Milo Lockwood

Along with various others, Milo Lockwood owes his entry in the baseball record book to the profusion of ball clubs accorded major league status in 1884. A pitcher who doubled as a utility player, Lockwood had a two-month run with the Washington Nationals of the upstart Union Association before being remanded to the minors. The only son of a wealthy industrialist, he soon abandoned the game and returned to a life of privilege, his name often mentioned in the social pages of hometown Cleveland newspapers. By all outward appearances Lockwood was leading the good life until the October 1897 afternoon when he retired to a vacation resort hotel room, retrieved a concealed pistol, and fired a bullet into his brain. To the extent that an incomplete historical record permits, the story of his abruptly ended life follows.

Milo Hathaway Lockwood was born on April 7, 1858, in Solon, Ohio, a sparsely populated enclave located about 20 miles east of Cleveland. He was the sole child of lawyer-turned-business tycoon Charles Brown Lockwood (1829-1919) and his first wife Julia (née Hathaway, 1834-1863). Born in upstate New York, father C.B. Lockwood descended from WASP stock whose American arrival predated the Revolutionary War, and he had already compiled an impressive resume by the time of Milo’s birth. A law school graduate and member of the New York bar, the elder Lockwood joined the California gold rush in 1850 before relocating to the greater Cleveland area and turning his hand to commerce. Beginning with a general store in Solon, C.B. was soon senior partner of a thriving manufacturing concern originally styled the Lockwood, Van Doorn & Taylor Hardware Company.1

When Milo was still a toddler, the now well-to-do Lockwood removed the family to a mansion on prestigious Euclid Avenue in Cleveland, where, in time, the neighbors included oil baron John D. Rockefeller. Active in Republican Party politics, C.B. served in the Ohio state legislature and Cleveland city council, was the longtime chair of the city tax commission, and sat on the city board of trade. He also served as a trustee of nearby Hiram College, where his circle of acquaintances included future congressman and US president James A. Garfield, a one-time Hiram president.2 A devout Unitarian, C.B. additionally served on the executive committees of various pan-Christian organizations, including a local temperance union.

Little is known of our subject’s youth except that his mother died when Milo was still a boy and that his father’s remarriage to Azora Varney later provided him with half-sisters Frances (born 1869) and Jeanne (1874). By 1875, a teenage Milo was taking the classical course of study at Hiram College Prep.3 He subsequently matriculated to the college but did not graduate. His father subsequently dispatched Milo to the University of Michigan Law School, but he left after his first year to pitch for a pro baseball club in Albany, New York.4 The 1880 US Census placed him living alone in Garrettsville, Ohio, a village about 50 miles southeast of Cleveland, with no occupation listed.

Baseball had taken hold in the Cleveland area after the Civil War, and an April 1884 sports page report later maintained that Milo Lockwood had “been playing ball all his life.”5  He returned to the professional ranks in spring 1883, signing as a pitcher-outfielder with the Johnstown club of the Western Interstate League, a fledgling minor circuit consisting of eight clubs from Western Pennsylvania and one in Youngstown, Ohio.6 Taller than average at 5-foot-10 and weighing 160 pounds, Lockwood is listed as bats and throws unknown by modern reference authority. But absent contrary evidence, the probability is that he did both right-handed.

On May 27, 1883, Lockwood made a successful Johnstown debut, setting down the Pittsburgh Fultons, 13-5. A hard thrower standing a mere 45 from the plate when his pitches were released, Lockwood dominated Fulton batsmen, yielding only four hits (and no earned runs) and striking out four. He also contributed two base hits and a run scored to the Johnstown cause.7 Less than a week later, an off-field experience was not as gratifying. A horse-drawn buggy returning Lockwood and a companion to Johnstown was waylaid by gun-toting highwaymen who relieved their victims of $25.8

Both Johnstown and Lockwood continued their winning ways against WISL opponents but fared less well when matched against major league clubs. Lockwood was roughed up during a relief appearance against the American Association’s New York Metropolitans in mid-July,9 but “his work was very effective” in relief a month later during a 5-4 loss to the AA Columbus Solons.10 In late August, center fielder Lockwood was held hitless but scored two runs during a 4-3 squeaker lost to the AA Pittsburgh Alleghenies.11 Yet whatever his difficulties with major league foes, he remained tough against lesser opposition, as exemplified by a late-season seven-hitter thrown at the WISL Pittsburgh Stars. Lockwood struck out seven and allowed no earned runs in posting an 11-6 win.12

At season’s end, Johnstown (17-4, .810) stood atop final Western Interstate League standings.13 No official league stats appear to have been published, but a subsequent news report quoted Union Association secretary Warren White’s glowing review of Milo Lockwood’s pitching. Factoring in games against non-WISL clubs, Lockwood had “a record of having struck out 147 batters in thirty-two games. That is something to be proud of,” declared White.14 That was especially impressive given that foul balls did not count as strikes in the 19th century game.

The coming 1884 season saw an explosion in baseball at the top echelon with no fewer than 34 franchises accorded major league status as members of the established National League, the more recently arrived American Association, or a new outlaw rival, the Union Association.15 Unrestrained by the National Agreement, Union Association clubs were at liberty to raid the rosters of NL and AA clubs for playing talent.16 But shrewd and frugal UA Washington Nationals club boss Mike Scanlon utilized a different strategy, supplementing a nucleus of low-priced local players “with promising youngsters from all parts of the country. … Scanlon had signed the hard-throwing Lockwood from the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, club where he had starred the previous year. It was hoped that the rookie would anchor the club’s pitching staff and form a duo with the more experienced Bill Wise.”17 A preseason newspaper review elaborated on Lockwood’s abilities, stating that “besides having all the deliveries, he is a good batter, a fair fielder and a No. 1 base runner.”18

Lockwood secured his place on the Nationals’ roster with some excellent preseason work against semipro opposition. He “pitched splendidly in both games. The Portsmouths were unable to touch him, his delivery was so deceptive. He also came in for a good share of the batting,” observed the Washington Post.19 Such performance evidently induced skipper Scanlon to bypass the veteran Wise and hand the ball to the newcomer for the Nationals’ inaugural regular season game. The result: a 7-3 loss to the Baltimore Unions in which Lockwood garnered the unwanted distinction of being the first pitcher to surrender a home run in Union Association play – a solo blast by Baltimore third baseman Yank Robinson. But the Robinson homer was the only earned run allowed by Lockwood, who otherwise held Baltimore to five hits and struck out six. Rather, he was undone by the leaky defense (eight errors) that quickly became a Nationals’ hallmark.

“The pitching of Lockwood was splendid,” declared a Washington newspaper.20 Sporting Life commented that “Lockwood appeared to good advantage but was supported miserably.”21 The Opening Day performance induced manager Scanlan to return Lockwood to the box the following afternoon, but Baltimore batsmen had taken his measure. He surrendered eight runs (seven earned) and was yanked in favor of Wise after three innings of an eventual 10-8 defeat.22 Days later, their roles were reversed: Lockwood came in from right field to relieve Wise but was ineffective in an 18-1 pummeling by Baltimore.

On April 24, Lockwood broke into the win column with a 7-6 victory over Boston. Although touched for 13 base hits, only one Boston run was earned and Lockwood aided his own cause with three hits.23 He never won another UA game, losing his next six starts.24 But the winless skein began with perhaps Lockwood’s finest major league effort: an 8-5 defeat in Baltimore in which he threw a six-hitter and struck out 11, only to be undone by 10 Washington fielding miscues.25 “Lockwood pitched a magnificent game striking out the strong batters of the Baltimores no less than eleven times, and had he been well supported in the field the game would have ended differently,” opined the Washington Post.26 After that, however, he pitched poorly, dropping a quartet of lopsided decisions.27 In between, he played lousy defense in games stationed at third base and right field.

On May 26, Lockwood drew the starting assignment against the Altoona Unions, the club with whom the Nationals were locked in the doldrums. He “was freely hit” in a 6-3 loss28 that elevated Altoona’s record to (5-16, .238) and allowed that club to relinquish last place to the Nationals (5-18, .217). Shortly thereafter, Lockwood was released, bringing his brief tenure as a major leaguer to an end.

The final numbers are not pretty. In 11 pitching appearances (10 starts), Lockwood posted a dismal 1-9 (.100) record and was hit liberally, yielding a .319 opponents’ batting average. In 67 2/3 innings pitched, he surrendered 55 earned runs, for a bloated 7.32 ERA; the porous Washington defense also let in 40 more unearned tallies against him. Lockwood’s ratio of 48 strikeouts to 15 walks, however, was excellent. As a batsman, Lockwood was fairly harmless, going 14-for-67 but with only one extra-base hit, an output translating into a tepid .209/.293/.224 slash line. And as a fielder, Lockwood was a perfect fit for Washington, being a poor outfielder (five errors in 22 chances = .773 fielding percentage) and even worse at third base (five errors in 19 chances = .737). As reflected in his stats, Milo Lockwood simply was not a major league-caliber ballplayer, even by third-class Union Association standards.

According to Baseball-Reference, Lockwood completed the 1884 season with the Oil City (Pennsylvania) Oilers of the minor league Iron & Oil Association. But no trace of such an affiliation appeared in contemporary newsprint reviewed by the writer. Indeed, Milo Lockwood pretty much disappeared from view over the next three years – although he may have been the Lockwood who pitched for a Burton, Ohio, nine in a September 1885 town league game.29 Otherwise, his activities and whereabouts were undiscovered. By 1888, however, Milo was back in residence at the Lockwood mansion on Euclid Avenue and working in sales for his father’s company.30

Although no longer playing baseball, Lockwood retained his interest in the game. By then a member of the commercial establishment, his allegiance lay with the magnates of the National League when players rebelled in Fall 1889. Regarding the insurgent Players League, Lockwood informed the Cleveland Plain Dealer that “although an old ball player, my sympathies are with the league. I am an ‘ex-onion,’ as [Cincinnati sportswriter Ren] Mulford would say, and knowing something concerning revolution in base ball, cannot favor it.”31 From then on, however, mention of Lockwood’s name shifted from the sports page to society columns.

In December 1889, announcement of the 31-year-old bachelor’s engagement appeared on the social page of the Plain Dealer. Lockwood’s intended was Frances “Fannie” Pollard of Brooklyn.32 The couple was wed in Washington Avenue Baptist Church in Brooklyn early the following month.33 Upon completion of their two-week honeymoon tour of Washington, D.C., and Virginia, the newlyweds were feted at a gala reception at the Lockwood mansion in Cleveland.34Thereafter, the comings and goings of Mr. and Mrs. Milo H. Lockwood were regularly featured on the society pages of the Cleveland press.

Active in the local Elks lodge, Milo served as toastmaster for the fraternal organization’s New Year’s Eve bash in 1891, with the Cleveland Leader giving extended coverage to Lockwood’s 11 o’clock invocation.35 Thereafter, various other activities of his (including some with Fannie) were chronicled in the local press.

• His involvement with the Hiram College alumni association;36
• Fannie and Milo’s visit to the World’s Fair in Chicago;37 and
• The couple’s attendance at various high society functions.38

About the only cloud hovering over this privileged existence was the sciatica which began to plague Milo.39 He also suffered from insomnia.40 And sometime in 1894, health concerns occasioned his withdrawal from the family business. Thereafter, he devoted much of his time to travel.41 This included spending winters at the spas in Hot Springs, Arkansas, looking for relief from his sciatica.42 A substantial inheritance from his grandfather financed Lockwood’s lifestyle. He also owned shares in the family business, which yielded a handsome dividend income. Milo “had plenty of money, perhaps too much,” his father later lamented.43

In August 1897, the Lockwoods left Cleveland for an extended vacation in Economy, Pennsylvania, a bucolic, out-of-the-way resort in Western Pennsylvania. On the morning of October 9, Milo arose from his bed at the Economy Hotel seemingly in good spirits; chatted amiably with his wife and hotel guests at lunch, and then retired to his room. There, he placed a loaded pistol to his right temple and fired. Death was instantaneous.44 Milo Hathaway Lockwood was 39.

Although he had periodically spoken of taking his own life, Lockwood exhibited no warning signs on the date of his death, and his sudden passing came as a shock to family and friends. Particularly devastated was father C.B. Lockwood, who traveled to Economy to retrieve his son’s body. While there, he issued a statement that declared that Milo’s death “was the act of a brave man. He had suffered for years, and lost all hope of ever being cured and believing himself of no more use in the world decided to end it all.”

The statement continued, “Milo was my only son. All my hopes were centered in him. … I had great hopes for Milo. Whatever I have in the way of property and family name I had hoped to transmit to him. But life is full of disappointment and the rich man whose wealth had become dross in his hands turned away with a weary sigh and went with head bowed into the silent chamber where lay the shattered object of his cherished dreams.”45 He then took his son’s remains back to Cleveland.

Following private funeral services conducted by Protestant clergy at the Lockwood mansion, the deceased was interred in Lake View Cemetery, Cleveland. Childless, he was survived by widow Fannie, father C.B. and second stepmother Lucele, and half-sisters Frances Oliver and Jeanne Thompson.

Acknowledgments

This biography was reviewed by Gregory H. Wolf and Rory Costello and fact-checked by Brian Dunn.

Sources

Sources for the biographical info imparted above include the Milo Lockwood profiles published by Paul Proia in “Happy Birthday, Milo Lockwood!” (Mighty Casey Baseball, April 7, 2022) and in Major League Baseball Profiles, 1871-1900, Vol. 2, David Nemec, ed. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2011); US Census and other government records accessed via Ancestry.com; and certain of the newspaper articles cited in the endnotes. Unless otherwise specified, statistics have been taken from Baseball-Reference.

Notes

1 The firm name was changed to Lockwood, Taylor & Company following the death of partner C.N. Van Doorn in autumn 1883. See “Copartnership Notice,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, November 5, 1883: 2.

2 “The World’s” History of Cleveland: Commemorating the City’s Centennial Anniversary (Cleveland: Cleveland World, 1896), 337-338.

3 Per the 1875 Hiram College yearbook, accessible online.

4 As related by C.B. Lockwood at the time of his son’s death in October 1897. See “Sad Home Coming,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, October 11, 1897: 3.

5 “Base Ball at the Capital,” Boston Herald, April 5, 1884: 2.

6 Modern day works that place our subject with the 1883 Toledo Blue Stockings of the minor Northwestern League confuse him with catcher Ed Lockwood. See e.g., “Toledo,” Cleveland Leader, September 5, 1883: 3: “Ed Lockwood, change catcher of the Toledo club, took French leave last night. … He will be black-listed.” See also, “Official Notice,” Sporting Life, January 2, 1884: 2: American Association secretary Wheeler C. Wikoff has “been advised … that Harry Arundel and Ed Lockwood have been reinstated and made eligible to play in the Northwestern League.” The photo currently published by Baseball-Reference for its statistical profile and bullpen sections on Milo Lockwood is actually a head shot of Ed Lockwood, extracted from an 1883 team photo of the Toledo club. No image of the real Milo Lockwood is known to exist.

7 Per the game account and box score published in “The Fultons Defeated,” Pittsburgh Commercial Gazette, May 28, 1883: 2.

8 As reported in the Somerset (Pennsylvania) Herald, June 6, 1883: 2, and Carlisle (Pennsylvania) Daily Evening Sentinel, June 5, 1883: 1. The gunmen were never identified or captured.

9 See “An Easy Victory,” Pittsburgh Commercial Gazette, July 17, 1883: 2. Mets right-hander Jack Lynch held Lockwood hitless and throttled the other Johnstown batters en route to a 14-2 victory.

10 “Columbus at Johnstown,” Pittsburgh Commercial Gazette, August 14, 1883: 8.

11 Per the game account and box score published in “They Escaped,” Pittsburgh Commercial Gazette, August 28, 1883: 8.

12 Per “Captured by Johnstown,” Pittsburgh Commercial Gazette, September 15, 1883: 2.

13 Per Stats Crew. Baseball-Reference provides no data for the 1883 WISL season.

14 “The Union’s Prospects at Washington,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 24, 1884: 8. See also, “The Rival Base Ball Nines,” Washington (DC) Evening Star, January 22, 1884: 4.

15 An excellent overview of the major league baseball in 1884 is provided by William J. Ryczek, Baseball’s Wildest Season: Three Leagues, Thirty-Four Teams and the Chaos of 1884 (Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 2023).

16 Drafted in 1883, the National Agreement compelled the National League, American Association, and minor league signatories to respect the player contracts and reserve clause rights of fellow NA members.

17 Justin McKinney, Baseball’s Union Association: The Short, Strange Life of a 19th Century Major League (Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 2024), 54. This thoroughly researched and informative work provides a definitive history of the Union Association.

18 “Base Ball at the Capital,” above.

19 “Out-Door Amusements,” Washington (DC) Post, April 13, 1884: 2.

20 “Two Victories,” Washington (DC) National Republican, April 18, 1884: 1.

21 “Baltimore Union vs. Nationals Union,” Sporting Life, April 23, 1884: 5.

22 See “The Morning News,” Washington (DC) Evening Critic, April 19, 1884: 4.

23 Per the box scores published in the Boston Daily Journal and Boston Herald, April 25, 1884.

24 Prior to beginning his UA career-ending losing streak, Lockwood pitched the Nationals to a 12-8 victory over the semipro Waverleys club in an exhibition game played on May 2. See “Nationals 12; Waverleys, 8,” Washington Post, May 3, 1884: 2.

25 See “The National Lose,” Washington National Republican, April 29, 1884: 1: “Lockwood pitched a great game, eleven of the Baltimores striking out off his delivery.” Seven of Baltimore’s eight runs were unearned.

26 “Baltimores, 8; Nationals, 5,” Washington Post, April 29, 1884: 4.

27 Lockwood was the loser in a 16-5 rout by Baltimore on April 29; a pair of shellackings by St. Louis (22-2 on May 8 and 11-6 in five innings on May 11); and an 8-3 defeat by Chicago on May 15.

28 “Altoona Unions, 6; Nationals, 3,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, May 27, 1884: 8.

29 See “Miscellaneous Games: Geneva 10 – Burton 6,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, September 14, 1885: 5. The village of Burton is located about 35 miles east of Cleveland.

30 Per the 1888 Cleveland city directory.

31 “He Has Been There,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, November 13, 1889: 5. The message was signed “Milo H. Lockwood, Cleveland.”

32 See “Society Small Talk,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, December 22, 1889: 5.

33 As reported in “Marriages: Lockwood-Pollard,” Brooklyn Citizen, January 4, 1890: 5; “Lockwood-Pollard,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, January 3, 1890: 8; and elsewhere.

34 Per “An East End Reception,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, January 24, 1890: 6. The affair was hosted by C.B. Lockwood and his third wife. Following the death of second wife Azora Varney Lockwood, C.B. had married Azora’s younger sister Lucele.

35 See “At Eleven O’Clock,” Cleveland Leader, January 1, 1892: 8.

36 See “Hiram College Association,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, February 11, 1894: 7; “Homage to Hiram,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, February 9, 1892: 3. Milo served on the executive committee of the Cleveland chapter of the association and was later appointed secretary-treasurer.

37 Per “At the World’s Fair,” Cleveland Leader, August 24, 1893: 4: “Clevelanders at the Fair,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, August 24, 1893: 6.

38 See e.g., “In Society,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, January 3, 1896: 3; “Many Guests,” Cleveland Leader, January 3, 1896: 5; “Twas Past Twilight,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, January 30, 1892: 8; “Scenes of Splendor,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, January 22, 1891: 8.

39 Sciatica is nerve pain which radiates down the spine into the hip, buttocks, and/or lower extremities. It can be quite debilitating at times.

40 “Sad Home Coming,” above.

41 According to “Lockwood’s Family Connections,” Pittsburg Post, October 10, 1897: 2.

42 See “Suicide at Economy,” Pittsburg Press, October 10, 1897: 16.

43 See again, “Sad Home Coming,” above.

44 As reported in news accounts of the Lockwood suicide. See e.g., “Through the Head,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, October 10, 1897: 1; “Milo H. Lockwood Shoots Himself,” Pittsburg Post, October 10, 1897: 2; “Suicide at Economy,” above.

45 “Sad Home Coming,” above.