Gus Getz

Gustave “Gus” Getz was perhaps the personification of the “good field, no hit” player. Typical of the Deadball Era, Getz relied on his glove, his ability to make contact with the bat, and his speed on the base paths to make it in professional baseball. Though he never achieved outstanding baseball success, he possessed a knack for appearing at the right place at the right time.

In his 15 years of playing Organized Baseball, Getz appeared in a World Series, participated in the classic “double no-hitter” duel between Fred Toney and Hippo Vaughn, saw one of baseball’s oddest home runs, and may have been intimately involved in one of baseball’s most humorous and legendary stunts. He also played on teams with, or was managed by, a bevy of stars including Christy Mathewson, Wilbert Robinson, Rogers Hornsby, Shoeless Joe Jackson, Roger Bresnahan, Chief Bender, Zack Wheat, Casey Stengel, Joe McCarthy, Rube Marquard, and others.

Though he was never afraid to assert himself when it came time to fight for his convictions, the often reticent Getz was, unfortunately, not a storyteller. Had he been, the stories he could have told would have fit perfectly in Lawrence Ritter’s The Glory of Their Times.

Hailing from the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area, Getz was born on August 3, 18891 to German immigrants John Getz and Catherine Schultz. He likely grew up in the borough of Etna, situated along the Allegheny River, just minutes from Pittsburgh.2 Etna was so named because the fire and smoke emissions from the local industries invoked comparisons to the volcanic Mount Etna in Italy.3 Getz showed his baseball skills early, and in 1905 when he was just 15 years old he headed down to Lonaconing, Maryland to play shortstop in the newly-formed semipro Cumberland and George’s Creek League. Apparently young Getz was innocent of the ways of baseball equipment, as it was noted that he showed up to play in canvas sneakers, having never even heard of baseball spikes.4

It’s likely his time with Lonaconing was short-lived, and Getz played for his hometown Etna team until August, 1908, when he received a tryout for the McKeesport team in the Class-C Ohio & Pennsylvania league.5 Getz made the team and performed well at third base and shortstop. He returned in 1909 and emerged as a top prospect, primed to be purchased by a higher league.6 Indeed, that June, it was reported that the National League team in Brooklyn had bought Getz for “over $1,500.”7 In reality, the McKeesport team wanted $3,000 for him, but Larry Sutton, the Brooklyn scout, offered $2,000. Brooklyn owner Charles Ebbets agreed to pay the team’s asking price, but Sutton refused, saying he wouldn’t “pay $3,000 for the whole league.”8 That killed the deal. In mid-August, the National League team in Boston purchased the 20-year-old for a reported $2,000.9

Getz, who now stood 5’10 or 5’11” and weighed around 160 pounds, debuted on August 15, 1909 for the Boston Doves and manned third base regularly for the remainder of the season. He was subpar at the plate, hitting just .223 for his team that would go on to record an astounding 108 losses versus 45 wins. However, his fielding received high marks and Boston management looked upon him favorably. When Getz was given a contract for the 1910 season that included a raise, he stated that he would quit his job in a mill to rest and prepare for the coming season.10

During spring training in Augusta, Georgia, a Boston writer described Getz thusly: “He is anything but graceful, but manages to get there and field the ball and sends it like a bullet to first. He has an extraordinary swing for a young chap, and to cap it all, needs no iron band to keep his head from bursting, for he is always trying to see what he can learn from his elders.”11 Throughout his career, Getz would be described as an excellent fielder who never made it look pretty. He later gave some credit to the advancement of gloves of the day, noting that “the glove acts not as a shock absorber, but as a leather-gripper.” After explaining that the first gloves were designed only to protect hands, “fielders began to shape the mittens into pocket receptacles, and that trick revolutionized the whole art of fielding, both flies and grounders. Nowadays, the fielder really, as you might say, adds a little basket to his equipment, a basket in which a ball can stick and stay.”12

Around this time Getz also began to be known as the quietest man in baseball, earning him the nickname “Silent Gus” (among other less innovative monikers such as “Dutchman,” “Gee-Gee,” “Gloomy Gus,” and “Trusty Teuton”).

Getz spent the entirety of the 1910 season with the big-league team. He appeared in 54 games, playing every position but first base, catcher, and pitcher, with most of his time spent at third base and second base. But his offensive numbers did not improve, as he hit just .194. Consequently, after the season ended, Getz was sold to the Indianapolis Indians of the Class-A American Association.

Twenty-one years old at the start of the season, Getz performed well in 1911, batting .277 and stealing 18 bases while playing third base nearly exclusively. Despite his good play, Getz was sold to the lower Class-B Springfield (Ohio) team of the Central League (both Indianapolis and Springfield were owned by the same man, W.H. Watkins). Reports mentioned that Getz had not gotten along with Indianapolis manager Jimmy Burke,13 and another stated that Getz needed time to “develop his think tank” and often “got the ball in his hands and didn’t know what to do with it.”14 In the first of many times in his career, Getz objected to either the demotion or the contract terms, and refused to play for the team.15 In March, Indianapolis/Springfield management acquiesced and moved him to the Elmira Colonels of the New York State League in exchange for former big-leaguer Charlie Malay and cash.16 Though Elmira was also considered to be Class B, Getz reported for duty in the spring of 1912.

The local press was pleased to have a player of Getz’s pedigree play for their team, initially describing him as a “beautifully built player” that “looks baseball from head to foot.”17 Getz did not disappoint, hitting .299 and leading the team in stolen bases and runs. As usual, his defensive skills at third base set him apart, showing off “startling stops, pickups and catches of line drives [that] would bring the crowd to its feet,” despite looking like “an awkward ballplayer.”18 The big leagues again took notice of the promising youngster, and in August, Getz was sold to Brooklyn of the National League for around $2,50019. Nevertheless, he was allowed to finish out the season in Elmira.

Since Brooklyn’s big-league team was already set at third base in 1913, the 23-year-old Getz was assigned to the Newark Indians of the International League. Newark was Class AA, just one step below the majors. Getz spent all of his time at second base, and had another fine season. He hit .275 and stole 35 bases to lead the team, helping the Indians win 95 games and the International League pennant. The team’s manager was former catcher Harry Smith, whom Getz likely rooted for when Smith played with the Pittsburgh National League team, and was a teammate of when both played with Boston in 1910.

Getz’s time in New Jersey not only showed that he could deliver in baseball’s highest minor league — it also proved to be personally life-changing, as it was there that he would meet his wife, start a family, and live the rest of his life. Getz met Frances Eleanor Messner, the 17-year-old daughter of a Newark tavern owner, at a party.20 Four months later, on September 8, 1913, they were married in Manhattan. They settled in Newark.21 It was reported that “Silent Gus” didn’t even inform his teammates of his nuptials for months afterward.22

Becoming a husband wasn’t the only big decision Getz made that offseason. Late in 1913, the upstart Federal League came calling. The newly-formed circuit had declared itself a major league and began mounting raids on players affiliated with the National and American Leagues. Getz fielded offers from his hometown Pittsburgh Feds and also the Baltimore Feds, which would have reportedly doubled his Newark salary.23 Charles Ebbets, Jr, president of the Newark Indians, urged Getz and another holdout to “hurry up and sign their contracts if they want to play in Newark next season,” pointing out that they were very replaceable.24 A few days later Getz signed with Newark for $350 a month with a $75 monthly advance.25 “Because of friendship for Manager Harry Smith, and for no other reason, I finally decided to sign with Newark,” said Getz. He noted that the offers from the Federal League clubs “were so alluring that no ballplayer could be blamed for considering the terms offered, [but] after talking with Chief Smith of the Indians . . . and when President Ebbets talked to me I consented to remain with the Indians.”26

In 1914, Getz was having another fine season for Newark until August 15, when he was called up to the one-year-old Ebbets Field in Brooklyn to take the roster spot of Ollie O’Mara, who had broken his leg the previous day. Getz made his Brooklyn debut at third base in a double-header, going hitless with an error in the first game, but going 4-for-4 with a stolen base in the next. He manned the hot corner for the remainder of the season, hitting .248 for a team that finished five games under .500. Brooklyn must have liked what they saw, for they gave him a two-year contract in October.27

Getz and his wife headed west for the offseason, as he, several of his Brooklyn teammates, and other major leaguers caught on with the Brawley, California team of the Imperial Valley Winter Baseball League.28 Unfortunately, the team underperformed and there were rumors of a gambling scandal.29 Getz and his major-league brethren quit the team roughly two weeks after the season began. Still, Getz and his wife seemed determined to take advantage of their new location; the couple remained in the Los Angeles area at least through February of the following year. Writing a guest column for a Brooklyn newspaper, Getz informed his fans that in addition to getting ready for the upcoming season, he was finding time to hunt, fish, and travel along the coast.30 He also displayed his sense of humor, intimating that in the winter he signs hotel registers as “Gustave,” thereby “adding dignity to the name and some dignity to the surroundings. In other words, I am not to be mistaken for a ball player. Not me.”31

Following the California sojourn, Getz joined the Brooklyn team as they convened for spring training in Daytona Beach, Florida in 1915. While there, in addition to further establishing himself on the big-league team, Getz perhaps was a participant in one of baseball’s most legendary off-the-field moments. Ruth Law, celebrity aviatrix, gave flying demonstrations from a nearby hotel, and took many of the Brooklyn players for rides in her aeroplane. In what was either a staged publicity stunt or a friendly challenge among ballplayers, manager Wilbert Robinson agreed to try to catch a baseball dropped from Law’s aeroplane, some 500 feet in the air. Robinson readied himself on the pitching mound and did his best to catch the orb that rapidly descended towards him. Unfortunately, it glanced off his left wrist, and all were surprised to see the object disintegrate into many pieces.32 After a few seconds, it became obvious that a grapefruit had taken the place of the baseball. Years after it actually took place, many reports of the incident claimed that Robinson believed he was terribly injured upon seeing the red juice and scraps of flesh-colored fruit strewn about him, but contemporary press coverage did not include this detail. The press and Robinson seem to have taken the event in good humor, but who was behind the switcheroo? Trainer Frank Kelley33 was immediately fingered as the culprit for the practical joke, since he reportedly was in the plane with Law and he was the one who actually made the bet with Robinson.34 Years later, well-known jokester Casey Stengel, who was Getz’ teammate at the time of the incident, took credit for it. Later, Ruth Law said it was she who had substituted the grapefruit at the last moment, as no one had given her a baseball.35 Getz undoubtedly witnessed this event, and, according to a profile of him many years later, Getz and Kelley were both in the plane that dropped the grapefruit.36 Was Getz really in the plane, did he or the reporter stretch the truth, or did the reporter misunderstand the story? We may never know the truth, and it remains one of the game’s most humorous incidents.

By the middle of 1915 it looked as if Getz was cementing his status as a productive big-league player. On the season, he batted .258 and continued his excellent contact hitting, striking out only 14 times over 477 at-bats to tie the lead for the league.37 While the 25-year-old’s offensive statistics were perhaps just average, those in the know were able to see past his physically awkward style to realize that he was one of the best-fielding third basemen in the league. Brooklyn finished third in the National League.

In 1916, Brooklyn won the National League pennant with superb pitching and a very good offense, but lost the World Series to the Boston Red Sox in five games. Unfortunately for Getz, he lost the starting third-base job and was relegated to appearing in only 40 games in the regular season, hitting a paltry .219. However, Getz did make the hit that secured the pennant for Brooklyn, earning him the memorable headline of “Gus Getz Has Got Guts.”38 In what would be his only postseason experience, Getz went hitless in his one pinch-hitting appearance. Even though he didn’t receive a full share of the postseason prize pool,39 it was apparently enough for him to purchase his first car, a Dodge.40 Earlier in the season, on May 6, Getz witnessed the first non-inside-the-park home run at Ebbets Field, one which he (and contemporary writers) claimed was the “oddest run” in history.41 Teammate George Cutshaw hit a ball just inside fair territory in right field. The ball bounced off a concrete drain pipe just in front of the slanted outfield wall, rolled up the wall, paused for a second at the top, and then dropped over for a home run to win the game in the 11th inning (bounce home runs were legal in the National League through 193042).

While spending the offseason helping out in his father-in-law’s tavern, Getz received his contract for 1917 from Brooklyn. Citing that it “offered a big cut in salary,” Getz publicly refused to sign.43 “I realize I did not play regularly in 1916, but I gave valuable service as a utility man and feel that I am worth what I was getting in 1916,” Getz told the press.44 Perhaps playing a part in his decision was the fact that Getz was known to be a supporter of the Baseball Players Fraternity at this time, even going as far as advocating their going on a strike.45 However, the Fraternity called off the strike prior to its self-imposed deadline, and Getz signed his contract.

Getz went to spring training with Brooklyn but was released just before the season was to begin. The Cincinnati Reds quickly picked him up, as manager Christy Mathewson “believe[d] he [had] possibilities” despite his poor showing the previous year.46 Getz’s time with the Reds was short-lived, as he was sold in June when Reds regular Bill McKechnie returned from an injury. Getz had appeared in just seven games; however, one of those games was the classic “double no-hit” game between Fred Toney of the Reds and Hippo Vaughn of the Chicago Cubs. Speaking just two weeks after the game, Getz was effusive in his praise of both pitchers, saying both “showed me the best work I have ever seen or expect see. Each of them had everything you could imagine.”47 Further, “when nine innings had passed without a hit we knew that we were lucky to be on hand for a game that would make baseball history.”48

Cincinnati originally sold Getz to Mobile of the Class-AA Southern League, but, characteristically, he refused the assignment.49 He was fortunate that a deal was then worked out with the Newark Bears of the Class-AA International League. Once again, Getz was back in the minors; but at least he was in his adopted hometown, where he received a loud ovation from the crowd upon taking his first at-bat.50

His second stint in New Jersey’s largest city proved to be his last. He batted an all-time personal high of .300.

The start of the 1918 season saw Getz once again on a major-league roster, this time with the Cleveland Indians of the American League, who bought his contract from Newark. But Getz played only six games in a little over a month with Cleveland, and was waived to Pittsburgh of the National League in May. He was happy to play for the team that he had followed so closely as a child, but saddened that his idol, fellow Pittsburgh area native Honus Wagner, had retired the prior season (though they did eventually become good friends).51

Nevertheless, Getz’s time in Pittsburgh was also short-lived, as he got into just seven games in over two months. In July the Pirates tried to send him to the Indianapolis Hoosiers of the American Association, two levels below the big leagues. Getz once again refused to report, and instead made good on his word to quit the game rather than to play in Indianapolis.52

Back in August of 1917, while still playing for Newark, Getz was drafted into the US Army, which was engaged in World War I. Earlier that May he had claimed preemptive exemption on the grounds he needed to support his wife, but the appeal board denied his claim, citing that his wife could support herself (presumably through her work in her father’s tavern).53 Evidently the men in his draft class were not called into active service, because Getz never reported for duty. However, the Selective Service issued its “work or fight” decree that stated beginning on July 1, 1918 all draft-eligible men could either be compelled to work in an industry useful to the war effort or join the military. Getz, with his major-league career on a definite downturn and not wanting to report to Indianapolis, complied with the directive by obtaining employment in the Harlan and Hollingsworth Shipyard in Wilmington, Delaware.

While Getz felt he was doing his part to support the war effort, there were those who felt that many ballplayers and celebrities were taking an easy way out while thousands were dying on European battlefields. A popular notion was that baseball players used their new employment as a cover for their real full-time jobs — serving as ringers on the company baseball team. While it was true that Getz did star on his company’s team (sometimes alongside Shoeless Joe Jackson and Rogers Hornsby), he was adamant that he was not derelict in his patriotic duties. Said Getz: “The quicker the public rids itself of the idea we ball players in the shipyards have things easier than the rest of the men, the better. We shipyard men, ball players or not, are working, and working hard. No dawdling will be stood for.”54 Getz helped his team win the championship of the Atlantic coast shipyards.55 The Armistice came in November of 1918, and Getz presumably finished up his wartime employment sometime around then.

The Getzes must have been grateful for the war’s end, for their only child, Grace Eleanor, was born on March 7, 1919 in Newark. Getz undoubtedly craved stability, so he was probably not happy when he learned that Pittsburgh, which still owned his rights, had traded him to the Toledo Mud Hens of the Class-AA American Association. True to form, he initially refused to report, but after about a month of playing semipro ball in New Jersey, he showed up for duty to manager Roger Bresnahan. He played regularly, but performed poorly, hitting just .227. Getz, now 30 years old, pondered retirement from the game he loved.56

The 1920 offseason saw Getz being traded once again, this time to the Little Rock Travelers of the Southern Association, two rungs below the big leagues. Getz, who reportedly had a dislike for the South, again refused to report. Toledo still held his rights and must have lodged an official complaint with Organized Baseball, as he was officially listed as “ineligible” for the 1920 season. Finally, Getz’ “hardball” tactics had come back to bite him, and he played on semipro teams in northern Pennsylvania through 1921. To supplement his baseball income, it is possible he worked in his father-in-law’s tavern or in some other trade.

Getz applied for reinstatement to Organized Baseball in 1922. Though no details are available, Commissioner Judge Landis reinstated him in March, clearing the path for Getz to sign with the Reading Aces of the Class-AA International League.57 Getz, now 32 years old and fresh off a two-year stint in independent ball, must have been pleased that a team just one step from the major leagues was interested in him, and also one that was not so far from his family in Newark. The player-manager of Reading, Chief Bender, probably liked Getz’s veteran influence on his young team. Unfortunately, Getz did not live up to expectations at the plate, hitting just .228 while playing in every game. Characteristically, he struck out only 17 times to lead the league.

After his lackluster 1922 showing, Reading decided not to invite Getz back for the upcoming season. But instead of attempting to sell or trade him, they did Getz a favor and released him outright, making him a free agent.58 For a short spell he played with the semipro Trentons and Meadowbrooks, both located in New Jersey59. Then the Jersey City Skeeters of the Class-AA International League came calling. Again, Getz was fortunate to land a berth with a high-level team so close to his home. At the ripe age of 33 Getz had a bounce-back year, batting .276 with a career-high 28 doubles, all the while leading third basemen in fielding. Unfortunately, the major leagues still did not show interest, and Jersey City did not ask him back for the following season.

Getz spent 1924 through 1926 playing on various semipro teams in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. He may also have supplemented his income by umpiring local games, which he had started doing as early as 1922. During this time the Getzes also moved out of Newark, occupying homes in nearby Irvington and West Orange, New Jersey, cohabitating with Frances’ retired parents. In 1927 Getz signed on to manage the Scranton Miners of the Class-B New York-Penn League. He also inserted himself into about half of the games as the second baseman, where he hit .245 in what would be his final showing as a player. The team suffered financial troubles and finished under .500, but Getz’s managerial performance was commended and he was signed to again lead the team in 1928.

Not long after his second season as skipper got underway, Getz was called back home to see his daughter Grace, who was gravely ill with diphtheria.60 Just nine years old, Grace died and was buried in Rosedale Cemetery in Orange, New Jersey.

After his return to the Miners, the team performed even more poorly that season, and Getz was replaced as manager for the following year. It is unknown how Getz supported himself in 1929, but by 1930 he was again umpiring in local games, and it was reported that his wife was the proprietor of a restaurant in Newark.61 In 1931 Getz accepted a position as an umpire in the Class-A Eastern League. For reasons unknown, Getz quit this position just a month into the season. In 1932 Getz did some coaching and umpiring for his old team, the Newark Bears. Throughout the 1930s, he also umpired in the New York-Penn League, Middle Atlantic League, spring training games in Florida, and semipro and high school games.

Apparently, umpiring was not paying all the bills, as he is noted as being employed as a full-time stock clerk in a department store in 1940. It was around this time that the Getzes moved permanently into their vacation house in the Jersey Shore town of Keansburg. They had purchased the home in the 1920s and Frances used it in the summers when her husband played baseball.62 There, Frances became a popular pianist for local hotels and restaurants (including one owned by a sister), and Getz was known around town not only for being an old ballplayer, but also as the man who raised ducks that followed him around the neighborhood (Getz had become an animal lover, disavowing his old hunting hobby.)63 Getz found work in construction and as a union shop steward, and worked at a horse-racing track, Monmouth Park, during the final years of his life. In his retirement Getz remained a Dodgers fan and relished participating in the Old Timers games held at Ebbets Field.

Getz died in Riverview Hospital in Red Bank, New Jersey on May 28, 1969 at the age of 79, the cause being a ruptured abdominal aneurysm.64 Frances soon followed, passing on July 2, 1969 at the age of 73. They are buried side by side in Mount Olivet Cemetery in Middletown, New Jersey.

Getz had grown up and played in the Deadball Era, shaping his skills to fit that style of play. In his later years, he yearned for the game of his youth and young adulthood. He lamented the clean, lively baseball with all its home runs, the decreased reliance on the stolen base, the lost art of playing for one run, and the lack of pitchers’ complete games. “In the game today a young fellow gets more help from the veterans, but it wasn’t that way in the old days. Years ago players were more friendly with the fans, but today that isn’t allowed. A fan just can’t get near a player,” said Getz.65

Getz also wanted to see more kids playing baseball, saying that baseball “has great possibilities and it can be educational for lads to get around and see people they wouldn’t otherwise meet.”66 He believed that television helped the big league teams, but hurt the local teams and reduced exposure and opportunities for youngsters. “Around here there are too many things to do . . . Kids don’t have the interest because the first thing they think about is getting a car instead of going out and playing ball.

“One thing is certain,” said Getz, “it wasn’t like that years ago.”

Acknowledgments

This biography was reviewed by Bill Nowlin and Joe DeSantis and fact-checked by Kevin Larkin.

Sources

Baseball-Reference.com was used most frequently for the cited statistics.

Notes

1 Some sources, including those self-reported, list his birth year as 1890, 1892, 1893, or 1894, but 1889 seems the most likely and widely accepted.

2 Getz’s definitive place of birth, along with the town where he grew up, has been elusive. Based on the earliest reported accounts of his life, I believe he was born in Pittsburgh or very nearby, and grew up in Etna, though some sources list his hometown as Pittsburgh.

3 Frank Sowa, “Etna Celebrates Its 125th Anniversary, ”Guyasuta Gazette, July 1994: 14.

4 “Getz On Field in Sneakers, ”Akron Beacon Journal, March 1, 1910: 8.

5 Daily Telegram (Clarksburg, West Virginia), August 4, 1908: 3.

6 “Tube City Players Will Report Monday, ”Pittsburgh Daily Post, April 14, 1909: 12.

7 “National League Notes, ”Daily Notes (Canonsburg, Pennsylvania), June 25, 1909: 2.

8 “Day of Rest Will Benefit Dodgers’Pitching Staff, ” Brooklyn Times Union, July 29, 1915: 8.

9 “Sporting Chat, ”Fall River (Massachusetts) Daily Globe, August 18, 1909: 10.

10 “Getz Given Raise for Next Saturday, ”New Castle (Pennsylvania) Herald, January 29, 1910: 5.

11 “Getz Making Good with Boston Team, ”New Castle Herald, April 2, 1910: 2.

12 “The Glove,” Baseball Magazine, July 1917, Volume 19, Issue 3: 406.

13 “Buffalo Seeks Getz, ”Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, December 31, 1912: 8.

14 “Third Base Open in Two Leagues, ”Indianapolis Star, March 9, 1912: 10.

15 Indianapolis Star-Sun, January 28, 1912: 38.

16 “Fast Infielder is Signed to Play Third for Elmira, ” Star-Gazette (Elmira, New York), March 4, 1912: 5.

17 “Classiest Bunch On Record After Places with Elmira, ”Star-Gazette, April 11, 1912: 8.

18 “Buffalo Manager After Getz,” Star-Gazette, January 3, 1913: 8.

19 “Callahan Order to Report Toront Gets Stricklett,” Star-Gazette, September 9, 1912: 12.

20 Cornell Wright,”Gloomy Gus Sparked Bums to First Flag, ”Daily Record (Long Branch, New Jersey), December 11, 1951: 9.

21 New York City Municipal Archives, New York, New York; Volume Number: 12.

22 Wright.

23 “Pittsburgh After Getz,” Buffalo Times, January 2, 1914: 11.

24 “Up to Swacina and Getz Now,”Buffalo Times, January 24, 1914: 8.

25 “Sporting Notes,”Pittston Gazette, January 27, 1914: 6.

26 “Just Because of Friendship for Boss Harry Smith,”Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, New York), January 31, 1914: 18.

27 Evening Star (Washington D.C.), October 22, 1914: 18.

28 “Some Baseball Team, Los Angeles Times, December 2, 1914: 25.

29 “Gambling Scandal Breaks Out in Imperial Valley League,” San Francisco Chronicle, December 12, 1914: 5.

30 “Getz Enjoying Winter at Los Angeles, ”Standard Union (Brooklyn, New York), February 2, 1915: 8.

31 “Getz Enjoying Winter at Los Angeles. ”

32 “Nap Rucker Arrives at Superbas’ Camp, ”Standard Union, March 14, 1915: 10.

33 Frank Kelley is also referenced in other reports as Joe Kelley, and sometimes as”Kelly. ”Other later reports refer to him as Fred Kell(e)y.

34 “Nap Rucker Arrives at Superbas’Camp. ”

35 Emily Watson,”San Francisco Clubwoman Recalls Her Flying Past, ”Call-Leader (Elwood, Indiana), November 8, 1958: 6.

36 Wright.

37 Ernest J. Lanigan, “Gus Getz Made One Record for the Superbas in 1915,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, March 5, 1916: 70.

38 Tommy Holmes, “Old Timers Enjoy Romp at Ebbets Field, ”Brooklyn Eagle, September 23, 1940: 15.

39 “The Sporting Periscope,” Edmonton Journal, October 18, 1916: 13.

40“Gus Getz Buys an Auto, ”Brooklyn Citizen, October 15, 1916: 4.

41 Wright.

42 Connor O’Gara, “Future Hall of Famer Al Lopez Hits Last ‘Bounce’ Home Run in Big Leagues,” https://baseballhall.org/discover/inside-pitch/al-lopez-hits-last-bounce-home-run, accessed June 14, 2020.

43 “Five Superbas Refuse to Sign,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, January 24, 1917: 1.

44 “Five Superbas Refuse to Sign.”

45 “Speaker Sticks to Fultz‘Frat’ Strike Feb. 20, ”La Crosse Tribune (LaCrosse, Wisconsin), January 26, 1917: 12.

46 Christy Mathewson, “No Championship Ever Won by Club with Two Managers, ”Boston Globe, April 22, 1917: 14.

47 “Gus Getz Talk About That Duel Between Toney and Vaughn, ”Brooklyn Daily Eagle, May 16, 1917: 22.

48 “Gus Getz Talk About That Duel Between Toney and Vaughn.”

49 “Gus Getz is Released by Cincinnati Club,” Pittsburgh Press, May 26, 1917: 10.

50 “Bears and Orioles Get Even Break, Gus Getz Starring,” New York Tribune, May 28, 1917: 13.

51 Hy Cunningham,”Hy Spotting Sports,” Daily Register (Red Bank, New Jersey), April 14, 1955: 24.

52 Seeking Other Berths, ” Pittsburgh Daily Post, July 20, 1918: 8.

53 “Gus Getz is Drafted, ” Pittsburgh Press, August 19, 1917: 22.

54 “Shipyard Ball Players Working Hard, ”Evening Journal (New York, New York) September 17, 1918: 11.

55 “Harlans Again Beat Standards in Series for Shipyard Title, ”Brooklyn Times Union, September 9, 1918: 8.

56 “Toldeo Has Little Idea About Team, ”Star Tribune (Minneapolis), December 28, 1919: 26.

57 “Reading Buys Getz, ”Philadelphia Inquirer, March 8, 1922: 17.

58 “Gus Getz is Released, ”Democrat and Chronicle, January 21, 1923: 42.

59 “Gus Getz Signed by Trenton Club,” Evening Journal, April 23, 1923: 18.

60 “Things We’re Told, ”Scranton Republican, May 28, 1928: 8.

61 “Slap Ends Hold-Up, ”Courier News (Bridgewater, New Jersey), September 22, 1930: 10.

62 Cunningham.

63 Cunningham.

64 Certificate of Death, State of New Jersey Department of Health, June 3, 1969.

65 Cunningham.

66 Cunningham.