Luke Glavenich

“As wild as Ishi”1

Trilingual gold and gravel miner Luke Glavenich’s major-league pitching career lasted but one erratic inning on April 12, 1913. It started with eight straight balls and got much worse from there. Small wonder that he’d drawn prior comparisons to a minor celebrity of the day: the “wild Indian” Ishi, the last known member of the Native American Yahi people of northern California.2

Glavenich hailed from California himself. He was a product of that early 20th-century professional baseball factory, St. Mary’s College in Oakland (now Moraga). “The boy with the 42-centimeter arm and no peep sight”3 was even offered cash bonuses by his first minor-league team if he simply stopped walking batters. Still, less than a year later, after reportedly signing with two different pro teams, “Glavey” broke camp with the 1913 Cleveland Naps. The rookie did not stay long, yet he kept throwing them hard and all over the place in the bushes throughout the 1910s.

Luke Frank Glavenich was born on January 17, 1893, in Jackson, California (east of Sacramento) to John and Lena (Williams) Glavenich. John, a pioneer of the new town of Jackson, was a miner of Slovenian descent who emigrated in 1878 from Austria. He and Lena married in 1892. Luke had a younger brother, also named John. Lena served as a trustee for the Native Daughters of the Golden West, a non-profit organization founded in Jackson focused on California history.

By the fall of 1910, 17-year-old Luke stepped on the campus of St. Mary’s College, where he played rugby for two years and baseball for three. St. Mary’s prolific baseball program had produced nearly 20 major leaguers by the early 1910s, including Harry Hooper and Harry Krause. In his first start for St. Mary’s second team, on June 10, 1911, Glavenich struck out 18 batters in a one-hit shutout over an amateur team.4 Glavenich became a frontline starter for the Phoenix in the 1912 collegiate season after being an “understudy” of his teammate, lefty ace Mike Cann.5 The third member on the pitching staff was a young lefthander named Dutch Leonard.6

On March 24, Glavenich, described as being “as wild as a cat in the foothills,”7 allowed an astonishing 12 walks in an 11-2 drubbing at the hands of the PCL’s Oakland Oaks. That was when the San Francisco Chronicle gave Glavenich the “Ishi” label, noting that the righty was “as wild as…the Affiliated Colleges’ [University of California at Berkeley) uncontaminated man, but he had something on the ball when he did get it over.”8

Later, “Louie” agreed to play for the Bakersfield Drillers of the non-affiliated San Joaquin Valley League, mainly so he could complete his college coursework before jumping fully into pro ball.9

Glavenich won for Bakersfield on Opening Day against Porterville, with St. Mary’s alum Eddie Burns as Bakersfield captain and third baseman.10 Luke won his fourth in a row on May 5, striking out eight while allowing only two hits, yet walking 10. Bakersfield eventually tried to incentivize the lad, offering him a bonus for any game in which he did not walk more than three batters.11 He finally lost, 4-3, to Hanford, on May 12, walking but three, thus earning his bonus for the day. On May 20, Glavenich was as “wild as a March hare,”12 walking seven in 2 1/3 innings. Even after winning five of seven games, the “husky but erratic twirler of the Speed Boys” was released before the month was out.13

Reports surfaced in June that Glavenich had signed with the Cleveland Naps, through scout Billy Alvord, for a salary of $300 per month. Alvord’s report to Cleveland president C.W. Somers describing Glavenich stated: “Only 19 and weighs 180 [he stood 5-feet-9]. Looks every inch the making of a good pitcher. Has plenty of speed and the greatest drop ball I ever saw, fields his position well and is ambitious.”14

Glavenich never went east in 1912, “owing to the objections of his parents, who wanted him to complete his college career.”15 Instead, he pitched for the strong semipro contingent of Watsonville, California in the late summer and early fall.16 By September, Chicago White Sox scout Jimmy Wiggs reported that he had actually signed Glavenich.17 Glavenich, for his part, claimed he never authorized Alvord to sign a Cleveland contract on his behalf and that “he had no intentions of joining that club.”18 Instead, Luke stated that he planned on joining the White Sox on the West Coast for training camp come March.

Glavenich had his own understudy for the 1913 St. Mary’s baseball season: a youngster from northern California named Joe Oeschger.19 Luke started his campaign by tossing a one-hitter against Stanford on January 29, winning 2-0 and striking out 16 Cardinal batters while walking only two.20 Three weeks later, however, he gave up 10 runs, aided by seven walks, in less than three innings, in a rematch.21

Shortly thereafter, in late February, Glavenich and the team captain, second baseman Frank Guigni, left the squad. Coach Eddie Burns (Glavenich’s 1912 Bakersfield teammate) claimed that “Glavenich and Guigni have been causing me much unnecessary trouble and have been breaking training table rules as they saw fit. Neither appeared to care whether we won or lost and the team began to go to pieces, as can be seen by the last two games we played.”22 Glavenich was also very much in “hot water,” having allegedly signed with two teams.23 The National Baseball Commission intervened, awarding Glavenich to Cleveland in March 1913.24

Glavenich soon arrived in Cleveland’s camp in New Orleans. The Cleveland Plain Dealer wrote that Glavenich was probably “the first real, bona fide gold miner who ever wore a Nap uniform.”25 The article disclosed that he worked in “the McKenzie mine, 4,000 feet below the surface, said to be the deepest gold mine on the globe. His duties consisted of shoveling the gold bearing quartz rock into the little cars when they would be taken to the tunnel mouth to be hoisted to the surface.”26

Carl Zamloch, a Bay Area friend of Glavenich and a pitching recruit in the Detroit Tigers camp, spoke with a writer regarding Glavenich’s abilities. The article paraphrased the conversation thus: “Glavenich will make a fine pitcher if he can ever get control. He is a great big fellow with a good fast ball and a nice curve but he persists in getting himself into holes by his wildness.”27 Vean Gregg took Glavenich under his wing in camp. Another report identified Glavenich as trilingual. He apparently learned Slovenian first and couldn’t speak English until age four. He also learned Italian because his hometown of Jackson housed many Italian immigrants.28

Glavenich broke camp with the Naps and headed to the Forest City. On April 12, 1913, in the second game of Cleveland’s season, at home against Chicago White Sox, the 20-year-old made his major-league debut. With Cleveland down 8-3 headed to the seventh inning, Manager Joe Birmingham called on Glavenich.

And what a disaster it was.

Glavenich walked Wally Mattick and Joe Berger on eight pitches. Ray Schalk bunted but reached first after Glavenich “nearly spiked himself in trying to field the roller.”29 After a strikeout of pitcher Joe Benz, Morrie Rath walked, forcing in a run, then Harry Lord flied to right. Singles followed from Shano Collins, Ping Bodie, and Babe Borton, bringing across the fifth run of the inning, before Borton was thrown out at second to end the carnage. The wild rookie allowed three hits, three walks, and five runs, although all were unearned as a result of his own fielding error, in the 13-3 clobbering.30 Fortunately, the game was called after seven innings so the White Sox could catch the train to St. Louis.

Glavenich’s major-league debut coincidentally occurred on the same day as that of his former St. Mary’s teammate Dutch Leonard, who went on to have an 11-year big-league career, for the Boston Red Sox and Detroit Tigers.

In late May, Glavenich was sold to the Omaha Rourkes of the Class A Western League. He posted a 1-4 mark31 over 70 innings before being sold in late July for $500 to the New Orleans Pelicans of the Class A Southern Association. Glavenich initially refused to report to New Orleans, having previously contracted malaria two times and being leery of the humid South. However, his request to be sent east or to the West Coast was denied by the parent Naps.32

Glavenich shut out Memphis, 1-0, on August 12 for his only Pelicans victory. On August 27, he surrendered 16 hits, 10 walks, and two wild pitches in five innings in a 17-4 trouncing at the hands of Nashville.33 Manager Charlie Frank soon snorted, “The boy just can’t find the plate,” but announced that his coaching staff would work with the hurler during the subsequent spring to obtain more control.34 For New Orleans, Glavenich allowed 61 hits and a Steve Dalkowski-like 64 walks in 51 innings to go with his 1-7 record.

In November, Luke, father John, and uncle Rado worked on their gravel claim, known as the Buckeye, located a mile out of the old town of Oleta, California.35

“Liberal Luke” rejoined New Orleans in spring, even after acknowledging that his 1913 season was “a joke.”36. After three poor appearances, Glavenich was returned to Cleveland, having shown “wonderful curves…but a lack of control.”37 He also developed a sore arm, and visited specialist Bonesetter Reese in Youngstown, Ohio.38 Apparently healed, Glavenich soon landed with the Waterbury (Connecticut) Contenders of the Class B Eastern Association.39

Glavenich surfaced in February 1915 at the Oakland Oaks camp in Pleasanton “on the noon train looking as big as a white hope,”40 around 200 pounds. He was cut, then later picked up by the Oakland Commuters of the Class D California State League in May. However, the league soon blew up. He spent the summer with Bay Area lefthander Jack Bromley pitching for an Arizona Ray Mines team.41

In the early part of the 1916 season, Glavenich toiled for the Seattle Giants of the Class B Northwestern League. He was released in June, once again being identified “as wild as the proverbial March hare.”42 He returned to pitch semipro ball around Oakland and then for the Modern Woodmen in the Midwinter League, hoping for an Oakland Oaks contract for 1917.

Glavenich latched on with the Spokane Indians of the Northwestern League in 1917 for five games before being released in mid-May. He stayed in town, pitching for the J.F. Duthie & Company in the Seattle Shipbuilders League for the next two years. He worked for the firm as a storeroom laborer, along with old St. Mary’s pal Frank Guigni.43

The “handsome though somewhat husky” twirler tried out for his former Seattle Giants squad of the Northwest International League in the spring of 1919,44 but was cut. He then ventured into the Class C Western Canada League, appearing briefly with the Moose Jaw (Saskatchewan) Robin Hoods. That stint was followed by engagements with semipro teams, including the Alberta Barons of the Southern Alberta League. By then he also was going by the name Luke Glaven.45

Glavenich returned to central California in 1920 to play for the Chowchilla Beans of the Northern Valley League.46 At various times in 1921 in the Golden State, he played with the Merced Bruins and Salinas Burbanks of the Mission League (which disbanded by July) then, in the fall, with Paso Robles of the Central Coast League. In 1922, he went to work at Nestle Food Company’s evaporated cream plant in Gonzales, California, while pitching for the Soledad-Gonzales team in the reorganized Mission League.47

The 1930 census shows Glavenich living with his mother in Jackson, where he was an assayer at the Amador Metals Reduction Company mining plant. He never married and had no children.

Luke Glavenich died on May 22, 1935, at the age of 42, in Stockton, California. The cause was acute nephritis,48 after an operation for appendicitis a week prior.49 He was buried at Jackson Catholic Cemetery, and was survived by mother Lena, brother John, and two uncles.50

Acknowledgments

This biography was reviewed by Bill Lamb and Rory Costello and fact-checked by James Forr.

Photo credit: Luke Glavenich, Baseball-Reference.com.

Sources

In addition to the sources shown in the Notes, the author used Baseball-Reference.com, StatsCrew.com, and MyHeritage.com.

Notes

1 “Oaks Win from St. Mary’s Before Big Crowd,” San Francisco Chronicle, March 25, 1912: 8.

2 Ishi was found in a barn in 1911 and later housed and studied by anthropologists from the University of California, Berkeley.

3 “Around the Town,” Bakersfield Morning Echo, May 14, 1918: 6.

4 “Collegians Win Another Game,” San Francisco Call, June 11, 1911: 40 (spelled Glavinich in the article).

5 “St. Mary’s Pitcher is Coming to Bakersfield,” Bakersfield Californian, March 22, 1912: 2.

6 So, the ace never made the majors, the second pitcher (Glavenich) played in one game, and the third won 139 games in the majors.

7 “Glavenich’s Walk Makes It Easy for Oakland,” Oakland Tribune, March 25, 1912: 11.

8 “Oaks Win from St. Mary’s Before Big Crowd.”

9 “St. Mary’s Pitcher is Coming to Bakersfield.”

10 “More Than 2,000 Fans at Opening Game – Bakersfield Wins Easily,” Daily Echo (Bakersfield), April 16, 1912: 7.

11 “Glavenich to Get Bonus for His Control,” Bakersfield Californian, May 7, 1912: 5.

12 “Visalia Hammers 3 Local Pitchers.” Bakersfield Morning Echo, May 21, 1912: 7.

13 “Glavenich Gets Release from Bakersfield,” Hanford (California) Sentinel, May 22, 1912: 3.

14 “Glavenich Will Go to Cleveland,” Bakersfield Morning Echo, June 8, 1912: 5.

15 “Commission Awards Glavenich to Major,” Fresno Morning Republican, March 21, 1913: 13.

16 “Watsonville Giants Start Out to Conquer the San Joaquin Valley,” San Francisco Call, August 31, 1912: 17.

17 “Sox May Get Glavenich,” Oregon Daily Journal (Portland), September 18, 1912: 10.

18 “Sacramentans on St. Mary’s Team Promising,” Sacramento Bee, February 17, 1913: 10.

19 “Sacramentans on St. Mary’s Team Promising.”

20 “Glavenich of St. Mary’s Shuts Out Stanford with One Hit,” San Francisco Chronicle, January 30, 1913: 9; “St. Mary’s Blanks Cardinal, 2 to 0,” San Francisco Call, January 30, 1913: 7.

21 “Glavenich Loses to Stanford Ball Nine,” Fresno Morning Republican, February 20, 1913: 15; “Stanford Trounces St. Mary’s Ball Nine, 10 to 2,” San Francisco Examiner, February 20, 1913: 12.

22 “St. Mary’s Loses Two Stars; Guigni and Glavenich Leave,” Oakland Tribune, February 25, 1913: 15.

23 “St. Mary’s Loses Two Stars; Guigni and Glavenich Leave.”

24 “Commission Awards Glavenich to Naps,” Bakersfield Morning Echo, March 20, 1913: 3.

25 “Nap Recruit is Miner,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, April 6, 1913: 2C.

26 “Nap Recruit is Miner.”

27 “Zamloch Says Glavenich Needs Control to be a Good Pitcher,” Detroit Times, April 15, 1913: 6.

28 “Luke is a Linguist,” Buffalo Times, April 11, 1913: 17.

29 “Stage Fright Spoils Glavenich’s Debut,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, April 13, 1913: 1C.

30 Baseball-Reference inconsistently lists in Glavenich’s statistics as giving up one and zero earned runs in its tabulations. Retrosheet’s summary lists one run as earned but the game account describes all as unearned.

31 “Hank Butcher Finds Going to His Liking in Western Circuit,” Oregon Sunday Journal, July 27, 1913: 25.

32 “Glavenich Refuses to Report to New Orleans,” Omaha Daily Bee, July 25, 1913: 7.

33 “Vols Overwhelm Pels and Luke Glavenich,” Daily Picayune (New Orleans), August 28, 1913: 10.

34 “Pels Tried More Players Than Other Clubs,” New Orleans Item, September 10, 1913: 8.

35 “Big Leaguer Working Mine,” Evening Mail (Stockton, California), November 14, 1913: 7.

36 “Glavenich Comes to Toss for Pels,” Daily Picayune, February 24, 1914: 8.

37 “Glavenich Goes Back to Naps,” Times Picayune, May 7, 1914: 13.

38 “Glavenich to See Reese,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, May 9, 1914: 11.

39 “Jackson Boy in Eastern League,” Evening Mail, June 26, 1914: 7.

40 “Oak Boxmen Sent Through Grind at Pleasanton,” San Francisco Examiner, February 24, 1915: 11.

41 “Bromley Leaves for Arizona,” Oakland Tribune, May 30, 1915: 42.

42 “Luke Glavenich Let Out,” Seattle Star, June 1, 1916: 11.

43 “Glavenich Joins Ranks of Duthies,” Spokane Chronicle, June 2, 1917: 12.

44 Edward Hill, “Southern Writers Pan Seattle Nine,” Seattle Union Times, March 31, 1919: 5.

45 1919 Alberta Snapshots: Western Canada Baseball website 1919 Alberta Snapshots (attheplate.com), retrieved April 2, 2024.

46 John J. Peri, “Brilliant Game Tossed and Won by Specks Shea,” Stockton Evening and Sunday Record, May 10, 1920: 10.

47 “Luke Glavenich Goes to Gonzales for Job,” The Californian (Salinas), June 21, 1922: 5; “Watsonville Beats Soledad-Gonzales by Score 9 to 7,” Gonzales (California) Tribune, June 29, 1922: 1.

48 Luke Frank Glavenich Death Certificate, from the player’s file with the Baseball Hall of Fame.

49 “Luke Glavenich, 41, of Jackson, Dies,” Sacramento Bee, May 23, 1935: 10.

50 “Luke Glavenich,” Evening Daily Record (Stockton), May 25, 1935: 17.