Charlie Weber

Midway through the 1898 season, the pitching-poor Washington Nationals engaged right-hander Charlie Weber, a versatile mid-tier minor league journeyman whose everyday position was mostly second base. Given a late-July start against the Chicago Orphans, the newcomer promptly demonstrated that he was not the answer to the Nats’ problems, yielding nine runs – and 19 baserunners – in four innings of work before being derricked. Back in hometown Cincinnati, one of the dailies uncharitably described Weber’s major league debut as “a 40 minute reign of error.”1 Weber never received another big league chance, being released by Washington immediately thereafter.

Regrettably, events far more tragic than a shellacking on the diamond awaited the one-game major leaguer. Two years later, Weber, his wife, and her family were swept out to sea by the catastrophic Galveston, Texas, hurricane and flood, still the worst natural disaster in our country’s history.2 Only Charlie survived. An intelligent and resilient man, Weber subsequently remade himself in the oil boom city of Beaumont. Happily remarried and the proprietor of an upscale local saloon/restaurant, life was good until a June 1914 evening of poker began at the home of his business partner. To shield his underage progeny from the purported corruption of witnessing the gambling, an agitated grandfather broke up the game by fatally shooting card dealer Charlie Weber. A fuller account of his abruptly ended life follows.

Charles P. Weber was born in Cincinnati on October 22, 1868, the second of at least seven children3 raised by policeman John Peter Weber, an Ohio native of German descent, and his Swiss immigrant wife Agnes (née Zeisner). Young Charlie attended public school through the eighth grade and then entered the local work force. The circumstances attending his start in baseball are sketchy.4 However, Weber’s hometown was the birthplace of the game’s first openly professional nine, the celebrated Cincinnati Red Stockings; as such, it was a baseball hotbed, providing ample sandlot, amateur, and semipro ballplaying opportunities.

Rosey Weber (as he was known locally) first attracted press attention playing for an amateur club called the Hickorys.5 A young man of unrecorded but seemingly unremarkable physical proportions, he also played for a team sponsored by St. Edward’s Roman Catholic Church and occasionally for the Shamrocks, Cincinnati’s premier amateur nine. Weber entered the professional ranks in 1891, signing with the Kansas City Blues of the minor league Western Association. Brought on in relief of wild KC starter John Sowders in the season opener against St. Paul, he failed to impress. “Weber took [Sowders’] place but … was wilder still,” surrendering nine runs (but only one earned) via six base hits and nine free passes in the final four frames of a 19-10 defeat.6 Thereafter, Weber was released.

Our subject resurfaced the following spring, signed by the New Orleans Pelicans of the Southern League.7 But once again, Weber flopped in his pitching debut for a new club, being tagged for 15 hits in a “disastrous” 8-1 beating by Atlanta.8 What salvaged his place on the Pelicans roster was Weber’s athleticism and defensive versatility; during his time in professional baseball Weber saw action at every spot on the diamond, except catcher. Unlike his first employer, New Orleans gave Weber a second chance in the box and he responded with a seven-strikeout, complete-game victory over Mobile, 5-2. Thereafter, he alternated pitching efforts with appearances at second, third, and the outfield for the Pelicans.

By late August, Weber had racked up a hurling log in the neighborhood of 10-6 (.625).9 He was also batting .260 (27-for-104) over the first half of the Southern League’s split season, well above the norm for a Pelicans club that batted .215 as a whole.10 Notwithstanding that production, Weber was released by New Orleans.11  He then temporarily entered the fishery business with fellow Pelicans exile (and native Cincinnatian) Billy Crowell.12 But before the season was out, Weber was back in uniform, finishing the 1892 campaign with a brief tour of duty with another Southern League team, the Birmingham (Alabama) Grays.13

The whereabouts and activities of Charlie Weber during the 1893 and 1894 seasons remain largely obscured – although an obituary later placed him back in Cincinnati playing for the amateur Shamrocks during this time period.14 He reemerged in 1895 with the Shreveport (Louisiana) Grays of a newly formed hybrid, the Texas-Southern League. As before, Weber split his time between the pitcher’s box (10 appearances) and the field (15 games at second base; 33 games in the outfield) for Shreveport.15 Likely a righty batter who hit to all fields,16 Weber posted an excellent  .310 batting average (95-for-306) in 68 games, overall. He also posted a 7-3 pitching record for the 58-38 (.604) Grays.17

Despite its excellent won-lost record, Shreveport was dropped from the Texas-Southern League when the circuit reorganized in early August. Weber completed the season pitching for the unaffiliated Baton Rouge (Louisiana) Reds.18 He resumed his minor league odyssey the following spring, beginning the season playing right field for the Dallas Navigators of the Texas Association. On April 20, however, Weber was one of three Dallas players dispatched to the Denison Tigers to fortify the latter club’s entry in the new circuit.19 As in previous seasons, he pitched, played second base, and roamed the outfield for Denison during the first half of the Texas Association’s split season. He then spent most of the second half with yet another TA club, the San Antonio Missionaries. For the entire season, Weber turned in eye-catching offensive numbers in 101 games: .359 BA, 104 runs scored, and 59 stolen bases.20 His available pitching numbers were less impressive: 6-8 (.429) in 17 appearances for Dennison; 1-1 (.500) in two starts for San Antonio.21

Weber returned to the San Antonio club (by then called the Bronchos) for the 1897 season but the franchise was on unstable financial footing. In late April, Weber and first baseman Mike O’Connor were released to trim player payroll.22 A week later, the two returned, assuming control of the team from club directors. O’Connor took over as field skipper while Weber became the Bronchos’ business manager.23 Soon thereafter, the nickname Count premiered in newsprint.24 However, Sporting Life correspondent James Nolan’s story mainly focused on Weber’s mastery over Texas Association batsmen. Not a hard thrower, Weber relied on guile and pinpoint location of a variety of breaking pitches. “With his experience, control and splendid curves he just goes in and lobs the ball over, and makes his fielders do most of the work,” observed Nolan, himself a one-time minor league pitcher. “The gray matter in Charlie’s think-tank gives him perfect knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of every batter, and causes him to pitch the same steady ball against the strongest and weakest teams.”25

Under the O’Connor/Weber regime, the San Antonio Bronchos thrived – both on the field and at the gate. Playing mostly second base, Weber posted a .313 batting average through late June.26 He was even better during occasional stints in the pitcher’s box, not suffering a defeat until an 8-3 setback by the Paris Midlands on July 11.27 By that time, the Bronchos were already winners of the first segment of the Texas Association’s split season, and had reportedly cleared a $2,500 profit.28

The club’s fortunes declined dramatically during the second half of the season, though. Both Bronchos players and San Antonio fans had seemingly lost interest, given that the team had already secured a postseason playoff berth. By early August, the franchise, thriving a mere six weeks before, was reportedly losing $150 per day.29 Meanwhile, other Association franchises were suffering financial difficulties; the Austin Senators had already disbanded, leaving the circuit with an awkward seven-club lineup.

Thereafter, O’Connor and Weber acceded to a proposal to jettison the San Antonio club from the Association, raised at an emergency meeting of club owners on August 6.30 The stance was later explained by Bronchos business manager Weber: “We were not half sorry when the San Antonio base ball team was forced out of the league,” he said. “We were not making any money, as the patronage had fallen off so badly.”31 He also illuminated why Bronchos players’ declined to accept employment offers extended by other Texas Association clubs: “The reason we did not stay and join some other team was because we did not like the idea of being reserved for next year, and wanted to be free.”32 At season’s end, the San Antonio Bronchos board of directors reserved the players anyway.33 Unconcerned, Weber finished the season back in Cincinnati, pitching for the Shamrocks.34 Thereafter, the partnership of O’Connor and Weber secured the right to operate the abandoned Austin franchise in 1898.35

The new year was a momentous one for Charlie Weber. First on the agenda was a change in his domestic situation. Returning to Cincinnati in late winter, he married Anna Raab at the Freeman Avenue Episcopal Church.36 The happy couple then took up residence in Austin.

Soon thereafter, though, an arbitrator retained by the Texas Association sustained San Antonio’s reservation of O’Connor and Weber – thus thwarting their plan to operate the local ballclub.37 Weber, for one, would not abide the decision and promptly left Texas. Two months later, he resurfaced playing second base for the Grand Rapids (Michigan) Cabinet Makers of the Inter-State League.38 His stay there, however, was brief; Weber soon returned to Cincinnati, where he resumed pitching for the Shamrocks.39 While home, he also sought employment by the Reds of the National League. An overcrowded player roster ruled that out, but Cincinnati business manager Frank Bancroft arranged an alternative for Weber: engagement by the Washington Nationals,40 a downtrodden NL rival in dire need of pitching help.41

Relying upon recommendations from Bancroft, Cincinnati manager Buck Ewing, and veteran Washington hurler Gus Weyhing, Nationals club boss J. Earl Wagner decided to take a chance on Weber and signed him to a contract. Wagner’s new acquisition quickly gave cause to regret that decision: the overaged rookie performed dismally in his July 30 audition against the Chicago Orphans. Weber began promisingly enough, retiring Chicago batters in order the in top of the first.42 But he wavered in the second as an infield single, a walk, and a hit batsman loaded the bases. Weber promptly aggravated the situation – after snagging a comebacker, he threw the ball over catcher Duke Farrell’s head. Two runs scored, and a Jimmy Ryan single plated two more, giving Chicago a 4-0 lead.

Weber held the Orphans in check in the third, and Washington got on the scoreboard with a run in its half of the frame. However, the game then slipped beyond the Nats’ reach as Weber surrendered five runs on five base hits, a walk, and another hit batsman. With Washington trailing 9-1, manager Deacon McGuire had seen enough of his new hurling prospect and summoned young right-hander Bill Donovan to start the fifth inning. From there, Chicago coasted to an eventual 13-3 victory.

Weber’s outing lasted about 40 minutes and drew scathing newsprint reviews:

• The Cincinnati Post labeled the native son’s performance “the yellow letter baseball event of the season.”43
• The DC press was no kinder. The Washington Morning Times subtitled its coverage of the game “Weber’s Inglorious Debut.”44
• Meanwhile, the Washington Post observed cheerlessly that “Rosey was led to the bench groggy, pale, and wilted at the moustache tips at the end of the fourth tragic act today. His bean-bag delivery was jostled for nine hits” and nine runs, seven earned.45

But nothing matched the chagrin of J. Earl Wagner, who felt duped by the recommendations of Bancroft, Ewing, and Weyhing. “Yes, they joshed me, and they can’t prove an alibi. I had my doubts about Weber on account of that lady-like nickname, Rosey. There’s a name that would match a red neck-tie or fit a lawn tennis match, but its [sic] too giddy for baseball,” fumed the Nationals club boss.46 That evening, the still irritated Wagner cast Weber adrift with a withering mixed metaphor, declaring that “he could not pitch aces with loaded dice.”47

Following his release by Cincinnati, Weber took a long competitive step down to his ensuing engagement with an amateur club in Columbus Grove, Ohio.48 At season’s end, Weber and his young bride relocated to Galveston, where they boarded with Anna’s parents and Charlie found work bartending. It proved a fateful move. But before the following year’s catastrophe, Weber returned to minor league baseball, assuming command of the San Antonio Bronchos in late June 1899.49 Hs tenure at the helm proved brief: the Texas Association – down to four clubs – ceased play 10 days later.

“Count Charlie Weber is not in the game this year,” reported the San Antonio Daily Light in mid-June 1900.50 Instead, he spent the year tending bar and residing with his Raab in-laws in Galveston.51 There, a dreadful fate arrived. On the evening of September 8, 1900, an epic extratropical cyclone slammed into southeastern Texas. The accompanying floodtide surged over Galveston (an island city), carrying away thousands, including Weber, wife Anna, her parents, and a young niece. All save Charlie perished.52

After the tragedy, Charlie Weber rebuilt his life. This coincided with another historic Texas event: the January 1901 discovery of oil in Beaumont, about 125 miles northeast of devastated Galveston. Like thousands of others, Weber quickly made his way to the burgeoning metropolis. Beaumont’s population tripled to 30,000 within two months of the capping of the first gusher.

Once there, he busied himself with two faithful standbys: baseball and saloon keeping. Reuniting with San Antonio comrade Mike O’Connor, Weber became a player-principal of a new semipro nine in Beaumont. And with new acquaintance Gus Magadieu, he opened a local watering hole that over time evolved into an upscale bistro called The Crescent. “The Best Always Appeals” was the establishment’s motto.53

Beaumont was also the scene of renewed joy in Weber’s personal life, in the form of a happy second marriage to Ann Lula Kauffman and the subsequent birth of daughter Gladys.54 Back on the diamond, Weber played second base (batting .276 in 90 games) and assumed the captaincy in mid-June of a Beaumont entry in the newly organized South Texas League of 1903. He concluded his professional playing career the following season with a brief turn (13 games) with the Beaumont club. Thereafter, his attentions focused on commerce.

Weber’s name largely receded from prominence during the remainder of his life, as he tended quietly to personal and business affairs. His return to the news pages was posthumous. As recounted in detail by the Texas press, Charlie Weber met an abrupt and untimely end, fatally shot within the home of business partner Magadieu early on the evening of June 13, 1914. His slayer was Magadieu’s father-in-law, 54-year-old Eugene J. Dooley.55

The underlying cause of Weber’s demise was gambling – more particularly, the private high-stakes poker game periodically conducted at the Magadieu residence. Observing the card play and sometimes bringing food and drink to the table were Magadieu’s two underage daughters – a circumstance that greatly disturbed Dooley, their grandfather. Dooley was concerned that the girls were being corrupted by their exposure to the gambling, but son-in-law Gus had rebuffed Dooley’s demand to put a stop to the card playing.56

When he got wind of the June 13 poker game, a highly agitated Dooley determined to take action. Armed with a revolver, he made his way to the Magadieu home and burst into the card game. Those present quickly scrambled out of the room – except Charlie Weber, who stood at his chair, arms folded, facing Dooley, with whom he was long acquainted. “There is no rabbit in me. I am not afraid,” Weber told him. With that, Dooley fired three shots, two of which found their mark. As his mortally wounded target slumped to the floor, Dooley fled the premises. Within minutes, he was apprehended and disarmed by a Beaumont policeman responding to the shooting scene. “I went down there to break up that gambling and I broke it up,” Dooley told the officer.57 “I have two grandchildren and I am going to protect them,” he added.58 Dooley was thereafter charged with homicide and remanded to the city jail.

Weber had expired by the time that help arrived, and his body was promptly removed to a local mortuary. Charles P. “Rosey” Weber was 45 at the time of his sudden and violent passing. Following funeral services conducted at the Weber family residence, his remains were interred at Magnolia Cemetery in Beaumont. Survivors included widow Ann, daughter Gladys, elderly mother Agnes Weber, and various siblings.

Postscript

Eugene Dooley was promptly indicted for murder and remained incarcerated pending trial until released on bail in early November 1914.59 Seven months later, he was dead, succumbing to an illness of several months’ duration.60 Like his victim, Dooley was buried in Magnolia Cemetery.

Acknowledgments

This biography was reviewed by Gregory H. Wolf and Rory Costello and fact-checked by Tony Oliver.

Sources

Sources for the biographical info imparted above include the Charlie Weber file maintained at the Giamatti Research Center, National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Cooperstown, New York; the Weber profile in Major League Baseball Profiles, 1871-1900, Vol. 1, David Nemec, ed. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2011); US Census data and other government records accessed via Ancestry.com; and certain of the newspaper articles cited in the endnotes. Unless otherwise specified, statistics have been taken from Baseball-Reference.

Notes

1 “Talking of ‘Rosey,’” Cincinnati Post, November 7, 1898: 2.

2 The death toll of the Galveston hurricane of September 1900 has been estimated at 8,000 to 12,000.

3 Charlie’s identifiable siblings were Joseph (born 1866), Emma (1873), Flora (1875), Henry (1876), John (1878), and Helen (1887).

4 Following his demise, a local news report stated that Weber “received his baseball training on the Liberty Street lots.” See “‘Rosie’ Weber Shot to Death,” Cincinnati Post, June 15, 1914: 1.

5 See e.g., “In Small Installments,” Sporting Life, April 18, 1888: 4. See also, “Passing,” Cincinnati Enquirer, January 1, 1905: 8: “Charlie Weber was the star pitcher of the Hickorys.” The origin of the Rosey (sometimes spelled Rosie) nickname has not been discovered.

6 Quoting “St. Paul 19 – Kansas City 10,” Omaha World-Herald, May 6, 1891: 5.

7 Per “Editorial News, Views, Comment,” Sporting Life, May 14, 1892: 2: “New Orleans has signed Weber, a Cincinnati pitcher.”

8 The description utilized in “The Base Ball Budget,” New Orleans Item, May 10, 1892: 4. See also, “Win and a Lose,” [sic], Atlanta Constitution, May 10, 1892: 5: Atlanta batsmen “just pounded the ball at will and pranced around the bases to suit themselves.”

9 As calculated by the writer from line and box scores published in press accounts. Neither Baseball-Reference nor contemporary sources provide pitching data for Weber’s stay with New Orleans.

10 According to Southern League batting statistics published in the New Orleans Daily Picayune, August 13, 1892: 9.

11 As reported in “Condensed Dispatches,” Sporting Life, August 27, 1892: 1; “Weber and Crowell Released,” New Orleans Times-Democrat, August 4, 1892: 3.

12 Per “Around the Bases,” New Orleans Daily Picayune, August 22, 1892: 8: “Twice a week [Crowell and Weber] drew the seine and sent their hauls to market, and they not only kept in good health but made money.”

13 As noted in the New Orleans Daily Picayune, August 28, 1892: 7. See also, “Scattered Hits,” Birmingham (Alabama) News, August 28, 1892: 6: “Just why [Birmingham manager Jimmy] Manning picked up Weber and played him is not known here.”

14 See again, “‘Rosie’ Weber Shot to Death,” above.

15 According to Texas-Southern League stats published in the 1893 Reach Official Base Ball Guide, 63-64.

16 Modern reference works list Weber as bats unknown, but the probabilities and circumstantial evidence strongly suggest that he was a righty batter. Whichever way he batted, Weber was an accomplished stick handler, adept at repeatedly fouling off pitches until he got one that he could drive or he drew a walk. See “Count Charlie Weber Is the Favorite in Santone,” Beaumont (Texas) Journal, April 30, 1911: 16.

17 1893 Reach Guide, 65.

18 As noted in “A Game for Saturday,” New Orleans Daily Picayune, August 15, 1895: 7; “Make a Record,” Shreveport (Louisiana) Times, July 30, 1895: 4.

19 Per “Diamond Dust,” Dallas Morning News, April 21, 1896: 4. Weber was released with the understanding that “should he at any time leave the Denison people, Dallas would have the first call on his services.”

20 Per Texas Association stats published in the 1897 Spalding Official Base Ball Guide, 127.

21 As calculated by the writer from contemporary newsprint game accounts/line scores. There are, however, likely additional TA games pitched by Weber that escaped my notice.

22 “Mike O’Connor Released,” Houston Daily Post, April 30, 1897: 3; “Baseball Sensation,” San Antonio Daily Light, April 29, 1897: 5.

23 “Franchise Leased,” Dallas Morning News, May 7, 1897: 6; “Play Ball!” San Antonio Daily Light, May 6, 1897: 5.

24 See “The Champs Win Again,” San Antonio Daily Light, May 14, 1897: 8. Later, the newspaper speculated that Weber’s “mysteriously dubbed” new nickname was “possibly on account of the Teutonic cognomen he wears,” per “It Didn’t Last,” San Antonio Daily Light, June 14, 1897: 4.

25 James Nolan, “Texas Tips,” Sporting Life, June 26, 1897: 9.

26 Per Texas Association statistics published in the Houston Daily Post, July 3, 1897: 21.

27 See “Change in the Circuit,” San Antonio Daily Light, July 12, 1897: 9.

28 Per James C. Nolan, “San Antonio Stars,” Sporting Life, July 17, 1897: 19.

29 According to “Gloomy for Managers,” Dallas Morning News, August 6, 1897: 4.

30 As reported in “San Antonio Dropped,” Dallas Morning News, August 7, 1897: 6; “Vale! San Antonio,” San Antonio Daily Light, August 7, 1897: 6; and elsewhere. The decision to eliminate San Antonio was made over the protest of club directors, who maintained that O’Connor and Weber merely held a leasehold on the franchise and had no right to consent to its disaffiliation without the directors’ assent. See “The Texas League,” Sporting Life, August 14, 1897: 6.

31 “They Wanted to Be Free,” Dallas Morning News, August 12, 1897: 6.

32 Same as above.

33 Per “The Official List,” Sporting Life, October 2, 1897: 4.

34 Per “Amateur Ball Games,” Cincinnati Enquirer, September 5, 1897: 23: “Rosie Weber, one of the best pitchers that ever called Cincinnati his home, will be in the box for the Shamrocks” against the nine from Bond Hills.

35 See “Austin Affairs: O’Connor and Weber Now Control the Local Club,” Sporting Life, December 18, 1897: 1; “O’Connor and Weber,” San Antonio Daily Light, December 10, 1897: 8. Financial backing of the pair was provided by an Austin streetcar company, per “Mike O’Connor at Austin,” Houston Daily Post, December 12, 1897: 12.

36 As reported in the Cincinnati Enquirer, March 2, 1898: 4.

37 See “Texas Baseball League,” San Antonio Daily Light, March 17, 1898: 5. In 30 games for Austin in 1898, Weber batted (45-for-135) .333. He also split two pitching decisions.

38 Per “Base Ball,” San Antonio Daily Light, June 14, 1898: 6: “In the World of Sport,” Grand Rapids (Michigan) Evening Press, June 10, 1898: 8.

39 Per “Indianapolis,” Cincinnati Enquirer, July 13, 1898: 4: “Rosie Weber, the Texas League pitcher who came within an ace of being a Red when misfortune overtook Ewing’s men, will be in the box for the Shamrocks.”

40 Contemporary sources and modern reference works ofttimes identify the club as the Washington Senators. But it is the writer’s view that clarity is best maintained by reserving the Senators moniker for the District of Columbia’s longtime American League franchise and identifying the 19th century NL club by its alternate nickname, the Nationals.

41 As reported in “Base Ball Gossip,” Cincinnati Enquirer, July 25, 1898: 3; “Base Ball Notes,” Washington (DC) Evening Star, July 25, 1898: 9.

42 As the home team, Chicago had the option and elected to bat first.

43 “Talking of ‘Rosey,’” above.

44 See “Still Another Defeat,” Washington (DC) Morning Times, July 31, 1898: 5.

45 “Soon Used Up Weber,” Washington (DC) Post, July 21, 1898: 8.

46 Same as above.

47 Per “Notes of the Game,” Chicago Tribune, July 31, 1898: 7.

48 As reported in “Baseball Gossip,” Cincinnati Enquirer, August 23, 1898: 4.

49 See “Charlie Weber Made Manager, San Antonio Daily Express, June 27, 1899: 7.

50 “Baseball,” San Antonio Daily Light, June 11, 1900: 6.

51 According to the 1900 US Census.

52 See “‘Rosie’ Weber,” Cincinnati Enquirer, September 24, 1900: 12. According to one news account, Anna Weber was struck and killed by airborne hurricane debris while clinging to an improvised raft, per “‘Rosie’ Weber Home Again,” Cincinnati Post, January 21, 1901: 1. Her body was never recovered.

53 As reflected in newsprint advertising. See e.g., Beaumont (Texas) Enterprise, November 26, 1911: 38.

54 Another child of the marriage, sadly, did not survive childhood.

55 As reported in “Charlie Weber Shot to Death by E.J. Dooley,” Beaumont Enterprise, June 14, 1914: 1; “Chas. P. Weber Shot to Death in Beaumont,” Houston Chronicle, June 14, 1900: 14; “Charles Weber Shot to Death Last Night,” Waco (Texas) Times-Herald, June 14, 1914: 1; and elsewhere.

56 Events attending the lethal poker game were elicited during subsequently conducted courtroom proceedings and published in detail in “Dooley Seeks Release on Habeas Corpus,” Beaumont Enterprise, July 10, 1914: 7.

57 “Dooley Seeks Release,” above.

58 Same as above.

59 As reported in “Higher Court Grants Bail to E.J. Dooley,” Beaumont Enterprise, November 2, 1914: 5. The justification cited by the court in granting the bail application – that Dooley had a viable self-defense claim and/or that the offense only rose to the level of manslaughter – seems preposterous to the writer.

60 “Alleged Slayer Dies in Hospital,” Beaumont Enterprise, June 11, 1915: 12. Following his death, the murder indictment pending against Dooley was dismissed.