Frank Sigafoos

In a 1968 interview, former pitcher Bob Logan said this of his friend and one-time teammate, Frank Sigafoos: “He was a swell guy, one of the best, quiet and unassuming . . . he never bragged about himself and he had great talent.”1 Indeed, Sigafoos had a standout career as a skilled infielder at the highest levels of the minor leagues—particularly in Indianapolis where he was a beloved figure for his humble demeanor and stellar play in the 1930s. Never able to latch on in the majors for any significant length of time, he played in only 55 career big-league games spread across three seasons and four different teams. Despite this very brief tenure, Sigafoos figured in one of the oddest plays in the annals of baseball, involving what he thought was his first major-league home run.

Francis Leonard Sigafoos was born on March 21, 1903, in the Lehigh Valley town of Easton, Pennsylvania.2 Ancestral research indicates he was likely of German and English heritage. William, his father, worked as an industrial laborer, while Kathryn (née Beltz), his mother, was a homemaker. The couple had three other children: Dervon, Hazel, and William. The family’s religious leanings are unclear, but church records indicate that at least some of the children were baptized in Easton’s Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd. Although Frank was the oldest of the siblings, he was younger than his three half-sisters (Ellen, Iva, and Laura) from Kathryn’s first marriage to George Kline. That union had ended abruptly in 1899 when Kline was horrifically killed in a train accident. “He [Kline] was employed on the Lehigh Valley railroad as a brakeman and at the above stated place [Audenried, Pennsylvania] was struck by a bridge and thrown from the top of the car, landing on the track and several cars passing over his body, killing him instantly,” reported the Daily News (Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania).3 Tragedy struck again twenty years later while Sigafoos was in his mid-teens, when his father was electrocuted in an electric plant accident.

An apparent late bloomer, Sigafoos turned 19 years old during his freshman year at Easton High School. “The pride and joy of all the school’s athletes” was noted for his standout play in baseball, basketball, and football, and as such was one of Easton’s “very few” three-letter winners.4 The school’s 1923 yearbook said this about the then sophomore’s skills on the diamond: “With Sigafoos and his superb pitching and batting as a nucleus he has developed a team whose merits may be judged from what has already been accomplished.”5 Indeed, what was accomplished that year under Sigafoos’s leadership was an Eastern Pennsylvania Interscholastic League baseball championship.6 During the summer months, he continued to work on his craft, displaying versatility as a pitcher, infielder, and outfielder for independent teams in Easton in 1922 and nearby Nazareth in 1923.7

In August 1923, Sigafoos made the stunning announcement that nearly a year earlier, on September 9, 1922, he had eloped with Alice Weppel to New York City. Weppel was a local woman who worked for the city of Easton as a stenographer and as the mayor’s secretary.8 Being revealed as a married man, “Siggy” (or “Socks” as he was also known) was thus declared to be ineligible for athletic competition by the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association.9 Upon learning this disappointing news, Sigafoos initially planned to attend Kiski, a Pittsburgh-area prep school, then enroll at his hometown’s Lafayette College.10 Instead, he ultimately opted to attend the Perkiomen prep school in Pennsburg, a town about 30 miles southwest of Easton, where he starred again on the diamond, court, and gridiron during the 1923–1924 school year.11

In the summer of 1924, former big-league player Izzy Hoffman took the reins as manager in Nazareth, where Sigafoos was in his second season with the semipro Lehigh Valley League team. Considered to be the “most valuable player on the Nazareth ball club,” the 21-year-old found a home at third base and a supporter in his new manager.12 At Hoffman’s urging, Philadelphia Athletics manager Connie Mack offered him a 1925 contract in August.13 The right-handed batter and thrower accepted Mack’s offer while declining the opportunity to return to school until having to report to spring training in March. Instead, he opted to take a temporary job until that time. Only a little over two weeks after Sigafoos signed with Philadelphia, Nazareth faced the Athletics in an exhibition contest. “Sigafoos, Nazareth third-sacker, who was recently signed by Mack and who will make the spring training trip with the Athletics next year, must have been excited or stage struck, for he booted two of the four chances that came his way,” reported the Morning Call (Allentown, Pennsylvania) in its recap of the game.14 Sigafoos’s fielding blunders against his new employer seemed to portend more defensive problems that plagued him early in his professional career.

Rather than returning to Perkiomen, Sigafoos took a job with the Easton Department of Water Works and Sewers, until reporting to spring training in Fort Myers, Florida.15 Initial media scouting reports primarily focused on the “very quiet and polite lad” being the “greenest rookie” in camp.16 “In fact this trip south was the first time he was ever on a Pullman and everything was new and interesting to him,” sportswriter S.O. Grauley reported.17 Despite his lack of experience, “Sugarfoot” nonetheless made a positive impression in his first taste of professional ball.18 “He may not be an Eddie Collins, but he even made Mack open his eyes today by his work,” reported the Philadelphia Inquirer of Sigafoos’s fine play in the Athletics’ first practice tilt of the spring.19 Vying for a utility infielder roster spot as camp progressed, he eventually lost out to the more seasoned Red Smith, who had several years of minor league experience under his belt.20 Although Sigafoos was assigned to begin the regular season with the Newark Bears of the Class AA International League (IL), manager Mack encouragingly told him that he would likely be called up to Philadelphia later in the campaign.21 However, he ultimately spent the entire season in Newark (and Providence after the club was transferred there in late May due to ballpark deficiencies). Featured as the team’s main third baseman, the “stocky” youngster hit a respectable .284 for the Bears/Grays but posted the worst fielding average in the league among primary starters at the hot corner.22

After several offseason franchise transfers in the IL, Sigafoos found himself back in his home state with the Reading Keystones to begin the 1926 season. Assigned to second base, he struggled early on. “Master Frank Sigafoos, who was given the second base assignment, fielded and batted with the enthusiasm of an oyster meeting a squirt of lemon juice, and possessed about as much color as a quart of dishwater,” Reading sportswriter Shandy Hill reported of his poor play in a spring exhibition tilt, where he booted three balls in five innings before being removed from the game.23 The subpar defense continued after being shuffled to third base, where he “didn’t cover much ground” and “looked like a failure.”24 A subsequent move to the outfield—where “he didn’t want to play”—also proved unsuccessful. Finally, manager Hooks Wiltse shifted him to shortstop in late July, where “Siggy took to the position like an arid American takes to Canadian beer.”25 After improbably becoming one of the top shortstops in the league and hitting a robust .321, the 23-year-old was called up to Philadelphia in early September. On September 3 Mack inserted the rookie into the lineup at shortstop in the opener of a doubleheader against the New York Yankees. Although Sigafoos made a wild throw on his first chance in the opening frame, he helped turn an inning-ending double play on the very next hitter (Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig) and “was a sound and brilliant performer for the rest of the long afternoon.”26 He also went 4-for-8 at the plate in the twin bill and “altogether his christening was a rosy one.”27 However, Sigafoos did not keep up this torrid pace and ultimately relinquished the starting role to veteran Chick Galloway. The 5-foot-9, 170-pounder finished the season hitting .256 in 13 games for the Athletics. Following Mack’s announcement in October that promising minor-league shortstop Joe Boley was targeted for a starting role in 1927 with the experienced Galloway serving as his backup, his chances of remaining with Philadelphia for the upcoming campaign appeared doubtful.28

Indeed, although Sigafoos attended spring training with the Athletics, he fell victim to “Connie Mack’s pruning knife” and did not head north with the club.29 Instead, he headed west to join the Portland Beavers of the Class AA Pacific Coast League (PCL). In the 1927 and ’28 seasons, Sigafoos played “fine ball” as the Beavers’ primary second baseman and hit .335 and .296, respectively.30 On May 13, 1927, he even gained some national renown after a perfect 6-for-6 performance at the plate in a game against the Mission Bells.31 After Sigafoos “came into his own” during his time in Portland, including dramatically improving his base running skills in 1928 by swiping a league third-best 32 bases, he was drafted in December 1928 by the Detroit Tigers.32 “Scouts in the employ of the Detroit club strongly recommended him and Bucky Harris, new manager of the Tigers, is enthusiastic of the youngster,” the Honolulu Advertiser reported.33

“Sigafoos’ Case Offers Puzzle to Tiger Boss,” read the title of a March 10, 1929, article in the Detroit Free Press.34 Indeed, with Sigafoos being initially perceived as strictly a second baseman, a position at the time locked down by future Hall of Famer Charlie Gehringer, his role and prospects with the team were questionable. As spring camp progressed, however, Sigafoos’s versatility enabled him to make Detroit’s Opening Day roster as a reserve infielder. And after he replaced a struggling rookie shortstop in the third inning of a contest only six games into the season, Sigafoos seemed to have an immediate grip on the starting job at a relatively weak position for the Tigers. “Manager Harris made another change in his lineup today, sending Sigafoos to shortstop and benching [rookie Nolen] Richardson,” sportswriter Harry Bullion reported of the situation. “[Heinie] Schuble, the ‘$35,000 beauty,’ is rated equivalent to third assistant shortstop.”35 Although he appeared to be “permanently berthed in the short field,” Sigafoos’s lead role was short-lived, lasting only three games, during which though he became an unfortunate victim of one of the stranger plays in baseball history.36

On April 21 at Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis, in the ninth inning with a runner on second base, Sigafoos, who typically showed only limited power at the plate, hit a line-drive home run to right-center field. But umpire Bruce Campbell ruled that pitcher Oscar Estrada had balked, negating his first, and as it turned out, only major-league homer. “Sigafoos was amazed when Campbell waved him back to the plate, but his astonishment was no greater than the other Tigers and the whole crew of Browns, who were not certain whether to laugh at Sigafoos or cry for him, was the proper thing to do,” the Detroit Free Press reported.37 The balk incredibly was a record fourth of the contest, posited by some to have been due to preseason orders from AL president Ernest Barnard to “observe the balk rule strictly.”38 Sigafoos walked and the call had no impact on the blowout Detroit victory.

Following his very brief stint as the Tigers’ starting shortstop, Sigafoos played sparingly. And after the team signed Yats Wuestling, who was “considered to be the best shortstop in the Pacific Coast League,” Sigafoos was waived in mid-June.39 Picked up by the Chicago White Sox, he lasted only a bit more than a month in the Windy City as a little-used reserve second baseman before being sent back to the minor leagues. Between his time in Detroit and Chicago, Sigafoos posted a dismal .192 batting average with three RBIs in 21 games. Despite finishing the year once again in Portland where he displayed “steady field work” and “timely hitting” as the Beavers’ starting third baseman, “Sigafoos, for some unknown reason, was never popular with Portland fans and naturally didn’t care much about playing there,” the Los Angeles Times reported.40

In November 1929, Sigafoos’s services were acquired by the PCL’s San Francisco Seals as part of a deal that sent outfielder Smead Jolley to the Chicago White Sox. Shortly thereafter, he was dealt for a reported $10,000 to the league-rival Los Angeles Angels with whom he spent the entire 1930 season.41 Despite battling injuries, Sigafoos again hit over .300 and set career highs in several offensive categories to that point while being named to the PCL All-Star team.42 And in October, the major leagues perhaps unsurprisingly came calling once again when he was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds.

Prior to joining the National League club for spring training, Sigafoos spent the offseason honing his craft for the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) Studio team in the prominent California Winter League—the first integrated professional league in the United States in the twentieth century. On occasion, he notably shared second base with famed actor and baseball enthusiast Buster Keaton.43 Sigafoos’s time there was cut short, however, when the MGM club made an early exit from the league upon request of studio officials who did not want Keaton to continue playing after the diminutive Hollywood star suffered a serious hand laceration from a broken bat.44

“We got Frank Sigafoos in the draft from Los Angeles, a second baseman, and I think he’ll hit, too,” opined Cincinnati manager Dan Howley during the 1931 exhibition campaign.45 Sigafoos did, in fact, display good stick work in being called one of the “bright spots” in the Reds’ spring camp in Tampa—so much so that he was awarded a reserve infielder roster position to open the regular season.46 Following an injury to third baseman Joe Stripp in mid-May, Sigafoos was given the starting nod. In nine starts over an 11-day period, he went a dismal 6-for-37 at the plate and committed a string of costly errors at the hot corner. And with Stripp returning from injury in addition to Cincinnati’s concurrent acquisition of veteran infielder Clyde Beck, Sigafoos became expendable. After posting a .169 batting average in 21 games, the 28-year-old was demoted to the Indianapolis Indians of the Class AA American Association in early June, thus ending his season with the Reds—and his major league career. In all, he hit .201 with 13 RBIs in 55 games as a big-leaguer.

Despite efforts to trade him following the 1931 campaign as being unable to “measure up to (Indians manager Emmet McCann’s) ideas as a swift second sacker,” Sigafoos ironically eventually became “one of the most popular baseball stars ever” to play in the city.47 Spending the 1931–1934 seasons with the Indians, his professional career hit its apex in 1933 when he won the AA batting crown with a .370 average—bolstered along the way with a league-record 39-game hitting streak. As a testament to Sigafoos’s popularity in Indianapolis, the record home crowd of 22,153 at Perry Stadium to see the Indians face the Louisville Colonels on July 28, 1933, was in large part due to an “appreciation night” held to honor the “quiet and unassuming” AA All-Star.48 The attendance—nearly double the previous mark—was so large that fans were allowed to sit in the field of play during the game; thus, special ground rules were required for the evening’s contest. Sportswriter W. Blaine Patton reported this of the event: “The spectators swarmed over the field after every seat in the huge stadium had been filled and formed a fringe around the players fifteen feet deep down the foul lines and extending out to the flagpole in center field.”49

Although Sigafoos still had some baseball left in him after departing Indianapolis, the aging veteran was now entering the downside of his career. Beginning the 1935 season with the Memphis Chickasaws of the Class A Southern Association, the “lantern-jawed” infielder found himself back in the AA—this time with Louisville—in early June.50 Within weeks of joining the Colonels, Sigafoos made his presence felt when he recorded seven consecutive hits during the course of a June 27 doubleheader against the Kansas City Blues.51 He remained with Louisville through the 1937 campaign, when “ailing legs, illness, and injuries” caused his productivity to drop precipitously.52 Not quite ready to hang up his spikes, the “sandy-haired, red-faced” 35-year-old opened the 1938 season with a very brief stint for the Oklahoma City Indians of the Class A1 Texas League before being released.53 Picked up in May by the Decatur Commodores of the Class B Three-I (Illinois-Indiana-Iowa) League, Sigafoos suffered a broken hand when hit by a pitch in a June contest that effectively ended his tenure there.54 His career in Organized Baseball came to a close after he finished the year as the player-manager of the Monett Red Birds of the Class D Arkansas-Missouri League, but not before he had accumulated over 2,000 hits with well over a .300 batting average during his time in the minor leagues.

Sigafoos settled in Indianapolis in his post-baseball days. He had begun to make the city his home during his successful tenure with the Indians after becoming a part-time employee of Citizens Gas & Coke Utility. Upon retiring from baseball, the “gentlemanly” Sigafoos continued to work for the company in a full-time capacity as an administrative assistant for the engineering department, even turning down an offer to manage his home state’s Allentown Wings of the Class B Interstate League in 1940 to do so.55 Despite passing on this opportunity to return to the professional game, baseball remained an important part of his life; Sigafoos played semipro ball into the early 1940s for the Indianapolis Gold Medal Beers team of the Indiana-Ohio League and also spent time in administrative roles for local youth baseball organizations.56 On a personal level, he and Alice had one son, Ronald, who suffered from muscular dystrophy.

On April 13, 1968, Sigafoos was found dead of a heart attack in his backyard where he had been mowing the lawn.57 Following funeral services at the Flanner & Buchanan Fall Creek Mortuary, his remains were cremated. As evidence of the esteem in which he was held by his adopted hometown, Sigafoos was inducted into the Indianapolis Indians Hall of Fame in 1962. And four years later, his long-time employer established an annual scholarship in his honor to be awarded to local high school baseball players.58 Shortly after his passing, an Indianapolis News editorial summarized Sigafoos thusly: “Both as a baseball player and as a private citizen, he was of top caliber.”59

Last updated: January 25, 2021 (ghw)

Acknowledgments

This biography was reviewed by Bill Lamb and Norman Macht and fact-checked by Kevin Larkin.

Sources

In addition to the sources noted in this biography, the author accessed Sigafoos’s file from the library of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York; Ancestry.com; Baseball-Reference.com; Chronicling America; GenealogyBank.com; NewspaperArchive.com; Newspapers.com; Paper of Record; and Retrosheet.org.

Notes

1 “Frank Sigafoos Dies; Indians’ Baseball Star,” Indianapolis Star, April 14, 1968: 7.

2 Although Sigafoos’s birth year is often reported in various publications as 1904, government records including census information and his death certificate indicate he was in fact born in 1903.

3 “A Railroader’s Awful Death,” Daily News (Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania), October 6, 1899: 1.

4 Easton (Pennsylvania) High School 1922 Yearbook, 50; Easton (Pennsylvania) High School 1923 Yearbook, 49.

5 Yearbook, 62.

6 “Easton Athlete Married Secretly,” Philadelphia Inquirer, August 26, 1923: 22.

7 “Easton Team Noses Out Quakertown in Eleventh,” Morning Call (Allentown, Pennsylvania), June 20, 1922: 15; “Nazareth Defeats Fabricators, 12–7,” Morning Call (Allentown, Pennsylvania), July 6, 1923: 20.

8 “Mayor’s Stenog Weds Easton’s Star Athlete,” Morning Call (Allentown, Pennsylvania), August 26, 1923: 10.

9 “Easton High Loses Two of Best Athletes,” Morning Call (Allentown, Pennsylvania), August 29, 1923: 12; “Easton Fans Bid Sigafoos Farewell,” Morning Call (Allentown, Pennsylvania), February 21, 1925: 15.

10 Morning Call.

11 “Perkiomen Loses Star,” Sunday News (Lancaster, Pennsylvania), August 31, 1924: 12.

12 “Easton Fans Bid Sigafoos Farewell.”

13 “Connie Mack Signs Nazareth Third Sacker,” Morning Call (Allentown, Pennsylvania), August 9, 1924: 14.

14 “Athletics Hang Up 6–2 Win Over Nazareth in Good Game,” Morning Call (Allentown, Pennsylvania), August 25, 1924: 14.

15 “Perkiomen Star Is Signed by Macks,” Philadelphia Inquirer, August 31, 1924: 18.

16 S. O. Grauley, “Athletics Now Have Every Man in Camp,” Philadelphia Inquirer, March 3, 1925: 18; S. O. Grauley, “Mack Regulars Win Handily from Yans,” Philadelphia Inquirer, March 5, 1925: 22.

17 S. O. Grauley, “Seven More Macks Arrive at Ft. Myers with Dykes in Lead,” Philadelphia Inquirer, March 2, 1925: 18.

18 Stan Baumgartner, “A’s Hurlers Shine in Brilliant Game,” Philadelphia Inquirer, March 8, 1925: 23.

19 “Mack Regulars Win Handily from Yans.”

20 “Berry Going Good with Portland Club,” Morning Call (Allentown, Pennsylvania), March 18, 1926: 21.

21 “Sigafoos Farmed Out to Newark Internationals,” Morning Call (Allentown, Pennsylvania), April 11, 1925: 16.

22 Max Greenwald, “Frank Sigafoos Gets ‘Another’ Night,” Indianapolis Star, December 4, 1966: Section 4-10.

23 Shandy Hill, “14–10 Beating Shows Keys Bad, Says Hill,” Reading (Pennsylvania) Times, March 22, 1926: 10.

24 Shandy Hill, “Sigafoos May Land with A’s Again if Pace Is Continued,” Reading (Pennsylvania) Times, August 2, 1926: 13.

25 Hill

26 James C. Isaminger, “Pithy Tips from the Sport Ticker,” Philadelphia Inquirer, September 5, 1926: S5.

27 Isaminger

28 Leo Doyle, “Chick Galloway to Remain with Athletics, Connie Announces,” Evening Sun (Baltimore), October 20, 1926: 34.

29 Davis J. Walsh, “Athletic Hangovers Look Better than Mack’s Human Luxuries, Walsh Declares,” Coshocton (Ohio) Tribune, March 18, 1927: 8; “Mack Cuts Seven from A’s’ Roster,” Every Evening (Wilmington, Delaware), April 11, 1927: 12.

30 Lou M. Kennedy, “Better Team Won, Says Critic of Coast League Race,” The Sporting News, November 3, 1927: 5.

31 Harry B. Smith, “Sigafoos Gets Six Hits in as Many Times Up,” San Francisco Chronicle Sporting Green, May 14, 1927: 1.

32 “Pittsburgh Pirates Get Sheely, Sacramento Star by Draft,” Honolulu Advertiser, December 16, 1928: 11.

33 Advertiser

34 Harry Bullion, “Sigafoos’ Case Offers Puzzle to Tiger Boss,” Detroit Free Press, March 10, 1929: 18.

35 Harry Bullion, “Veteran Fights Off Late Inning Rallies,” Detroit Free Press, April 23, 1929: 22.

36 Associated Press, “Uhle Allows Five Hits as He Pitches Tigers to 1 to 0 Victory Over St. Louis,” Lansing State Journal, April 23, 1929: 19.

37 Harry Bullion, “When Is a Circuit Blow Equivalent to a Pass?” Detroit Free Press, April 22, 1929: 21.

38 “‘Balk’ Rule Is Being Enforced Very Strictly,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 22, 1929: 15.

39 Associated Press, “Detroit Purchases Another Shortstop,” Lansing (Michigan) State Journal, June 1, 1929: 19.

40 Abe Kemp, “S.F. Club Gets Sigafoos Good Infielder, in Jolley Trade,” San Francisco Examiner, November 20, 1929: 19; Bob Ray, “Baseball Czar Coming by Air,” Los Angeles Times, January 4, 1930: Part II 11.

41 Matt Gallagher, “Angels Purchase Sigafoos from Seals,” Evening Express (Los Angeles), January 3, 1930: 39.

42 Jamie Selko, Minor League All-Star Teams, 1922-1962: Rosters, Statistics and Commentary (Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2007), 32.

43 “M.G.M. Team Will Battle Ury’s Club,” Pasadena (California) Post, November 26, 1930: 15; “Ury’s Nine in Triumph,” Pasadena (California) Post, November 3, 1930: 17.

44 “MGM Team Out of Winter League,” Los Angeles Evening Express, December 12, 1930: 24.

45 William Braucher, “Howley’s Best with Reds May Be Weak Eighth,” Bluefield (West Virginia) Daily Telegraph, April 5, 1931: 13.

46 E.G. Halifax, “Cincinnati Reds Doped to Do No Better This Season Than Last Year,” Coshocton (Ohio) Tribune, March 25, 1931: 9.

47 Eddie Ash, “Frank Sigafoos Placed on Block by Indians,” Indianapolis Times, December 2, 1931: 10; “Frank Sigafoos,” Indianapolis News, April 17, 1968: 14.

48 W.C. Madden, Baseball in Indianapolis (Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing, 2003), 31; W. Blaine Patton, “Indians Turn Back Apostles in 11-Inning Series Opener, 7 to 6,” Indianapolis Star, August 28, 1937: 10; Selko, Minor League All-Star Teams, 1922-1962, 54.

49 W. Blaine Patton, “22,153 Fans See Indians Drub Colonels,” Indianapolis Star, July 29, 1933: 1.

50 “One Hitless Game Keeps Mike Kreevich from Setting a Mark,” Kansas City Star, August 8, 1935: 10.

51 “Sigafoos Shines as Colonels, Blues Split by 6 to 3 and 8 to 7,” Courier-Journal (Louisville), June 28, 1935: Part 4-3.

52 Bruce Dudley, “Niehoff a Miracle Man If Colonels Escape Cellar,” Minneapolis Tribune, April 10, 1938: 35.

53 “Tribe Drops Third Straight to Oilers, 12–6; Sigafoos Turned Loose,” Daily Oklahoman (Oklahoma City), April 18, 1938: 12.

54 Howard Millard, “Bait for Bugs,” Decatur (Illinois) Review, July 14, 1938: 6.

55 Greenwald, “Frank Sigafoos Gets ‘Another’ Night”; “First Player Is Signed by Allentown Club,” Morning Call (Allentown, Pennsylvania), February 3, 1940: 15.

56 Bob Stranahan, “City Champs Triumph in Tilt as Sandlot Teams Begin League Season,” Indianapolis Star, May 7, 1939: 27; “Jr. Baseball Elects Sigafoos President,” Indianapolis News, April 7, 1959: 16.

57 “Frank Sigafoos Dies; Indians’ Baseball Star,” 1. Although Sigafoos’s date of death is often reported in various publications as April 12, 1968, his death certificate indicates he in fact died a day later.

58 “Scholarship Will Honor F. Sigafoos,” Indianapolis News, December 7, 1966: 55.

59 “Frank Sigafoos,” above.