Epp Sell

Law enforcement has provided post-baseball employment for any number of former ballplayers, but right-handed pitcher Epp Sell followed a different career trajectory. Some ballplayers become police officers; Sell was more like an officer with a sideline in pitching.

Sell joined the Reading, Pennsylvania, police department before he reached the majors, and was given leave during baseball seasons to pursue a career that included stints with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1922 and 1923. After retiring from professional baseball, Sell returned to police work in Pennsylvania and stayed there for most of his remaining life.

Ellwood Lester Sell was born on April 26, 1897, in Llewellyn, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, near Pottsville.1 He is listed in modern baseball databases as Lester Elwood, and he appears to have reversed the order of his first and middle names as a young man. For instance, the World War I draft card he filled out in June 1918 is signed “Lester Elwood Sell.”2 But a county birth listing calls him “Ellwood Lester Sell,” and he is “Elwood L.” in the 1900 and 1910 US Censuses, as well as in a 1912 news story published in Reading.3

Sell was of German descent. His father, Henry, was a native of Germany; his mother, Wilhelmina Heber, was born in Pennsylvania to German-born parents.4 The Sells had moved from Schuylkill County to the city of Reading by 1910, at which time the family numbered eight children.5

Henry Sell was a brakeman and later a conductor for the Philadelphia and Reading Railway Company, and Lester spent time as a brakeman for the same company as a young man.6 Lester’s formal education ended in the sixth grade; perhaps he was needed in the workplace to help support his large birth family.7 By 1918 he had started a family of his own with the former Mamie Cook, to whom he remained married for the rest of his life.8 The Sells had two children, son Lee and daughter Dorothy.9

Life was not all work for Sell in this period. At least as early as September 1914, he was playing for a Philadelphia and Reading company baseball team.10 Stories from the second half of the 1910s cite him as a consistently good semipro pitcher in Reading. In July 1915, he and another pitcher jointly held a city-league record of 14 strikeouts in a game.11 Two years later to the month, he struck out 15 hitters and allowed only six hits across 15 innings of work, but took a hard-luck loss on the game’s only error.12 The nickname “Epp,” of uncertain origin, also began to show up in news coverage in 1917.13

One unpleasant incident marred this period of his life. In September 1918, a friend and railroad co-worker named Earl Wanner, also a well-known local athlete, stabbed Sell in the shoulder and back with a pocketknife after a good-natured saloon argument turned into a fight.14 The wounds required hospitalization but caused no permanent damage. The following June, the star hurler shut out a team from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on four hits while striking out 10.15 He was acclaimed around this time as “one of the best right hand pitchers in the local semi-professional ranks.”16 He was described as throwing from the side of the pitcher’s rubber and having a “deceptively fast delivery.”17

Spotted by scouts in Reading,18 Sell had turned down opportunities to pitch professional baseball, content with the stability of his railroad job. At age 23 in the summer of 1920, he changed his mind. He signed on July 1 with the Syracuse Stars of the Double-A International League, only one level below the majors.19

Scarcely a month later, Sell was proving his talent, shutting out his “home” team, the Reading Marines, on five scattered hits. Seven of the Reading batters he faced that day had either played in the majors or were on their way there.20 He also got the opportunity to start an exhibition game against the Washington Nationals on September 23, though he gave up four runs in the ninth inning to take a 9-6 loss.21

Sell trained with the Cardinals in spring 1921 but was not deemed ready for the majors; his ascent took time.22 In his first two seasons with Syracuse, the big righthander – listed at 6 feet tall and weighing 175 pounds – went a combined 12-29 with a 4.58 ERA in 59 games. The teams surrounding him didn’t help – Syracuse went 33-116 in 1920 and 71-96 in 1921.

The 1920 and 1921 seasons, while challenging, were not without highlights. On September 18, 1921, Sell pitched iron-man complete games in a doubleheader against Toronto, giving up a total of 13 hits and winning by scores of 7-1 and 5-1.23

Entering the 1922 season, Sell commanded no great esteem among the Stars’ followers. In April, a reporter criticized his hot temper and tendency to “fly off the handle when the machine hits a bump.”24 The next month, a Syracuse paper reported that Sell would likely be traded because he’d gotten on manager Frank Shaughnessy’s nerves, adding: “The sooner that Shaughnessy lets him go to some other club the better … The players have not got any confidence when Sell is on the slab. The team is beaten before the game starts.”25

Then Sell’s fortunes turned, and he began to pitch consistently well – though he didn’t always win, because the team behind him still wasn’t very good.26 Some credited Sell’s improvement to controlling his temper and learning to bear down when he got into jams.27 He was also said to have developed a slow curveball that season, which made his faster pitches more effective.28 An exhibition game on August 10 against the New York Yankees in Syracuse gave Sell an opportunity to show his stuff. While the Stars lost 3-2, Sell reportedly struck out Babe Ruth twice and held him hitless in two other at-bats.29

The Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox, and Philadelphia Phillies all showed interest in Sell. But the Cardinals had a standing agreement that gave them first claim to Syracuse players, and it was to St. Louis that Sell was sold in late August 1922.30 “In the opinion of several scouts, he has attained the necessary poise to make him a winner in the ‘Big Show,’” the St. Louis Star told its readers.31 A Syracuse newspaper noted that a half-dozen scouts had been trailing Sell and had been impressed by his work.32

As he headed to the majors, Sell had already begun his law enforcement career. He’d been appointed to the Reading force as a temporary policeman to serve holiday traffic duty in December 1920, resigning the following February to train for baseball season.33 He was reappointed in the fall of 1921, and after the 1922 season ended, he returned to police work in early October.34

But, back to his arrival in the majors. Cardinals manager Branch Rickey gave Sell his debut start in the second game of a September 1, 1922, doubleheader against the Pittsburgh Pirates in St. Louis. After three shutout innings, Sell yielded a home run to Reb Russell in the fourth inning, then was pulled with two out in the sixth after two walks, two singles, and a run-scoring groundout brought the score to 7-4. Reliever Jeff Pfeffer allowed two more runs to score, leaving St. Louis with a slim 7-6 lead, but the Cardinals pulled away and gave Sell an 11-6 victory. The Pittsburgh Gazette Times tipped its cap to the newcomer, saying Sell “gave us a lot of trouble” before Pirates batters managed to chase him.35

Sell pitched in seven games that season, including five starts, closing the year with a 4-2 record and a 6.82 ERA. He gave up 47 hits in 33 innings, but was sparing with walks, giving only six against five strikeouts. His other win as a starter came in a similarly run-choked 12-10 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on September 9, in which Sell gave up six earned runs in 6⅔ innings. The Reds committed five errors that day, and one Cincinnati newspaper summarized: “Lester Sell was sent to the Cardinal mound, and it would have been easy to beat him with any kind of defense.”36

Sell also won games in relief against the Boston Braves on September 19 and the Chicago Cubs on September 30. He was bailed out of the latter game by Bill Doak, who entered with the bases loaded and the go-ahead run at the plate and held the Cubs to one run. Sell allowed at least one run in each of his appearances. He fared well at the plate, hitting .333 in 12 at-bats, including a double and an RBI in his debut against Pittsburgh. (As a side note, Sell was also said to have used his fists to settle an argument with teammate Rogers Hornsby during his Cardinal days.37)

Again granted leave by the Reading police, Sell made the Cardinals out of spring training in 1923. In a “City Series” exhibition against the American League Browns on April 15, Sell earned raves for four innings of work. A St. Louis Star reporter said Sell “promises to accomplish great things,” calling him the best pitcher the Cards used in the series.38 On Opening Day two days later, Sell pitched four shutout innings of relief against Cincinnati before a walk, a sacrifice, and two singles gave the Reds an 11-inning, 3-2 win.

Sell suffered an injury to his pitching hand that sidelined him, though, and the promise of his spring performance evaporated.39 He was not used again until May 9, and then not again until May 20. He was hit hard in both games, giving up six runs in a 7⅓-inning start against the Phillies and three runs in one inning of relief against the New York Giants. Sell whittled his ERA down to 6.00 with two scoreless one-inning stints against the Reds on May 27 and 29. Then he was gone, sent to Houston of the Class A Texas League on June 2.40 Sell’s big-league career ended with a 4-3 record and a 6.56 ERA in 12 games, of which six were starts. In Houston, he went 10-11 with a 3.53 ERA in 25 games.

The 1923-24 offseason found Sell dissatisfied and digging in his heels. He was reportedly “tired of being juggled about” by the Cardinals and frustrated by his experience pitching in the sapping heat of Houston.41 When the Cardinals sold him to New Orleans of the Class A Southern Association instead of his preferred destination, the cooler climes of the International League, Sell remained on his police beat and refused to report.42

As of July 2024, Baseball-Reference had no record of Sell pitching professionally in 1924. Instead, he served as the not-so-secret weapon of the Reading police baseball team. In July, the pitcher who had retired such future Hall of Famers as Frankie Frisch, Rabbit Maranville, and Pie Traynor worked 13 innings against the Reading Transit & Light team, allowing only four hits and striking out 21 in a 3-2 victory.43 And in early October he pitched a seven-inning no-hitter against a police squad from Allentown, striking out 10 batters in a row and 17 total. Sell allowed only one baserunner, hitting the Allentown pitcher in the knee with a pitch in the sixth inning.44

The recalcitrant hurler finally got the opportunity to return to the International League in 1925, receiving a month’s leave of absence in June to try his luck back in Syracuse.45 But he developed a sore arm shortly after arriving and was given permission in July to go home to Reading.46 He is credited with only one appearance for the Stars. On June 30 he pitched the final two innings of mop-up work in a blowout against Buffalo, giving up four runs on four hits and two walks, as well as a wild pitch.47 With that unsuccessful outing, Sell’s days of balancing pitching and police work were over.

Sell was quoted in his retirement as saying that he no longer watched baseball games. He didn’t say why, but one wonders whether the frustrations of his pro career – like hot Southern weather, injuries, and limited opportunities in the majors – put him off the sport.48 That said, his arm recovered well enough for him to play on the Reading police team. As late as September 1938, the 41-year-old Sell was capable of pitching a complete-game 8-4 victory over a team of postal carriers, striking out 12.49 He also faced a Black team, the Keystone Colored Giants, while playing for the police.50

Professionally, Sell began as a mounted policeman before making the switch to motorcycles in the 1930s.51 He was injured in at least two cycle-vs.-car crashes in the 1930s and was knocked unconscious in another accident when the police wagon he was driving collided with a fire engine.52

As he ascended to the rank of lieutenant, Sell was involved in a broad variety of police work, including gambling raids, vice investigations, and making arrests after a labor dispute turned violent.53 In January 1940 he and another officer saved a 32-year-old man from possibly freezing to death by following the man’s footsteps in the snow to find him asleep in a snowbank.54

Other events were less dramatic, like the time Sell got out of bed at 1 a.m. to subdue a rowdy group outside his house, or the time the man described as “a strapping big cop” found himself temporarily comforting a year-old child whose parents had abandoned it in a car while going shopping.55

Years later, contemporaries on the Reading police described Sell as “gruff but respected” and “rough and tumble, but immaculate in appearance.” Former Boston Red Sox pitcher Charlie Wagner, who grew up in Reading, also recalled him: “We all looked up to Epp Sell. He was a big, rough man. But as a policeman on his 9th and Spring Street beat, he kept order by his mere presence. All the kids knew he was a policeman and a major league pitcher. We never could figure out how he did both.”56

Sell was squeezed off the Reading police force in a political shakeup in January 1952. Incoming Mayor James Bamford announced a massive reorganization of the department, including the demotions of Sell and three other lieutenants all the way to patrolman. Bamford scheduled the demotions to take effect in a week’s time, giving the men the opportunity to retire as lieutenants for pension purposes. Sell and his three colleagues quit the department the next day.57

The pitcher-policeman’s retirement lasted until 1956, when he was hired as a detective in the district attorney’s office of Berks County, where Reading is located.58 For the next four years, he participated in investigations of crimes ranging from illegal bookmaking to persistent, annoying phone calls.59

In November 1960, Sell suffered a health problem, described as a heart attack, that was expected to keep him down for six to eight weeks.60 His problems were more serious than that. Sell died at his home in Reading on the evening of February 19, 1961; his death certificate reported that he had suffered a cerebral hemorrhage – also known as a hemorrhagic stroke – two months earlier.61 He was 63.

Sell was survived by his wife and two children, six grandchildren, a sister, and three brothers.62 Following services at a local funeral parlor, he was laid to rest at Forest Hills Memorial Park in Reiffton, Pennsylvania, near Reading.

Acknowledgments

This story was reviewed by Gregory H. Wolf and Rory Costello and checked for accuracy by SABR’s fact-checking team.

Sources and photo credit

In addition to the sources credited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org for background information on players, teams, and seasons. The author thanks the Giamatti Research Center of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum and the Reading, Pennsylvania, Public Library for research assistance.

Photo of Lester “Epp” Sell from the Reading (Pennsylvania) News-Times, September 14, 1918: 15.

Notes

1 As of July 2024, Sell was the only major-leaguer in Retrosheet’s records to list Llewellyn as their birthplace.

2 World War I draft card for Lester Elwood Sell, viewed on Familysearch.org in July 2024, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K6KG-37R. As of July 2024, both Baseball-Reference and Retrosheet listed the pitcher’s full name as Lester Elwood Sell.

3 Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, birth listing including Ellwood Lester Sell, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-99LM-QGHK; 1900 US Census listing for Sell family, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M34Q-3XZ; and 1910 US Census listing for Sell family, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MGDW-31F, all accessed via Familysearch.org in July 2024; “Dying Mother Named Her Child,” Reading (Pennsylvania) Times, July 15, 1912: 3. The author of this biography was unable to find any indication that Sell ever legally changed his name. For what it’s worth, Sell was also “Elwood L. Sell” in the 2008 newspaper obituary of his son, Lee: “Lee Lester Sell,” Reading Eagle, August 16, 2008: B5, https://books.google.com/books?id=ByAyAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA7.

4 1900 US Census, cited above; “Lester Sell Dies at 63,” Reading Eagle, February 20, 1961: page number not visible on provided copy.

5 1910 US Census, cited above. A daughter-in-law was also living in the Sell household at that time.

6 1900 and 1910 US Censuses, cited above; also, 1920 US Census listing for the Sell family, accessed via Familysearch.org in July 2024, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M61F-Z1G.

7 1940 US Census listing for Lester Sell and family, accessed July 2024 via Familysearch.org, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KQJQ-G4N.

8 Death certificate for Lester Sell, available as part of Sell’s clip file at the Giamatti Research Center of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Lester’s World War I draft card, cited above and filled out in June 1918, mentions Mamie as his wife. A December 1918 news clipping indicates that Mamie Sell filed a legal case against her husband, perhaps for divorce, but the case was dismissed. “Not Willing to Get Together,” Reading (Pennsylvania) Eagle, December 21, 1918: 3, https://books.google.com/books?id=qgwrAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA3.

9 1940 US Census, cited above.

10 “P.& R. Steel Car Team Challenges P.R.R. Club,” Reading News-Times, September 3, 1914: 8.

11 “Much Interest in Saturday’s Games,” Reading News-Times, July 17, 1915: 10.

12 “Ephrata Defeats Independents in 15-Inning Duel,” Reading News-Times, July 30, 1917: 9.

13 The earliest citation of the nickname that the author of this biography could find occurs in “Colored Giants Play Rex at Park Today,” Reading News-Times, May 30, 1917: 7.

14 “Athlete Stabs Another in Back, Makes Getaway,” Reading News-Times, September 13, 1918: 1.

15 “Triple Play at Park,” Reading Eagle, June 30, 1919: 10, https://books.google.com/books?id=nC8rAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA10&dq=%22epp+sell%22+reading&article_id=1726,4145093&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiy25Ovvv-GAxWdNmIAHQpYAD04KBDoAXoECAkQAg#v=onepage&q=%22epp%20sell%22%20reading&f=false.

16 “Sell’s Wounds Not Considered Dangerous,” Reading News-Times, September 14, 1918: 15.

17 “Sell to Train with St. Louis,” Reading Eagle, February 6, 1921: 8, https://books.google.com/books?id=jbQhAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA8.

18 Bill Reedy, “Al Simmons Had Perfect Day At Bat in Game Here Last Month of Career,” Reading Eagle, August 4, 1953: 16, https://books.google.com/books?id=Xg0rAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA16.

19 “Stars Sign ‘Ep’ Sell, May Pitch Game Today,” Reading News-Times, July 2, 1920: 6.

20 “Epp Sell Shuts Out Local Team,” Reading Times, July 2, 1920: 6. The Reading players who reached the majors were Jesse Altenburg, Mike Konnick, Joseph Burns, John Hummel, William Marriott, Red Sheridan, and Dick Cotter.

21 “Late Rally Wins for Griffmen, 9-6,” Washington Post, September 24, 1920: 8.

22 Fred Turbyville, “International Problems More than Mere Building Up of Ball Teams,” The Sporting News, February 17, 1921: 6.

23 The first game was nine innings, while the second game was seven. “Sell Pitched and Won Two Games Against Leafs,” Montreal Gazette, September 19, 1921: 15.

24 “Syracuse Club Needs Help to Stay in Race,” Syracuse Journal, April 28, 1922: page number illegible on online copy.

25 “Barnes Sent to Houston by Syracuse Club” and Bob Kenefick, “On the Sport Firing Line,” both Syracuse Journal, May 25, 1922: 22.

26 The Syracuse team finished 64-102 in 1922. Sell had a 10-18 record and 3.44 ERA.

27 “Lester Sell Sold to the Cardinals,” Binghamton (New York) Press, August 30, 1922: page number not visible in online copy.

28 William T. Reedy, “Jinx Nails Reading Youth with Cardinals,” Reading Eagle, May 4, 1923: 30, https://books.google.com/books?id=o6QtAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA30.

29 “Diamond Dust,” Auburn (New York) Citizen, August 11, 1922: 3; “Great Crowd Sees Yanks at Syracuse,” Rome (New York) Daily Sentinel, August 11, 1922: 9.

30 “Lester Sell Sold to the Cardinals.”

31 “Lester Sell Will Make ‘Big League’ Debut Here Today,” St. Louis Star, September 1, 1922: 16.

32 “’Shag’ to Try Out Kids for Rest of Season,” Syracuse (New York) Journal, August 26, 1922: 11.

33 “Extra Traffic Cops on Duty,” Reading News-Times, December 13, 1920: 16; “Council Passes Loan Ordinance,” Reading News-Times, February 17, 1921: 6.

34 “New Policeman Goes on Night Shift,” Reading News-Times, October 6, 1921: 1; “Her Sixteenth Anniversary,” Reading News-Times, October 9, 1922: 5.

35 Charles J. Doyle, “Bucs Beat Cards, 14-4, Then Lose 11-6,” Pittsburgh Gazette Times, September 2, 1922: 11.

36 Jack Ryder, “Wobbles,” Cincinnati Enquirer, September 10, 1922: 19.

37 Richard Flannery, “Choosing Police Over Baseball,” Reading Eagle, June 14, 1993: S2, https://books.google.com/books?id=UZguAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA26.

38 John M. Quinn, “Lester Sell Exhibits Class in City Series,” St. Louis Star, April 16, 1923: 14.

39 A news article said Sell’s pitching hand was “rendered useless” by “a water poisoning contracted between the digits of the prized member.” William T. Reedy, “Jinx Nails Reading Youth with Cardinals,” Reading Eagle, May 4, 1923: 30, https://books.google.com/books?id=o6QtAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA30. Flannery’s “Choosing Police Over Baseball,” printed decades after Sell’s death, said he also suffered from a sore arm that spring.

40 “Cardinals Send Sell to Houston,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 2, 1923: 12.

41 William T. Reedy, “Reading Major Leaguer Desires New Scenery as Pitcher Next Season,” Reading Eagle, November 6, 1923: 18, https://books.google.com/books?id=Nb8tAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA18; William T. Reedy, “Three Leading Baseball Athletes Refuse to Join Clubs for 1924 Campaign,” Reading Eagle, April 14, 1924: 16, https://books.google.com/books?id=J54hAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA16.

42 Reedy, “Three Leading Baseball Athletes Refuse to Join Clubs for 1924 Campaign.”

43 “Policemen Win in 13th,” Reading Eagle, July 3, 1924: 13, https://books.google.com/books?id=VowhAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA13;

44 “Sell Pitches No-Hit, No-Run Game for Cops,” Reading Eagle, October 2, 1924: 28, https://books.google.com/books?id=sJohAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA28.

45 “Sell Joins Syracuse,” Reading Eagle, June 20, 1925: 11, https://books.google.com/books?id=qIctAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA11.

46 William T. Reedy, “Departed Outfielder Regains Hitting Stride in Familiar Territory,” Reading Eagle, July 29, 1925: 18, https://books.google.com/books?id=3YkhAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA18.

47 “Bisons Win, 10-3; Epp Sell Finishes Game for Syracuse,” Reading Times, July 1, 1925: 9. As of July 2024, Baseball-Reference listed Sell as playing only one game for Syracuse in 1925, though it did not list his statistics. Some news reports indicated that Sell’s arm became sore upon his arrival in Syracuse, including “Hi Myers Released,” Washington Herald, July 26, 1925: S5.

48 Bill Reedy, “Many Reading Favorites Included in Int League’s All-Time Star Cast,” Reading Eagle, June 1, 1938: 14, https://books.google.com/books?id=77MhAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA14; Bill Reedy, “Berks Boxer Proves Stamina in Hurried Solo Auto Trip,” Reading Eagle, January 13, 1939: 13. Since these two items were written by the same journalist about six months apart, it’s possible that Sell only discussed the matter once and the writer repeated it.

49 “Cops Beat Postmen at Baseball, 8-4,” Reading Eagle, September 3, 1938: 14, https://books.google.com/books?id=lBkxAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA14.

50 “Amateur Baseball Notes,” Reading Eagle, September 4, 1927: 12, https://books.google.com/books?id=RJQhAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA12.

51 Fred O. Sholenberger, “City’s Former ‘Mounties’,” Reading Eagle, July 13, 1953: 46, https://books.google.com/books?id=koQtAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA46.

52 “Warrant for Motorist,” Reading Eagle, November 12, 1931: 3, https://books.google.com/books?id=zOsxAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA3; “Policeman Injured when Hit by Auto,” Reading Eagle, April 10, 1935: 1, https://books.google.com/books?id=D2IhAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA1; “Police Patrol in Collision,” Reading Eagle, January 3, 1939: 10, https://books.google.com/books?id=ax4qAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA10.

53 “Police Seize Three Slots,” Reading Eagle, August 22, 1949: 1, https://books.google.com/books?id=g7whAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA1; John F. Kehlor, “Detective Captain Marks 25 Years of Public Service,” Reading Eagle, July 16, 1961: 31, https://books.google.com/books?id=nw8rAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA31; “3 Arrested at Laundry,” Reading Eagle, February 24, 1948: 1, https://books.google.com/books?id=8cYhAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA18.

54 “Zigzag Footsteps Followed by Police,” Reading Eagle, January 8, 1940: 11, https://books.google.com/books?id=GW8hAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA11.

55 “Policeman Leaves Bed to Stop Fight,” Reading Eagle, February 2, 1936: 2, https://books.google.com/books?id=uLIhAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA2; “Three Battle Cop; Fined by Magistrate,” Reading Eagle, July 28, 1934: 6, https://books.google.com/books?id=lmUhAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA6; “Cop Cares for Child Left in Automobile,” Reading Eagle, December 21, 1930: 1, https://books.google.com/books?id=3nAhAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA1. Sell’s World War II draft card, accessed via Familysearch.org in July 2024, reported that he weighed 218 pounds in 1942, more than 40 pounds above his listed pitching weight. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2SN-TFMP.

56 Flannery, “Choosing Police Over Baseball.”

57 “Bamford Reorganizes Police Force,” Reading Eagle, January 7, 1952: 1, https://books.google.com/books?id=vYotAAAAIBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false; “Police Get Instructions,” Reading Eagle, January 8, 1952: 1, https://books.google.com/books?id=vootAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA10#v=onepage&q&f=false. These stories suggest that some forms of crime – ranging from double-parking to gambling – were not being consistently or aggressively enforced, and that some police promotions had been politically motivated.

58 “Heinly Named Head of D.A. Investigators,” Reading Eagle, December 1, 1956: 2, https://books.google.com/books?id=tQQrAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA2#v=onepage&q&f=false.

59 “Bulletin,” Reading Eagle, June 29, 1960: 1, https://books.google.com/books?id=_w0rAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA1; “Police Nab Man for Making Annoying Calls to Women,” Reading Eagle, March 30, 1960: 40, https://books.google.com/books?id=ihUrAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA40.

60 Irvin A. Rollman, “Along Courthouse Row,” Reading Eagle, November 18, 1960: 6, https://books.google.com/books?id=IxIrAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA6. A wire service obituary for Sell indicated that he had retired from his detective job at around the time his health problems occurred. Associated Press, “Lester Sell Dies,” Lancaster (Pennsylvania) New Era, February 20, 1961: 19.

61 Lester Sell’s death certificate is included in his clip file at the Giamatti Research Center of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

62 “Lester Sell Dies at 63.”