pennant but believed his youthful players could finish as high as sixth place.17 Throughout spring training, High competed with Whitey Witt for the team’s fourth outfield spot, but when the A’s headed north from Lake Charles, Louisiana, Witt was with the team and High was optioned to the Atlanta Crackers.18

In Atlanta, High played right field alongside Al Wingo and Sam Mayer in the Southern Association’s “greatest hitting outfield.”19 When High doubled and tripled on May 4, Atlanta Journal sportswriter Morgan Blake thereafter called him “that eminent artillery commander.”20 A month later, Athletics left fielder Tillie Walker was injured and some wondered if High would get his second shot in Philadelphia.21 After all, Mack had made a commitment to youth, and Walker and defensively liable reserve outfielder Amos Strunk were the team’s two oldest players. As it turned out, Walker needed just six days to recuperate and Strunk filled in admirably, going 9-for-21 at the plate and committing just one error.

Meanwhile, High became not only the Crackers’ “most consistent star” but also their most beloved player.22 When he was finally recalled on September 9, he was leading the team in runs batted in, was among the league leaders in doubles and triples, and had built a reputation for getting along with everybody — even umpires. He left Atlanta the next morning carrying “the admiration of the fans of Crackertown with him.”23

High joined the A’s in Cleveland on September 12 and singled twice off Indians left-hander Duster Mails. High collected four more hits two days later as the Athletics won for just the 45th time all season. From Cleveland, the A’s went to St. Louis for a series against the Browns. At Sportsman’s Park, in front of family and friends, Charlie High played the greatest game of his brief big league career on September 16. Leading off the second inning, High drove a Joe DeBerry delivery deep into the right field bleachers for his only major league home run. He added two run-scoring singles later in the game, including one in the top of the 11th inning that pushed the Athletics to an 8-4 victory. High had another three-hit game the next day and slapped three singles off future Hall of Famer Red Faber of the White Sox on September 20.

In 17 games with the A’s in 1920, High hit .308 with a .375 on-base percentage and .415 slugging percentage, all much better numbers than any of the other late-season callups. Mack was less impressed and optioned High to the Columbus Senators in December, a move that surprised many in Philadelphia.24 One sportswriter suggested High had played with an injured foot that limited his speed and outfield range during his trial with the A’s.25 Another referenced his “erratic” defense — five errors in just 34 chances — as the reason for being optioned.26 A third said simply that Mack had “funny ways.”27

Whatever the reason, new Columbus manager Pants Rowland hoped High could help the team improve upon their seventh-place finish of 1920.28 By mid-June, High was hitting .385, fifth in the American Association, while the Senators as a whole ranked dead last in hitting and fielding — and the standings.29 High remained the team’s best hitter throughout the summer and a recall to Philadelphia was expected in late August.30 Instead, Mack purchased the contract of Ben Mallonee from the Portsmouth Truckers of the Class B Virginia League and signed Zip Collins from an Oil City, Pennsylvania, semipro outfit, before selling High to Detroit in December for $7,500.31

The Tigers had no plans for High, purchasing him only to complete a trade with the Portland Beavers of the Class AA Pacific Coast League in which Detroit received pitchers Syl Johnson and Herman Pillette in exchange for eight players and $40,000 — at the time the most ever spent for two minor league players.32 Like the Senators, the Beavers also hoped to rebuild with High’s help. New manager Tom “Tink” Turner had originally signed High when Turner scouted for the Athletics; three years later, he still believed in the young outfielder, whom he compared to Jimmy O’Connell and future Hall of Famer Sam Crawford.33

When the Beavers gathered at their spring den in Pasadena, California, High was one of 20 new players dubbed either “the best galaxy of stars which have ever studded the Pacific firmament, or the variest [sic] bunch of lemons the sport has seen in these parts.”34 Among them were six outfielders, with High tabbed for center field, Jim Thorpe the hopeful for left, and a quartet of prospects competing for right.35 Thorpe, however, had injured his throwing arm the previous fall while playing with the Cleveland Indians of the American Professional Football Association, so High began the season as the Beavers’ left fielder.36 He doubled in the Beavers’ 10-5 loss to the Angels on April 5 in what was described as “undoubtedly one of the frigidest opening games of baseball ever played south of the north pole.”37 The game set a new low attendance record for opening day in Los Angeles.38

Two weeks later, the Beavers arrived in Portland for their home opener. Some 21,500 fans squeezed into Vaughn Street Park, then the most to ever see a Pacific Coast League game.39 The Beavers had remade their outfield on the road trip with Thorpe healed and in left field, Dick Cox in center, and High in right. High was also moved up to the second spot in the lineup and went 3-for-4 in the opener. Although the Beavers lost to Oakland, 4-1, High won several prizes for his play, including:

• A new hat for scoring the first run,
• A five-pound bucket of lard for starting a double play from right field in the ninth inning,
• A ham that he split with third baseman Sammy Hale for completing the double play, and
• A new Spalding baseball glove for being the overall best player of the game.40

By mid-May, the Beavers were nine games under .500 and dead last in the standings before a 22-7 run elevated them to third place. High hit .308 with four home runs during that stretch and drew the eyes of scouts who had gathered in San Francisco to watch the Beavers play the Seals in a series that began on June 14. High was 6-for-18 in that series before he was hit in the right arm by Seals pitcher Ernie Alten and missed five games. Whether the layoff cost High another shot at the majors is uncertain, but he remained with the Beavers, hitting .316 in 178 games with 24 home runs — second-most in the league — and 107 runs batted in, which was eighth-best.41 Defensively, High ranked 10th-best in the league with just 12 errors in 371 chances.42

The day after the season ended, High married Helen Sylvia Paddock in Portland on October 16, 1922, then the couple caught the morning train to Chicago for their honeymoon.43 Two weeks later, the Highs were in St. Louis, where Charlie teamed up with brother Andy, Mickey O’Neil, Dee Walsh, and other St. Louis ballplayers to meet the St. Louis Stars of the Negro National League at Stars Park on October 29 for the second of a three-game series. The St. Louis Argus, the city’s Black newspaper, praised the game for having “brought the men in actual contest on equal grounds and without prejudice [and] with true sportsmanship, which has served to bring them closer together and created a new friendship.”44 Deacon Meyers scattered five hits over nine innings while home runs from Oscar Charleston and Charlie Blackwell helped the Stars to an easy 8-0 victory.45

After a brief holdout, High signed his 1923 contract and arrived at the Beavers’ spring camp in Hanford, California, on March 5.46 High’s slugging the year before convinced new manager Jim Middleton to move him to the cleanup spot for the new season. High hit .357 with two home runs and seven doubles through the Beavers’ first 11 games, but a sore knee limited him to just a handful of appearances over the next month.47 A week after he returned to everyday play on May 14, his average had dipped to .250. However, a 10-game hitting streak in which High went 17-for-39 put him back in the .300 club. At season’s end, he and Jim Poole led the Beavers with .339 averages.

High held out again in 1924 for what was reported as “much more than $500 a month,” a salary “out of all proportion to [his] worth.”48 Meanwhile, Portland acquired another left-handed hitting outfielder, John Jones, and High, perhaps sensing his expendability, accepted the Beavers’ original offer just hours before suspension notices were sent to the remaining holdouts.49 With his late spring arrival, High had just six at-bats in the Beavers’ first five games, and after Portland lost all five, manager Duke Kenworthy blamed High and the other holdouts for not being ready.50 High began playing every day on April 17 and hit a respectable .286 over the next 11 games before a tonsillectomy on April 28 put him back on the bench for three weeks.51 High struggled to find his stride afterward; he was hitting just .225 when he “suddenly discovered what a bat is for” and hit a three-run homer — his first of the year — on May 30.52 He then mashed four more in his next seven games. High was one of six Beavers regulars to hit over .300, but the team’s overall lackadaisical play led to a finish just one game out of last place.

Three days after the end of the Beavers’ disappointing season, excitement returned to Vaughn Street Park when Babe Ruth arrived during his 1924 barnstorming tour. Promoters arranged for Ruth and Yankees teammate Bob Meusel to oppose one another on teams of local ballplayers sponsored by the Portland Elks Lodge and a Masonic fraternity, the Gul Reazee Grotto. After making outs his first few times at bat, Ruth “swung on one of Bob Meusel’s fast ones and sent it almost out of sight in the darkling spaces overhead.”53 Following Ruth’s home run, the field was “engulfed in the maelstrom of enthusiastic youth.”54 The game was called with the Elks leading Charlie High and his Grotto teammates, 10-6.55

High returned to the Beavers in 1925 as one of just nine players from the previous season’s roster.56 The housecleaning began with pitcher Clyde Schroeder and outfielder Ike Wolfer, who were identified as the “leaders of the clubhouse soviet that wrecked team morale.”57 Joining High in the new Portland outfield were Duffy Lewis, who had led the Pacific Coast League with a .392 average as player-manager of the Salt Lake City Bees in 1924, and Ray Rohwer, who had hit 70 home runs over the previous two seasons with the Seattle Indians. High was, once again, part of a highly touted slugging outfield.58

The Beavers opened their 1925 season on the road in Los Angeles on April 7. High, batting second, drove in the team’s first run of the year with a first-inning double. The new spot in the order suited him well as he was “slugging the ball harder than ever” and hit .451 during a 25-game hitting streak that was stopped on May 23 by spitballing Frank Shellenback of Sacramento.59 Writers in other Coast League cities noticed that High was “playing the best ball he has ever played” when he sprained his ankle so badly making a diving catch in Seattle on June 10 that he had to be carried from the field.60 High needed three weeks to heal, but once he did, he went 4-for-4 in his first game back and earned mention as a major league prospect for the first time in three years.61

On August 13, rain canceled the fourth game in the Beavers’ series with Oakland. When play resumed with a doubleheader the next day, Charlie High was a father. The Highs’ only child, Robert Paddock High, was born during the rainout. The next day, Charlie —demonstrating what is now called “Dad Strength” across major league baseball —hit a home run.62 High ended the year with exactly 20 homers for the third straight season.

On December 8, 1925, High’s tenure in Portland came to unexpected end when he was sold to the Buffalo Bisons of the Class AA International League for $8,500.63 To Oakland Tribune sportswriter Eddie Murphy, “the angle of the deal [was] hard to figure.”64 He concluded that High had been “railroaded,” given that he had led the Beavers with his .337 average, driven in 107 runs, and had the third most outfield assists in the league. Word from Portland was that despite being a “mainstay” and “one of the most popular players,” High had “lost some of his speed.”65

The sale was an unwelcome surprise to High as well and he asked Bisons president Sam Robertson what it would cost to buy his release.66 No price was reported and High arrived at the Bisons’ spring camp in Palmetto, Florida, on March 25, just six days before the team broke for Buffalo.67 Three weeks later, the Bisons were in Springfield, Massachusetts, for their final exhibition game. Batting in the seventh inning, High was hit in the head and knocked unconscious.68 Not injured badly, he recovered and made his first start on April 21. It featured “three resounding smacks, including two doubles and a triple” as the Bisons won just their second game of the young season.69 High quickly became one of manager Bill Clymer’s “regular batting demons” and led the Bisons to 12 straight victories that put them just three games behind the first-place Baltimore Orioles.70

High was once more being described as a big leaguer-to-be after a “ferocious hitting rampage” that included the longest home run ever witnessed in Buffalo and a 16-game hitting streak that boosted his average to .362 by the end of May.71 He endeared himself to Buffalonians with his glove too, like on June 20, when his running catch of a seeming double preserved a no-hitter for Walt Leverenz.72 Persistent leg cramps slowed High in late July, however, andhe finished the season batting .320 as the Bisons slid to fourth place.73

The 1927 season was a short one for High. He dislocated his right collarbone early in spring training and did not make his season debut until May 2 when he drove in two runs with a game-winning, pinch-hit single that put Buffalo atop the International League standings.74 High made his first start on May 20 and drove in two runs with a pair of doubles in what was also his last game with the Bisons. Immediately thereafter he was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs for utility infielder Carl Schmehl.75 With Toronto, High became a platoon outfielder, hitting .257 in 70 games, mostly against right-handed pitching. At the end of the season, he was sold to Baltimore along with Bobby LaMotte for $6,000.76

High and Orioles owner Jack Dunn never came to terms on a contract for 1928, so High returned home to St. Louis, where he was loaned a Cardinals road jersey and worked out with brother Andy, who was in his first year as a Cardinal infielder.77 Baltimore eventually released High in mid-June and the last-place Columbus Senators of the American Association took a flier on the veteran slugger, who hit .343 in 80 games.78

Columbus brought High back for 1929 and he put on a power display unlike any other in his professional career, hitting five home runs in the season’s first seven games.79 High hit his sixth home run on April 27, and became part of history when he and teammate Estel Crabtree each hit a grand slam in the fifth inning of a blowout win over the Milwaukee Brewers.80 High also had a unique statistic in that game: driving in six runs while only registering one hit in one official at-bat (his other two runs batted in coming on a sacrifice fly and a bases-loaded walk). By the end of May, though, High’s six home runs were about all he had to show for and with rosters in the league set to be reduced to 20 on June 1, the .222-hitting High was released.81

An offer from Mike Kelley, manager of the American Association’s Minneapolis Millers, soon found High and they came to terms on June 2.82 The next day, High hit a grand slam in just his second Miller at-bat, infuriating Columbus fans.83 They were further incensed after they watched him homer and drive in three runs against the Senators in a mid-June series.84 W.F. McKinnon of the Columbus Dispatch likened High’s release to the Senators trading away former major leaguer Eddie Murphy in 1925 and denounced it as “one of the most heinous crimes in the history of baseball.”85 High hit a career-high 28 home runs in 1929, just five fewer than league-leader Dusty Cooke hit in 39 more games.

High continued his resurgence with the Millers the following season, becoming part of the Minneapolis Murderer’s Row that included Bernie Neis, Ernie Smith, Spencer Harris, and Nick Cullop.86 High again proved particularly deadly to Columbus, hitting .568 with eight home runs, 20 runs batted in, and 24 runs scored in 16 games against the Senators. Columbus was not the only club High pummeled in 1930; he finished the season leading the league with a superb .382 average.87

High’s career nearly ended on April 11, 1931, when he crashed into temporary bleachers that had been constructed in the outfield of Chattanooga’s Joe Engel Stadium during the Millers’ next-to-last spring exhibition game.88 High secured the out but dislocated his shoulder, bruised his ribs, and hurt his knee, causing him to miss the first three weeks of the season.89 High returned on May 4 and, true to form, hit a long home run in just his second at-bat.90 He was leading the Millers with 12 homers and hitting .290 when he was released on July 16 after Minneapolis signed Art Ruble.91 Charles Johnson of the Minneapolis Star wrote:

Charley High is one of the finest, cleanest cut and sincerest of ball players that ever wore a baseball uniform. … Charley was a gentleman on and off the field. … He always gives his best to his employers. He never loafed on the job. He is a credit to baseball and it is with regret that he had to be cut loose.92

Almost immediately, High’s old teammate and roommate Emmett McCann, then player-manager of the Indianapolis Indians, signed him.93 In 20 games, High hit .302 before he was released on August 15.94

In December, High, by then 33 years old, was one of several veterans brought to Seattle by owner Bill Klepper for the 1932 season.95 High hit just .239 in 25 games with the Indians and was released on May 8.96

With his playing days finished, Charlie, Helen, and Robert made their home in the Portland suburb of Oak Grove, Oregon. Charlie, an accomplished accountant outside of baseball, began his second career as chief accountant with the Oregon Unemployment Compensation Commission in 1938.97 He also became very involved with Portland’s Old-Timers and Active Players Baseball Association, which aided ball players in need and offered coaching camps for kids.98 High continued in both these roles until his untimely death from a heart attack on September 11, 1960.99 He was buried in Portland’s Memorial Mausoleum.

Acknowledgments

This biography was reviewed by Bill Lamb and Rory Costello and fact-checked by Joe Wancho.

Sources

Ancestry.com, Baseball-Reference.com, Buffalo Courier Express, Buffalo News, Buffalo Times, Columbus Dispatch, Indianapolis Star, Minneapolis Tribune, Murdock, Eugene, Baseball Players and Their Times: Oral Histories of the Game, 1920-1940 (Westport, CT: Meckler Publishing, 1991), Oregon Daily Journal, Oregonian, Retrosheet.com, StatsCrew.com, Toronto Globe, Tow, Michael, “Hugh High,” SABR Biography Project, accessed November 29, 2022.

Notes

1 High had previously played for the Empire Furniture Company team and the Geller, Ward, and Hassner Hardware Company team before joining the Wabadas on July 16, 1916. He later played for the Suburbans and Cardinals of the St. Louis Municipal Independent League. “All Ready for Schalk Day at Litchfield,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, October 23, 1915: 11; “Bascom’s Club Owns Place in ‘Win’ Column,” St. Louis Star, July 17, 1916: 11; Dwayne Isgrig, “Muddy Ruel,” SABR Biography Project, accessed November 29, 2022; and Steve Dunn, “Charlie Hollocher,” SABR Biography Project, accessed November 29, 2022.

2 Jim Sandoval, “Charley Barrett,” SABR Biography Project, accessed December 8, 2022.

3 “Barrett Recommends Starr,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, February 11, 1926: 20; and “Scout Barrett Finds Jobs for 15 Local Ball Players,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 8, 1919: 10.

4 The Cardinals had a long-standing working relationship with the Buffaloes and eventually took control of the team in 1924. Peter Golenbock, The Spirit of St. Louis: A History of the St. Louis Cardinals and Browns (New York: Harper Entertainment, 2001), 91; Dick Farrington, “Branch Rickey, Defending Farms, Says Stark Necessity Forced System,” The Sporting News, December 1, 1932; “Houston Magnates Busy Lining Up Players for the 1919 Team,” Houston Post, February 2, 1919: 16; “Houston Buffs Sign Up Two Fast Young Outfielders for Season,” Houston Post, March 2, 1919: 18; Clarence F. Lloyd, “Jack Smith Only Serious Holdout, Rickey Believes,” St. Louis Star, February 8, 1919; and Bill Lamb, “Pat Newnam,” SABR Biography Project, accessed December 8, 2022.

5 Under Branch Rickey, the St. Louis Cardinals and their affiliates would be investigated many times by Commissioner Kenesaw Landis for their shady dealings with minor league players and their contracts. In fact, Landis’ first ruling as commissioner involved a Cardinals outfield prospect named Phil Todt who Rickey had assigned to the Buffaloes without Todt ever signing a contract. Todt would be the first of over 100 minor league players freed from a contract with the Cardinals by Landis during his tenure as baseball’s first commissioner. It is unknown if High was victim to the same kind of chicanery, but Rickey and the Cardinals were known to have secret agreements with players and clubs as well as altering, discarding, or failing to report having received player contracts. James M. Gould, “Pepper Is Principal Ingredient of Cards’ First Labor Session,” St. Louis Star, March 25, 1919: 15; “Nee Now Has Thirteen Men; Will Work Them Out in Middle of Day,” Evansville (Indiana) Journal, April 20, 1919: 19; and Golenbock, 91-92.

6 “Nee Now Has Thirteen.”

7 The Fendrich Cigar Company, maker of the timeless Charles Denby cigar, operated in Evansville from 1855 to 1969. “Herrmann & John Fendrich,” Cigar History Museum (website), accessed December 10, 2022, https://cigarhistory.info/Cigar_companies-brands/H_Fendrich.html.

8 “Nee’s Warriors Prove Victorious,” Evansville Journal, April 28, 1919: 6.

9 “Sport Jabs,” Evansville (Indiana) Press, June 2, 1919: 2.

10 The price the Athletics paid for High was not disclosed at first, but in December the Evansville Journal-News reported the A’s paid $750 up front and would pay an additional $1,250 if they kept High under contract for 1920, which they did. Dave Brown, “With Exception of Two Players Evas Will be Intact Next Year,” Evansville (Indiana) Journal-News, December 14, 1919; and “St. Louis School Star Is Sold to Athletics,” St. Post-Dispatch, August 16, 1919: 10.

11 “Manager Huggins Suspends Hugh High,” Hartford (Connecticut) Courant, June 1, 1918: 12.

12 “Notes of the Athletics’ Game,” Philadelphia Inquirer, September 3, 1919: 14.

13 Jim Nasium [Edgar Forrest Wolfe], “Triple Play Busts Up the Ball Game,” Philadelphia Inquirer, September 6, 1919: 14.

14 “Babe Ruth Ties Home Run Record,” Philadelphia Inquirer, September 6, 1919: 14.

15 The exact outcome of High’s at-bat is unknown as the play-by-play account of this game has not survived.  “Minors to Carry Fight into Court,” Harrisburg (Pennsylvania) News, September 4, 1919: 15.

16 Jim Nasium, “Mack’s Recruits Surprise Tigers,” Philadelphia Inquirer, September 10, 1919: 14.

17 Robert W. Maxwell, “C. Mack Has Great Chance to Get Out of Cellar This Year,” Philadelphia Evening Public Ledger, March 16, 1920: 10.

18 Jack Veiock, “Connie Mack, Veteran Philly Pilot, Is Not Discouraged, but Intends to Make a Strong Effort to Come Back with a Winning Team,” El Paso (Texas) Herald, March 10, 1920: 10; and Cliff Wheatley, “Crackers Get Three Players,” Atlanta Constitution, April 11, 1920: n.p.

19 Cliff Wheatley, “Crackers Home Stay May Decide Fate in Pennant Race,” Atlanta Constitution, June 29, 1920: 10.

20 Morgan Blake, “Crackers Outplay Chicks and Win Opener 7 to 3; Tom Sheehan Works Today,” Atlanta Journal, May 5, 1920: 19.

21 “Indians Wallop Perry for 10 Hits,” Philadelphia Inquirer, June 10, 1920: 14; and James C. Isaminger, “Heavy Hitting Not Due to New Sphere,” The Sporting News, June 10, 1920: 1.

22 Morgan Blake, “Charlie High, Crackers Most Consistent Star, to Leave Today to Join Athletics,” Atlanta Journal, September 10, 1920: 23.

23 Cliff Wheatley, “Charlie High Leaves Town to Join Connie’s Outfit,” Atlanta Constitution, September 10, 1920: 10; and “Promising Youths Recalled by Mack,” Philadelphia Evening Public Ledger, September 11, 1920: 12.

24 “Mack Sells Burrus,” Philadelphia Inquirer, December 28, 1920: 12; and “Baseball Briefs for Diamond Fans,” Hartford Courant, December 30, 1920: 12.

25 “Athletic Rookie Goes to Columbus,” (Norfolk) Virginian Pilot, December 22, 1920: 16; and “Charlie High Going Fine with Columbus,” Atlanta Constitution, July 9, 1921: 8.

26 Baseball Reference erroneously reports High made four errors in 34 chances in 1920. The correct totals are: 24 putouts, three assists, and four errors in right field, and two putouts and one error in center for a total of 26 putouts, three assists, and 5 errors in 34 chances. “Two of Mack’s Wonders Shipped to Columbus,” Scranton (Pennsylvania) Times, December 28, 1920: 17; and Alan Cohen, email message to author, February 9, 2026.

27 W.N. Stone, “‘Prexy’ Allen Says Author of Big Trade Tale Belongs in Famous ‘Looney House’,” (Little Rock) Arkansas Gazette, December 30, 1920: 7.

28 “‘Socks’ Wised Up,” Davenport (Iowa) Daily Times, January 14, 1921: 26.

29 “The A.A. Batting Averages,” Kansas City Star, June 18, 1921: 3; and “The American Association Team Averages,” Kansas City Star, June 18, 1921: 3.

30 Dick Reed, “3 I Palaver,” Evansville (Indiana) Courier, August 23, 1921: 7.

31 “Mallonee Sold to Athletics,” Portsmouth (Virginia) Star, September 13, 1921: 6; “Macks’ Flare-up in 9th, 2 Runs Short,” Philadelphia Inquirer, August 5, 1921: 16; and “Klepper Signs Bunch of High Class Ball Players for Portland Beavers,” Seattle Union Record, January 3, 1922: 5.

32 Harry Bullion, “Tigers Pay Fortune for Two Pitchers,” Detroit Free Press, December 8, 1921: 15.

33 “Mack Sends Three A’s to Portland,” Philadelphia Inquirer, January 3, 1922: 15; and George Bertz, “Notes from the Beavers,” (Portland) Oregon Daily Journal, March 7, 1922: 14.

34 Billy Stepp, “Fans on Coast Are Watching Beavers,” Long Beach (California) Press, March 28, 1922: 10.

35 Harry Grayson, “Buggy Only Beaver Not Yet Signed Up,” (Portland) Oregonian, March 5, 1922: Section 2, Page 1.

36 “Injun Jim Dispels Ennui of Beavers,” Oregonian, March 16, 1922: 14; “Regulars Beaten in Awful Matinee,” Oregonian, April 1, 1922: 16; and “Gressett to Play Centerfield for Portland Squad,”(Portland) Oregon Daily Journal, April 1, 1922: 10.

37 L.H. Gregory, “Beavers Defeated in Ice Polo Affair,” Oregonian, April 6, 1922: 12.

38 Ed Frayne, “Plucky Substitute Is Hero of Opener,” Los Angeles Record, April 6, 1922: 14.

39 L.H. Gregory, “20,000 Jam Park for Opening Game,” Oregonian, April 19, 1922: 1.

40 “Free Shaves, Rides for Beavers,” Oregon Daily Journal, April 19, 1922: 10.

41 “Pacific Coast Bat Records,” Oregon Daily Journal, December 17, 1922: Section 7, Page 1; and “Sammy Hale Ranked High in Batting,” Oregon Daily Journal, December 17, 1922: Section 7, Page 1.

42 “Four Beavers Placed,” Oregonian, December 17, 1922: Section 2, Page 6.

43 “High to Become Benedict,” Oregonian, October 13, 1922: 14.

44 Herbert T. Meadows, “Amusements and Sport,” St. Louis Argus, October 27, 1922: 12.

45 Herbert T. Meadows, “Amusements and Sport,” St. Louis Argus, November 3, 1922: 12.

46 “Beavers,” Oakland Tribune, March 6, 1923: 27.

47 “Baseball Summary,” Oregonian, April 17, 1923: 14; and “High Out with Bum Knee,” Seattle Star, June 23, 1923: 12.

48 L.H. Gregory, “Beavers Have Big Reserve: Holdouts Cause No Worry,” Oregonian, March 9, 1924: Section 6, Page 1.

49 L.H. Gregory, “Beavers Have Big Reserve;” and James H. McCool, “4 Beavers Placed on Suspended List,” Oregonian, March 21, 1924: 16.

50 “Holdout Players Responsible for Portland Beavers Getting Off to a Poor Start,” Oakland Tribune, April 13, 1924: 2D.

51 “Beavers Face Handicaps,” Oregonian, April 28, 1924: 12.

52 “Beaver Batting Averages,” Oregonian, May 31, 1924: 13.

53 “Youngsters Greet Mighty Babe Ruth,” Oregonian, October 22, 1924: 16.

54 “Youngsters Greet Mighty Babe Ruth.”

55  “Ruth Autographs Baseballs By Dozens; Hits One Homer,” Oregon Daily Journal, October 22, 1924: 10.

56 L.H. Gregory, “Beaver 1925 Team Will Be Brand New,” Oregonian, December 6, 1924: 14.

57 “Beavers Land Pitcher Martin of Reading Club in Exchange for Clyde ‘Lefty’ Schroeder,” Oregon Daily Journal, December 1, 1924: 11; and L.H. Gregory, “1925 Beavers Will Have Few Old, Familiar Faces,” Oregonian, December 3, 1924: 14.

58 L.H. Gregory, “Beaver Outfield Appears Strongest in Coast League,” Oregonian, January 13, 1925: 14.

59 “Brazill Still Leads Coast Hitters,” San Francisco Chronicle, May 18, 1925: 2H; George Bertz, “Beavers May Get Player from Dodgers,” Oregon Daily Journal, May 19, 1925: 15; and “Shellenbach’s is Victor in Loose Game,” Oregon Daily Journal, May 24, 1925: Section 2, Page 1.

60 Leo H. Lassen, “High Will Be Back in Game in Ten Days,” Seattle Star, June 11, 1925: 16.

61 Stub Nelson, “Majors Like Products of Coast,” Los Angeles Evening Express, July 15, 1925: 2.

62 L.H. Gregory, “Because of Rain, Boys to See Ball Game Free Today,” Oregonian, August 14, 1925: 12; and “Every Dad Strength Home Run Since 2011,” Major League Baseball (website), accessed December 7, 2025, https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-players-who-hit-dad-strength-home-runs.

63 “Buffalo Buys High and Keefe from Beaver Team,” Oregon Daily Journal, December 9, 1925: 22; and “Pony Prints,” Springfield (Massachusetts) Morning Union, April 13, 1926: 16.

64 Eddie Murphy, “Major Leagues Fail to Help Local Ball Club,” Oakland Tribune, December 27, 1925: D3.

65 “Buffalo Buys High and Keefe.”

66 “Senators Further Demonstrate Weakness of Bisons on Mound,” Buffalo Times, March 12, 1926: 24.

67 “Bufalo Will Break Camp on Wednesday,” Buffalo News, March 26, 1926: 41.

68 Victor N. Wall, “Ponies’ Bats Still Inactive, Shut Out Again by Bisons,” Springfield Morning Union, April 14, 1926: 19.

69 “Reddy, Brice Save Battle at Reading,” Buffalo News, April 22, 1926: 36.

70 “Keen Interest in New Bison Talent as Opening Looms,” Buffalo Courier, April 25, 1926: 98; “Bisons Run Winning Streak to Twelve Straight Victories,” Buffalo News, May 10, 1926: 12; and “Bisons Take Close One from Skeeters,” Buffalo News, May 10, 1926: 12.

71 Chet Youll, “Radwan Clouts Double, Single on His Big Day,” Buffalo Courier Express, May 28, 1926: 16; “Brice Hurls Three Hit Game, Bisons Crash Five Homers,” Buffalo Courier, May 29, 1926: 11; Don R. Reed, “Bison Heavy Artillery Shells Stars to Score Victory,” Buffalo News, May 24, 1926: 27; and “How Bisons Hit,” Buffalo News, May 29, 1926: 10.

72 Shandy Hill, “Leverenz Pitches No-Hit, No-Run Game,” Reading (Pennsylvania) Times, June 21, 1926: 8.

73 Don B. Reed, “Orioles, Plus Umpires, Nose Out Bisons by 6-5 Score,” Buffalo Evening News, July 17, 1926: 8.

74 W.S. Coughlin, “Star Outfielder Dislocates Collar Bone While Chasing Fly Ball; Out Nine Weeks,” Buffalo Courier Express, March 18, 1927: 15; and W.S. Coughlin, “Charlie High Breaks in with Telling Pinch Hit as Bison’s [sic] Win Sixth in Row,” Buffalo Courier Express, May 3, 1927: 12.

75 W.S. Coughlin, “Leafs Fall on Mangum for Five-Run Rally with Two Out in Ninth, Triumph 7-6,” Buffalo Courier Express, May 21, 1927: 12.

76 Frederick Wilson, “Scanning the Sport Field,” Toronto Globe, December 15, 1927: 46.

77 R.H. Gregory, “Gregory’s Sport Gossip,” Oregonian, September 20, 1928: 21; and “Another High in Drill,” St. Louis Star, April 10, 1928: 20.

78 Chet Youll, “Karpe’s Comment,” Buffalo News, June 16, 1928: 15.

79 “High Hits Another,” Zanesville (Ohio) Signal, April 23, 1929: 13.

80 “Buckoes Maul Milwaukee in Hitting Orgy,” Columbus Dispatch, April 28, 1929: D1.

81 Irven C. Scheibeck, “Roamin’ Around,” Columbus Dispatch, May 21, 1929: 8B; “The Baseball Averages,” Kansas City Star, June 1, 1929: 3; and “Tribesmen Conquer Columbus Club in Final Contest of Series, 4-2,” Indianapolis Star, May 29, 1929: 14.

82 Charles Johnson, “Miller Squad Wins 21, Loses 8 at Nicollet,” Minneapolis Star, June 3, 1929:12.

83 “Kels Wallop Brewers,” Minneapolis Star, June 3, 1929: 19.

84 Irven C. Scheibeck, “Roamin’ Around,” Columbus Dispatch, June 19, 1929: 8B; and W.F. McKinnon, “Talking It Over,” Columbus Dispatch, June 23, 1929: D1.

85 W.F. McKinnon, “Talking it Over,” Columbus Dispatch, July 5, 1929: 14B.

86 Otis Dypwick, “Christians Defeat Millers in D-Ball Battle, 4-3,” Minneapolis Tribune, July 16, 1930: 14.

87 The American Association batting title was awarded to Toledo’s Bevo LeBourveau, who hit .380 in 34 more games that High had played. “Cullop Stars with Bat,” Minneapolis Tribune, September 28, 1930: Section 3, Page 8.

88 Halsey Hall, “Mike Kelley’s Regulars Lose Comedy of Errors to Chattanooga,” Minneapolis Journal, April 12, 1931: Section 2, Page 1.

89 Charles Johnson, “Kelley Off to Cincinnati for Pitcher Today,” Minneapolis Star, April 13, 1931: 13.

90 Charles Johnson, “Kels Win in Ninth, 9 to 8,” Minneapolis Star, May 4, 1931: 19.

91 “1930 A.A. Batting Champ Now Indian,” Indianapolis Star, July 17, 1931: 12.

92 Charles Johnson, “The Lowdown on Sports,” Minneapolis Star, July 17, 1931: 21.

93 Halsey Hall, “Two Diamond Pals,” Minneapolis Journal, August 16, 1931: Section 3, Page 2.

94 Albert W. Bloemker, “League-Leading Saints to Meet Hoosiers Today,” Indianapolis Star, August 16, 1931: 10.

95 Cliff Harrison, “New Indian Policy Seen in Wholesale Deals Made,” Seattle Star, December 10, 1932: 15.

96 “Indians Sign Mulligan,” [Portland] Oregonian, May 9, 1932: 17; and “Seattle Batters Show Better in Recent Reports,” Santa Cruz (California) Sentinel, May 12, 1932: 4.

97 Ron Gemmell, “Sport Sparks,” (Salem) Oregon Statesman, April 2, 1938: 7.

98 “What We Do,” Old Timers Baseball Association of Portland (website), accessed December 18, 2025, https://www.pdxoldtimersbaseball.com/what-we-do.

99 “Ex-Beaver Player Dies,” Oregonian, September 13, 1960: Section 2, Page 2.