Hi Jasper

With almost a century having passed since the end of his fitful professional career, right-handed pitcher Hi Jasper is an elusive subject, a hard man to pin down. But two Jasper characteristics are unmistakable. He had ability — such astute talent evaluators as Jimmy Callahan, Frank Chance, and Pants Rowland recognized his merits. Yet Jasper’s psyche — labels such as eccentric, peculiar, and erratic were regularly attached to him — rendered the hurler a handful to manage. A penchant for suddenly abandoning his ballclubs for other opportunities or trips home also rendered engagement of “Jumping Jasper” a risky proposition. Still, there was evidently something ingratiating about the pitcher, a now-entombed personality trait that induced both Organized Baseball and disappointed former employers to afford Jasper repeated second chances.

Whatever his shortcomings, the abrupt end to Hi Jasper’s major league career was attributable to a force entirely beyond his control: the abolition of the spitball, Jasper’s pitching meal ticket. Although he rendered useful service for the pennant-contending Cleveland Indians in 1919, the club designated others as its two licensed spitballers for the 1920 season. This eliminated Jasper. Indeed, he was virtually unemployable at the major and high minor league level from that point and spent the remainder of his career pitching mostly for semipro outfits. Even his May 1937 death, while tragic, was also befittingly unconventional.

Henry Jasper Jr. was a lifelong inhabitant of St. Louis. According to current reference authority, he was born there on May 24, 1886.1 Hi, as he was usually called, was one of at least at least six children2 born to clothing mill tracer Henry Jasper Sr. (1859-1938) and his wife, the former Millie (Emilie) Schleuter (1861-1898), both St. Louis natives of Prussian descent. Little is known of our subject’s youth. As far as has been discovered, his name first appeared in local newsprint in February 1908 when his betrothal to 19-year-old St. Louis resident Helen Sullivan was announced.3 In time, the young couple had three sons: Robert Henry (born 1909), Albert (1911), and Edward (1914).

Presumably, Jasper began playing baseball in local sandlots before graduating to the St. Louis Trolley League, a conglomerate of fast semipro circuits operating in the greater St. Louis area. By 1908, he was playing infield for the Grand Leaders club.4 Jasper entered the professional ranks the following spring, signing with the Jacksonville (Illinois) Braves of the Class D Central Association. Midway through the campaign, he unveiled what would become a career-long proclivity: he silently abandoned his ball club and went home to St. Louis.5 Two weeks later, he was welcomed back into Braves uniform,6 and finished the season with a .218 batting average, close to the median in the weak-hitting Central Association.7

Jasper returned to Jacksonville in 1910, joining a newly formed club called the Jacksonville Jacks in a new league, the Class D Northern Association.8 Installed as the everyday shortstop by Jacksonville manager Clarence “Pants” Rowland, the right-handed hitting Jasper impressed with both the bat and the glove. Shortly after a two-homer game against the Elgin (Illinois) Kittens, Jasper’s contract was purchased by the Dubuque (Iowa) Dubs of the Class B Three-I League.9 He made his Dubuque debut on July 6 and “performed well.”10 A week later, he jumped the team and left the city.11 True to previous form, Jasper subsequently wheedled his way back into the good graces of Dubs manager Charlie Buelow12 and returned to complete the season with Dubuque. Thereafter, Jasper was reserved for 1911 by the club, his meager .185 batting average in 61 games notwithstanding.13

The year 1911 proved a momentous one for Hi Jasper. Expected back in Dubuque that spring, Jasper was a no-show. Rather, he worked out at shortstop and second base for the Rockford (Illinois) Reds of the Class D Wisconsin-Illinois League.14 In early May, however, Rockford released him.15 Back home in St. Louis, Jasper rejoined the Trolley League. And it was there that he suffered the eye injury that prompted his conversion to pitching. Whether stuck by a bad-hop grounder while playing third base or waylaid by a foul tip while umpiring behind the plate — accounts differ — Jasper lost the vision in his left eye. But rather than give up the game, he soon initiated the process of transforming himself into a spitball pitcher.

In spring 1912, Jasper began his second career as a hurler with the Anadarko Indians of the lowly Class D Oklahoma State League.16 Three quick victories — “his speed is great and his curve ball is well under control” reported the hometown weekly17 — attracted the notice of pitching-poor major league clubs. In mid-May, he was sold to the Cincinnati Reds for $300.18 Jasper’s audition, however, proved a one-day fiasco. After throwing batting practice, Jasper either got into an altercation with a Reds hitter whom he had dusted or took offense at new teammates’ ribbing of his garish Western attire — again contemporary accounts vary.19 Whatever the case, Reds manager Hank O’Day promptly returned his new acquisition to Anadarko.20 A month later, the latter club folded, leaving Jasper to finish out the year pitching for semipro clubs in the Midwest.

The next of the myriad second chances that Jasper received during his career occurred in early 1913. Notwithstanding Jasper’s disregard of his obligation to the Dubuque club in spring 1911, new Dubs manager (and erstwhile Jasper mentor) Pants Rowland took the prodigal back.21 Jasper repaid the club’s clemency by pitching well. On April 30, he threw a 17-strikeout one-hitter at the Bloomington Bloomers, thereafter, declaring immodestly, “I can do better than that.”22 He never did.23 Even so, after 20 starts Jasper’s record stood at 13-6, with an eye-catching ratio of 119 base hits to 170 1/3 innings pitched. All the while, his performance was being closely monitored by Chicago White Sox club boss Charles Comiskey. In mid-July, Jasper was sold to the Sox with delivery slated for the close of the Dubuque season.24 Other reports had the pitcher reporting to Chicago by the end of the month.25

But the contrary pitcher had ideas of his own, which included receiving a portion of the reported $8,000 purchase price paid by Comiskey. Until that demand was satisfied, Jasper would not pitch for Dubuque or report to Chicago.26 Dubuque manager Rowland had no intention of paying Jasper and placed the pitcher on the suspended list instead.27 As was his wont, Jasper then spent the remainder of the summer pitching for semipro clubs.28 Meanwhile, the Chicago White Sox included Jasper on the reserve list submitted for the 1914 season.29

Over the ensuing winter, the dispute somehow got resolved and Jasper reported to the White Sox spring training camp in California in early March 1914. He pitched poorly in his first outing but thereafter cinched a roster spot with complete-game shutouts of the San Francisco Seals and Venice Tigers of the Pacific Coast League. Veteran Chicago sportswriter Cy Sanborn was favorably impressed by the newcomer, writing that “Jasper has a queer spitball that acts more like a curve than the usual moist delivery, and as soon as he gains perfect control of his stuff may prove a complete enigma. … He knows how to field his position already and can hold up the runners better than the average minor leaguer.”30 Jasper also provided colorful copy for sports scribes — a yarn about using soap rather than saliva to moisten his spitball received nationwide circulation.31

The 5-feet-11, 180-pound hurler made his major league debut on April 19, 1914, taking over for starter Eddie Cicotte in the ninth inning with the Sox trailing the St. Louis Browns, 5-0. Apart from a double surrendered to Burt Shotton, the rookie emerged unscathed and struck out two. Thereafter, he was used sparingly by manager Jimmy Callahan. Late in the season, a scoreless two-inning relief stint garnered Jasper his first victory when the Sox staged a six-run rally in the final frame to notch a 7-4 win over the Washington Senators.32

Overall, Jasper made 16 appearances, all in relief, posting a 1-0 record. In 32 1/3 innings pitched, he allowed only 22 base hits but was hampered by control problems, walking 20. He struck out 19. As a batsman, he went 0-for-5, but set an oddball major league record: most RBIs (4) in a season by a player without a base hit. As expected of a one-time infielder, Jasper fielded his position expertly (14 defensive chances handled flawlessly) and earned a place in the future plans of the Chisox club that finished the season 70-84, tied for sixth place.

The “only one-eyed player in the majors”33 began the 1915 season in the White Sox starting rotation. In his initial outing, Jasper dominated St. Louis, holding the Browns to two scratch singles through eight innings. Staked to a three-run lead, he came undone in the ninth, walking the first two Browns hitters and then yielding a double to Tillie Walker. Still, Jasper was within one out of victory when Hank Severeid blasted a grooved 3-0 fastball over the left field wall for a game-winning three-run homer. Some years later, Jasper blamed veteran Sox second baseman Eddie Collins for his serving up the cripple, maintaining that he had wanted to throw Severeid a curve but deferred to Collins’ instruction to throw a get-me-over fastball to the presumably taking batter.34

First-year Chicago manager Pants Rowland was less tolerant the following week, yanking Jasper after he surrendered a third-inning dinger to the Browns’ Ken Williams after walking the preceding two batters. A five-run White Sox rally eventually got Jasper off the hook, but he remained glued to the Chicago bench for the next month, seeing game action but once. Then, Chicago optioned him to the Los Angeles Angels of the Class AA Pacific Coast League.35 Jasper, however, refused to report to his new team, announcing his intention to remain in Chicago and pitch for the Whales of the rebel Federal League.36 But Whales manager Joe Tinker was not interested in the pitcher, prompting Jasper to head home to St. Louis.

In late July, Jasper reluctantly reported to the Angels. He pitched capably for Los Angeles in his initial appearance, downing San Francisco, 4-1.37 Having pocketed a reported $600 bonus from Angels club president John F. Powers, Jasper then disappeared.38 Predictably, he soon resurfaced in St. Louis.39 A chagrined Powers vowed “to keep him out of baseball for good,”40 but was soon working on a deal that gave the flighty hurler exactly what he wanted: a chance to pitch for his hometown St. Louis Cardinals.41 The transaction was consummated after the season, with former White Sox manager Jimmy Callahan declaring that “Jasper would be the greatest spitball pitcher in baseball if he behaves himself.”42 For his part, “the eccentric spitball specialist realize[d] that this may be his last chance to make good in the majors and has promised to knuckle down to business when he joins the Brittonites.”43

Jasper was enthused about pitching for the Cardinals, claiming that the height of the mound at Robison Field enhanced the velocity and drop of his spitter. He also revealed that he had gradually regained the vision in his left eye “until his sight is now almost normal.”44 Jasper showed up for spring training in early March 1916 in his customary tiptop physical condition and worked hard.45 For all his erratic behavior, the historical record documents that he kept in excellent shape and, perhaps surprisingly, was not known as a problem drinker.

Used as a spot starter/reliever by Cards skipper Miller Huggins, Jasper began the regular season well, capturing three wins in his first four decisions. But thereafter, he saw only occasional action. As of mid-August, Jasper’s record stood at 5-6 (.455), with a 3.28 ERA in 107 innings pitched — more than respectable for a St. Louis club headed for a tie for seventh place (60-93, .393) in the final 1916 National League standings. Nevertheless, Jasper was jettisoned, released once again to Los Angeles.46 To no great surprise, “the peculiar lad” promptly balked, refusing to report.47 Angels manager Frank Chance subsequently made plain that he did not want the pitcher,48 but placed Jasper on the club’s reserve list anyway.49

Like other overseers, Chance thought highly of Jasper’s stuff, and in spring 1917 the Los Angeles skipper and his difficult charge patched up their differences. Or so Chance thought. The Los Angeles Times predicted that “Hi should be one of the leading pitchers of the PCL this season. He has speed, a great ‘spitter’ and a curve — all a pitcher needs to win with.”50 But Jasper began the season indifferently with a no-decision start against Oakland. Days later, he dropped a 5-2 verdict to Salt Lake.51 Jasper then disappeared again. As before, he soon turned up in St. Louis. Back on the West Coast, Chance was livid. “Jasper is through with baseball for good,” the Peerless Leader thundered. “I have just put him on the suspended list of my club, and that is where he will stay as long as I am connected with the club.”52 Ineligible for employment by any team in Organized Baseball, Jasper spent the summer pitching for a semipro nine in Divernon, Illinois.53

The replacement of Frank Chance as Los Angeles manager midway through the 1917 season removed one obstacle to Jasper’s reinstatement. Then in early 1918, the spitballer was restored to the Angels roster, if only for the purpose of dealing him to the St. Paul Saints of the Class AA American Association.54 He made at least one exhibition game appearance for his new club before vanishing.55 Soon thereafter, St. Paul suspended Jasper.56 By late July, the World War I manpower needs of the US military precipitated suspension of play by the American Association. But as a 30-year-old with a wife and three small children to support, there was no realistic prospect of Jasper being conscripted. Rather, he spent the summer as playing manager of the Wagners, a member club of the St. Louis Mercantile League.57

With hostilities in Europe ended, baseball resumed normal operations for the 1919 season. Hi Jasper resumed normal operations, as well, somehow wriggling his way off the American Association ineligible list and on to the roster of the Milwaukee Brewers. But his stay in Milwaukee was short-lived, as the American Association’s banning of the spitball for the new season deprived Jasper of his out pitch. The spitter, was still legal in the majors, however, and in early June, the Cleveland Indians decided to audition Jasper.58 Somewhat oddly, the tryout was premised on a recommendation by Milwaukee manager Pants Rowland, an admirer of Jasper’s talents who did not hold a grudge despite the headaches that the pitcher had previously caused him.59

Jasper proved a helpful acquisition for the Indians, spot starting and relieving for the pennant-contending club. In July, he collected three complete-game victories. But from there his work tailed off, and he saw little action after center fielder Tris Speaker replaced Lee Fohl at the club helm. In fact, Jasper did not pitch at all after failing to record a single out in an August 21 start against the Boston Red Sox. His record remained frozen at 4-5, with a 3.59 ERA in 12 games pitched, as Cleveland surged to a close second-place finish in the American League title chase.

Given Speaker’s non-use of Jasper, the pitcher had little realistic chance of returning to Cleveland for the 1920 season. But what brought the top-echelon phase of his career to a close was a more consequential event: the major leagues’ banning of the spitball. Under the new regime, however, each club could exempt two of its pitching staff members from the proscription. As expected, the Indians designated Stan Coveleski and Ray Caldwell, each of whom went on to a 20-win season for the 1920 World Series champion Cleveland club. Hi Jasper, meanwhile, was left out in the cold, his major league career over. The best that he could do was secure a contract with the Beaumont Exporters of the Class B Texas League.60

Jasper appeared in parts of four seasons as a major leaguer but given his evident abilities, his career stats were underwhelming. In 52 big league games, he posted a 10-12 (.455) record, with a 3.48 ERA in 237 2/3 innings pitched. Over that span, he allowed 210 base hits and walked 99, while recording 96 strikeouts. Doubtless handicapped by impaired vision, he went only 12-for-74 (.162) with 36 strikeouts at bat but fielded his position competently (.950 fielding percentage).

Jasper’s Beaumont engagement came courtesy of club player-manager Joe Mathes, a St. Louis native and childhood friend of the pitcher. But days after he had arrived in Beaumont, “Jumping Jasper” left town to join an outlaw club in Blackfoot, Idaho.61 Once again resident on Organized Baseball’s ineligible list, he spent the following summers pitching for non-affiliated and semipro teams in the Midwest. Late in 1924, however, Jasper was reinstated so that Beaumont could sell his services to the Des Moines Boosters of the Class A Western League.62 Taking a chance on the erratic hurler was none other than old friend and new Des Moines co-owner/manager Joe Mathes. This time, Jasper remained in uniform for almost a month. But after walking nine batters in less than two innings during a spring exhibition game against a Texas League team from Wichita Falls, Jasper took unauthorized leave from Des Moines — his final ballclub. In late April 1925, he was again placed on Organized Baseball’s ineligible list,63 but this time it was merely a formality. The professional career of Hi Jasper had reached its end.

From this point on, Jasper receded into the anonymity of private life. By the time of the 1930 US Census, he was separated from his wife and working as a bartender at a St. Louis tavern. Early on the afternoon of May 22, 1937, he joined his employer, tavern owner-trash hauler Sam Stinebaker, and two of Stinebaker’s pre-teen sons for an unknown purpose. Equally unclear is why Jasper and the two boys were riding on the lowered tailgate of a dump truck driven by Stinebaker. While traversing city streets, all three were jolted off the tailgate onto the pavement. Stinebaker immediately stopped the truck and summoned first aid. But Jasper, his skull fractured, was pronounced dead on arrival at a St. Louis Hospital.64 Henry “Hi” Jasper Jr. was reportedly 50. Following funeral services, his remains were interred in Memorial Park Cemetery, St. Louis. Survivors included estranged wife Helen, three sons, and father Henry Jasper Sr.

Acknowledgments

This biography was reviewed by Rory Costello and fact-checked by Jeff Findley.

Sources

Sources for the information imparted above include the Hi Jasper file at the Giamatti Research Center, National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Cooperstown, New York; US Census reports and other government records accessed via Ancestry.com; and certain of the newspaper articles cited in the endnotes. Unless otherwise specified, stats have been taken from Baseball-Reference.

Notes

1 Over the years Jasper’s birth date has fluctuated, with prior baseball reference works and US Census reports placing his birth anywhere between 1880 and 1889. In the writer’s view, his most likely birth date is May 24, 1884, the date provided by Jasper himself under oath on his World War I draft registration card.

2 The other identifiable Jasper children were Mildred (born 1879), Emma (1893), Albert (1890), Edward (1895), and George (1898).

3 The marriage license granted Henry Jasper Jr. and Helen Sullivan was noted in both the English language St. Louis Globe-Democrat and German language Amerika, February 9, 1908.

4 “Lineups of Trolley Leagues Announced,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, March 26, 1908: 11.

5 Gate Times (Keokuk, Iowa), June 23, 1909: 3. Reportedly, Jasper quit the team following criticism of his play in Jacksonville newspapers. “Sporting Tips,” Gate Times (Keokuk, Iowa), June 29, 1909: 3.

6 “Sporting Tips,” Gate Times (Keokuk, Iowa), July 1, 1909: 3.

7 The Jacksonville Braves posted a .208 team batting average. Fred Fenney of the Ottuma/Burlington club led Central Association batters with a .300 BA, per 1909 CA season stats published in Sporting Life, January 22, 1910: 18.

8 “Twenty Signed for Tryout,” Illinois State Register (Springfield), April 12, 1910: 3.

9 See “Burton Secures Player,” Illinois State Journal (Springfield), July 3, 1910: 9. Acquisition of the Jasper contract cost Dubuque $300.

10 In the estimation of the Illinois State Register, July 6, 1910: 3.

11 “Zephyrs from the Diamond,” Rock Island (Illinois) Argus, July 16, 1910: 10; “Jasper Jumps Contract,” Rockford (Illinois) Republic, July 16, 1910: 6. “News Notes,” Sporting Life, July 30, 1910: 24.

12 “Gossip of the Game,” Illinois State Journal (Springfield), July 26, 1910: 3; “Zephyrs from the Diamond,” Rock Island (Illinois) Argus, July 26, 1910: 10.

13 “Loses Only Two,” Rock Island (Illinois) Argus, February 14, 1911: 23.

14 “Busser Ready for Dubuque,” Rockford (Illinois) Register-Gazette, April 11, 1911: 7.

15 “Rockford Ready for Tap of Gong,” Rockford Register-Gazette, May 2, 1911: 3.

16 “Anadarko Prepared,” Oklahoman (Oklahoma City), April 30, 1912: 6.

17 “Bad Weather Stops Games,” Anadarko (Oklahoma) American, May 16, 1912: 1.

18 “Guthrie Manager Asks Inquiry,” Dallas Morning News, May 17, 1912: 13; “New Red Pitcher Has World of Speed and Good Spitball,” Cincinnati Post, May 16, 1912: 6.

19 For altercation with Reds player, see “Hi Jasper Says Height of Mound at Robison Field Increases Speed of Ball,” St. Louis Star, December 2, 1915: 13; “May Replace Big Ed Walsh,” The Sporting News, May 21, 1914: 2. For ribbing, see “Hug Will Send Jasper to the Hill Tomorrow,” St. Louis Star, May 6, 1916: 9.

20 The Sporting News, May 21, 1914: 2. C. Lin Bonner, “Automobile News and Gossip,” Rocky Mountain News (Denver), April 21, 1914, 13.

21 “Latest News by Telegraph Briefly Told,” Sporting Life, May 3, 1913: 6.

22 “Fans Seventeen Batters Mere Trifle, Says Jasper,” Rock Island (Illinois) Argus, May 1, 1913: 4. The 17 strikeouts set a new Three-I League record.

23 For Dubuque anyway. Three years later with the Chicago White Sox, Jasper pitched a one-hit shutout against the Dallas Giants of the Texas League in a spring exhibition game.

24 As reported in “Sox Get Jasper,” Duluth (Minnesota) News-Tribune, July 27, 1913: 6; “Jasper Leaves Soon,” Rock Island (Illinois) Argus, July 11, 1913: 4, re-printing an item from the Dubuque (Iowa) Telegraph-Herald.

25 Illinois State Journal, July 17, 1913: 4.

26 As reported in “Hy Jasper Twirls for Witt Team,” Illinois State Register, August 12, 1913: 2. See also, “Baseball Chatter,” Trinidad (Colorado) Chronicle-News, August 21, 1913: 3; “Live Sport Gossip,” Grand Forks (North Dakota) Herald, August 17, 1913: 8.

27 “Jasper Out of Organized Ball,” Rock Island (Illinos)Argus, August 2, 1913: 4.

28 “Hy Jasper Hurls.”

29 Sporting Life, October 25, 1913: 8.

30 I.E. Sanborn, “White Sox Seem as Hitless as Ever,” The Sporting News, March 1914: 1.

31 “Substitute for Anointing Ball,” Anaconda (Montana) Standard, April 19, 1914: 2; “Jasper’s Spitball Becomes Soapball,” New York Sun, April 10, 1914: 9; “White Sox Pitcher Uses Soap to Lather Ball,” Providence Evening Bulletin, April 10, 1914: 34.

32 “White Sox Show October Speed; Take Twin Bill,” Chicago Tribune, September 23, 1914: 15. The Jasper victory came in the second game of a doubleheader that was called after seven innings.

33 “National League Notes,” Sporting Life, December 11, 1915: 9.

34 “Huggins Coaches Long to Correct Weakness at Bat,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 10, 1916: 16.

35 “Angels Get Sox Pitcher,” Oregon Journal (Portland), May 28, 1915: 10; “Sox Release Jasper,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 27, 1915: 19; and elsewhere.

36 “Jasper Refuses to Be a Seraph,” Los Angeles Times, May 28, 1915: III3; “Jasper Plans to Leave White Sox and Join Whales,” St. Louis Star, May 27, 1915: 12.

37 “Hi Jasper Does Well,” Los Angeles Times, July 26, 1915: III2. For the first eight innings, Jasper held the Seals to a single base hit.

38 “Hi Jasper Missing Again,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, July 30, 1915: 10; “Hi Jasper Drops from Sight in Salt Lake,” Los Angeles Times, July 29, 1915: III1.

39 “Hi Jasper Is Located,” Los Angeles Times, August 14, 1915: 16.

40 “Pacific Coast News Notes,” Sporting Life, August 28, 1915: 23.

41 “Hi Jasper May Be a Cardinal,” Los Angeles Times, September 29, 1915: III2.

42 “Jasper Is Purchased from Los Angeles by St. Louis Cardinals,” St. Louis Star, November 1, 1915: 11.

43 “Jasper is Purchased.” The “Brittonites” refers to St. Louis Cardinals owner Helene Robison Britton and her club president husband Schuyler Britton.

44 “Hi Jasper Says Height .”

45 Harry Pierce, “Hi Jasper Is a Hard Worker at Cards Camp,” St. Louis Star, March 8, 1916: 11.

46 “Angels Get Hi Jasper from Cards,” Oregonian (Portland), August 17, 1916: 17; “Hi Jasper Turned Back to Los Angeles Team,” San Jose Mercury News, August 17, 1916: 8.

47 “Jasper a ‘Balk’ Pitcher,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 17, 1916: 11. “Hi Jasper Unwilling to Join Seraphs,” San Jose Mercury News, August 18, 1916: 12.

48 “Jasper Not Wanted,” San Diego Union, September 11, 1916: 6; “Chance Wires Jasper He Is Not Wanted,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, September 10, 1916: 11.

49 Sporting Life, November 4, 1916: 10, which also listed Jasper as suspended by Los Angeles.

50 “Stove League Chatter,” Salt Lake Telegram, March 15, 1917: 10, re-printing an undated item from the Los Angeles Times.

51 Baseball-Reference erroneously gives Jasper a 1-1 record with Los Angeles in 1917. In fact, the Angels lost both games that Jasper started that season.

52 “Frank Chance Is Going to Punish Pitcher Jasper,” Oregon Journal, April 20, 1917: 12. “Jasper Skips Angels; Chance Is Angered,” Ogden (Utah) Evening Standard, April 20, 1917: 3.

53 Divernon is a central Illinois hamlet. Jasper’s work for the Divernon White Sox drew occasional mention in the Springfield newspapers. See, e.g., “Play Deciding Game,” Illinois State Register, September 23, 1917: 26; “Cleaners Defeated,” Illinois State Journal, May 12, 1917: 6.

54 “Saints Buy Hy Jasper,” Fargo (North Dakota) Forum, February 28, 1918: 9; “Hi Jasper Goes to St. Paul Club,” Salt Lake Telegram, February 24, 1918: 26; and elsewhere.

55 Jasper pitched in relief for St. Paul during a 10-9 loss to the Memphis Chicks on April 13, according to the Memphis Commercial Appeal, April 14, 1918: 31. That same date, a photo of Jasper warming up in a St. Paul uniform was published in the Evansville (Indiana) Press.

56 Per the Hi Jasper TSN player contract card.

57 Jasper’s appointment as Wagners leader was reported in “League Leads Are at Stake This Afternoon,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, July 14, 1918: 11.

58 “Jasper Joins Indians,” New York Tribune, June 8, 1919: 15. Cleveland Plain Dealer, June 2, 1919: 17.

59 Jasper had jumped the Dubuque Dubs while Rowland was club manager. Before taking on the Milwaukee skipper’s post, Rowland had piloted the Chicago White Sox to the 1917 World Series crown.

60 “Jasper Expected to Come Tonight,” Beaumont (Texas) Enterprise, March 26, 1920: 7.

61 “Hy Jasper Jumps Contract,” Beaumont Enterprise, April 9, 1920: 10.

62 “Sale of Jasper by Beaumont a Surprise,” Des Moines Register, December 4, 1924: 10. “Hot Stove League,” Omaha Bee, December 14, 1924: 17.

63 Jasper TSN player contract card.

64 “Ex-Ballplayer Killed in Fall,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, May 23, 1937: 1; “Former Ballplayer Jolted Off Truck, Dies,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 23, 1937: 8; “Ex-Ballplayer Killed in Fall Off Truck,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 22, 1937: 8. The Jasper death certificate further indicates that the deceased’s head struck the tail gate, as well. Although seriously injured, the two Stinebaker boys survived the mishap.