Scotty Alcock

“White Sox Will Take Star of Hoosier Feds; Action May Be Forerunner of Player War…the signing of Alcock by a club of the two major organizations may fall like a bomb in the Fed ranks, and may be taken to mean the opening gun for war.”1

By 1914, the Federal League’s feud with the American and National Leagues had hit a fever pitch. The success of the upstart circuit forced the two established leagues into entering many non-reserve clause contracts, including those for stars Ty Cobb and Jake Daubert. But what triggered the Federal League, just a six-team outlaw loop in 1913, to declare war on the AL and NL for the 1914 season? One inflection point of their ratcheted-up animosity can be traced to October 1913 with the Chicago White Sox’s signing of one of the best players from the 1913 Federal League pennant-winning Indianapolis Hoosiers: speedy infielder Forbes “Scotty” Alcock Jr. Alcock later became the test case for the ramifications of striking the 10-day release clauses from major league player contracts.

Alcock also killed a woodpecker in 1904 on an outfield throw and participated in the quickest game in professional history in 1910. Scotty Alcock’s name graced the annals of multiple noteworthy baseball events of the Deadball Era.

John Forbes Alcock Jr was born on November 29, 1885, in Wooster, Ohio. His father was Scottish-born Brigadier General John Forbes Alcock.2 He later was three-time mayor of Wooster and a granite dealer. John Forbes’ mother was English-born Mary Ann (Hill) Alcock, who also emigrated in 1873. Forbes Jr. was the fifth of seven children. Early on, friends noticed the lad’s “Highland features and accent” and bequeathed him the nickname “Scotty.”3

In 1901, Forbes Jr. was the starting quarterback for Wooster High School, with younger brother Harry also on the squad and dad Forbes Sr. a linesman referee.4 A year later, Forbes Jr. played for the Wooster town baseball team. By 1904, he was the starting left fielder for the Wooster (Ohio) Giants of the Cleveland & Southwestern (C&SW) Trolley League, with brothers George and Bechtel also on the roster.5 On June 30, “Forbes Alcock Jr., center fielder for the Wooster Giants, threw a ball in from field to the home plate. The ball was thrown high, and in its journey struck and killed a red-headed woodpecker. The dead bird and ball fell at the same time near the plate.”6

Alcock began 1905 back with Wooster of the Cleveland & Southwestern Trolley League.7 He became the new shortstop for the Birmingham Barons of the Class A Southern Association in late August. The newcomer “electrified the spectators by a brilliant stop” and had two hits in his first game,8 showing “brilliant work…He is game to the core and takes all kinds of chances.”9 He hit .279 in 29 games for Birmingham.

Although he began 1906 with Birmingham, Alcock was optioned in May to the Meridian (Mississippi) Ribboners of the Class D Cotton States League.10 Despite hitting .205 over 17 games for Meridian, Alcock was recalled by Birmingham, who had suffered an injury to infielder Roy Montgomery,11 less than a month later.12 He hit .215 in 42 games for the Barons, who won the league. The right-hander hit .243 in 139 games in 1907 as Birmingham again copped the Southern Association flag.

For 1908, Alcock dropped two levels, to the East Liverpool (Ohio) Potters in the Class C Ohio-Pennsylvania League. The shortstop, standing at 5-feet-8 and 154 pounds at this time, committed a league-leading 52 errors and hit .265 in 111 games, tied for the team lead in games played.13 The league’s original schedule showed the season ending on September 30. However, financial struggles brought the season to an abrupt end on September 7,14 amid concerns the O. and P. would dissolve (it did not).15 It was reported that minor-league Secretary John H. Farrell asserted that the league would forfeit its player reserve rights, with the players thus becoming free agents, if it didn’t complete its original schedule.16 Contracts signed by the players ran until September 30. Alcock appealed to the National Commission, insisting on being paid through the end of September.17 While this was being sorted out, Alcock returned to sing at the theater in East Liverpool. He, along with Cleveland pitching prospect Jerry Upp, were considered two of the only baseball-playing crooners of the time.18

To muddy the waters, East Liverpool sold Alcock after the season to the Chattanooga Lookouts of the Class C South Atlantic League (Sally). At the end of November, the Commission ruled that for East Liverpool to retain its reserve right hold on Alcock and legitimize his sale to Chattanooga, the club had to pay Alcock for September.19

Alcock hit .285 in 1909 for Chattanooga.20  Scouted by Larry Sutton, he was sold in August to the Brooklyn Superbas for $1,200, for delivery after the Lookouts season.21 Chattanooga won the pennant over Augusta, four games to two, then defeated the Atlanta Crackers of the Class A Southern Association in five postseason games to lay claim to the title of the best team “in Dixieland.”22 After the Lookouts’ clinching victory on September 25, a farewell banquet ensued, with “vaudeville artist” Alcock leading the contingent in song.23

Brooklyn did not bring up the recruit for the final two weeks of the National League season, and returned Alcock in the offseason to “his old diggings” of Chattanooga.24 In January 1910, Scotty married Sherley Mae Hannan, a fellow singer and pianist from the East Liverpool moving picture theater where they performed.25 A press notice remarked that “at first his songs were for the audience; later they were all for her.”26

Alcock lost a battle with Clay Perry for the Chattanooga third base job in 1910,27 Chattanooga, by then in the Southern Association, tried to slip Alcock through waivers early that May 28 after early struggles at the plate (12-for-59, .203 in 19 games).29 However, the Mobile Sea Gulls snatched him up.30 He improved just mildly from the early slump, hitting a combined .226 (97-for-429) for the season. He also posted the league’s lowest fielding percentage of third basemen with over 100 games played.31

On September 17, Alcock participated in Mobile’s season-ending, 32-minute victory, 2-1, over Atlanta, which was the fastest professional baseball game in history.32

In January 1911, Mobile sold Alcock to the Albany (Georgia) Babies, returning him to the Sally League.33 Alcock responded with an outstanding season, winning the league batting title with a .333 mark on 178 hits, and pacing the league with 66 stolen bases.34

Albany sold Alcock to the Indianapolis Indians of the American Association before the 1912 season.,35 Indianapolis farmed him out in May to the Canton (Ohio) Statesmen of the 12-team Class B Central League. Alcock hit .251 in 109 games at third base, then was reserved for 1913,36 although a slight cut in salary was offered.37 Instead, Alcock demanded a raise and refused to sign a contract. He refused to report to Canton (which had moved from the Central League to the new Interstate League) in late April and was suspended.38 Before month’s end, he signed with the Indianapolis Hoosiers of the new independent minor Federal League and reported to the club’s training camp in Charleroi, Pennsylvania.39

On Opening Day 1913, Alcock hit the Hoosiers franchise’s first home run in a victory in Pittsburgh.40 He primarily played shortstop. It was reported that Alcock “had no heart for outlaw ball,” and quietly sought a spot in the National or American Leagues.41 To that end, Alcock had insisted on a non-reserve contract, so he would not be classified as a deserter if he left the Indianapolis club.42 Alcock was “the flame” in a July victory over Cy Young’s Cleveland Green Sox squad.43 By mid-July, Alcock was hitting .388, good for fourth in the league.44 In August, he was the “big feature,” with four hits from the cleanup spot in an extra-inning win over the Chicago Keeleys.45 He slumped late, however, ending the season at .306, with 29 stolen bases, yet still finished second in the league in base hits (140) and doubles (25).

Indianapolis won the six-team Federal League pennant by 10 games and then swept a doubleheader against the Fed League all-stars a week after the season. However, Alcock did not accompany the Hoosiers on their subsequent week-long barnstorming trip through Ohio and Pennsylvania.46 In fact, he stayed at home in Wooster while his Indianapolis squad played a game in nearby Ashland on September 25.47 He soon headed to New York to attend World Series games between the Philadelphia Athletics and New York Giants.48

With his no-reserve-clause contract, Alcock became a free agent at season’s end. Meanwhile, the disbanding of the Interstate League the previous July nullified his suspension from Organized Ball.49 Deemed one of “the Federal League’s leading batters,”50 Alcock signed with the Chicago White Sox after the season.51 As expressed by one commentator, White Sox business manager Kid Gleason “immediately waylaid the youngster and organized baseball winked both eyes when he was brought into the fold again” after his Federal League sojourn.52

In August 1913, the Federal League had held closed-door meetings, formulating plans to expand and pursue “established major league players.”53 The Alcock announcement thus came as a shock, the signing of a top-tier Federal League player by a major league team being unprecedented. Up to this point, there had been a “former attitude of indifference maintained by clubs in the organized ranks. Their policy, it seems, was to ignore the Federal people, notice having gone the rounds that no players once a member of a Federal League team could hope to gain a place in the organized ranks.”54 At the Federal League fall meeting held just days later in Indianapolis, the circuit retaliated, adopting a new policy whereby Fed teams would now be “grabbing players wherever they may be found, and it is more than likely that this policy will prevail.”55

The immediate fallout of the Alcock signing was that “a declaration of war upon organized baseball is expected.”56 It was also described as “nothing more than a dare for the new league to open the long threatened fight.”57 The Federal League claimed that “they must open war upon the organization in self-defense, to protect their clubs from invasion by the American and National leagues.”58 It was stated that Alcock “is the ostensible cause of the whole trouble” and that “the major leagues have certainly picked upon an humble object with whom to form the opening wedge for the war. Scotty is no longer a youngster; his playing career, indeed, is far past its zenith.”59

One opinion was that “the Federal (League) does not respect the reserve clause which holds the players in organized ball from season to season, and it could not consistently have asked its men to sign for more than a year.”60 Nevertheless, Federal League clubs inserted their own reserve clause into most of their player contracts.61 Alcock was signed to a non-reserve clause contract with the White Sox. Others, including Ty Cobb and Jake Daubert, also had these clauses stricken from their contracts.62 Alcock thus “sprang a new wrinkle in baseball circles, going to the big show via the Federals.”63

In spring training with the White Sox in Paso Robles, California, “obscure Federal Leaguer” Alcock complicated the preexisting second base battle between Joe Berger and Lena Blackburne.64 Alcock enhanced his Sox prospects by collecting four hits against the Oakland Oaks of the Pacific Coast League in a March 15 exhibition game; he made the team out of camp as a bench utility player. He made his major-league debut on April 19,  grounding out as a pinch-hitter for Eddie Cicotte during a 5-1 loss to the St. Louis Browns. Three days later in Cleveland, near Alcock’s hometown, Sox manager Jimmy Callahan gave Alcock his first start … for a half-inning. In front of Scotty’s father and brothers, Callahan “gave them a few minutes of gratification by sending him to bat in the first inning, then putting Harry] Lord in the game as usual. This permitted the Wooster folks to present a perfectly good gold watch to the pride of their bailiwick when he stepped to the pan.”65

Alcock took over as the starter when Lord injured his hand in practice prior to a May 5 game against the Browns.66 He was “the star of (the) game” that day, with a double (off Roy Mitchell, for his first major-league hit), walk, stolen base, two runs scored, and two RBIs.67 Alcock started the next 33 games at third base, while Lord, frustrated with his own play, quit the game less than a week after his injury.68 On June 10, the rookie cost Joe Benz, who’d beaten the Cleveland Naps with a no-hitter on May 31, what would have been Benz’s second no-no in 11 days. Alcock cut off shortstop Buck Weaver on a hard grounder in the ninth inning, momentarily bobbled the ball, but was unable to retire batsman Eddie Ainsmith. “The critical scorer ruled that it was too hot for Alcock to handle and it went for a single, depriving Benz of a no-hit game.”69 However, Chicago still beat Walter Johnson and the Senators, 2-0.

Bottom line for the season overall: Alcock just didn’t hit. He posted but a .173 average in 54 games, fourth-lowest for AL position players with at least 100 at-bats. He “injured his throwing hand and was playing under a severe strain. It was difficult for him to make throws to first.”70 By mid-June, he was replaced in the starting lineup at third base by Jim Breton. Alcock also recorded the lowest fielding percentage of AL third baseman who played over 20 games, at .905 with 16 errors in 48 games.71 In mid-August, he was traded to the Oakland Oaks (then in last place in the Class AA PCL) for fall delivery of Tommy “Finners” Quinlan and an option on pitcher Bill Prough.72

Unwilling to pre-sign a 1915 White Sox contract, Quinlan refused to report to Chicago, keeping his options open to listen “to the Federal League Lorelei.” For the time being, therefore, the transaction was voided.73Alcock also refused to report to Oakland, albeit for a different reason. Alcock had signed a two-year contract with the White Sox, with the 10-day release clause deleted from his contract by club owner Charles Comiskey.74 Alcock asserted that payment of the two years’ salary was obligatory whether or not he retained a spot on the White Sox roster.75 One press account commented that ”Comiskey may attempt to fight this matter in the courts but he has not a chance to win for it was the major league club owners themselves who cut the ten-day clause out of the contracts to hold their players. Jake Daubert and Ty Cobb also have nice contracts with the clause struck out. If either of these starts to slump, the poor magnates will never be able to shake off these contracts which call for about $15,000 a season each.”76

Another article opined that “the Ballplayers’ Fraternity will be compelled to back Alcock’s claim. As more than 100 major league players have similar contracts the situation is serious.”77 It was also reported that Alcock had signed with Buffalo of the Federal League,78 but he never reported, being “detained in Chicago because of a suit against the Chicago management of the White Sox.”79

Eventually, Alcock and Comiskey worked out their dispute. For the following season, however, it was agreed that Alcock was to be consigned to Oakland regardless of whether Quinlan reported to the White Sox or not.80 Once the Oaks forwarded a one-way train ticket from Wooster, Ohio, Alcock headed west in February 1915. After starting strong in Oaks camp, Alcock went 11-for-45 (.244) to begin the regular season and was given his five days’ notice of release.81 Along with mediocre  hitting, a local Oakland scribe reported that Alcock was “accused of not covering any more ground than a snail with rheumatism.”82 He landed with the Erie (Pennsylvania) Sailors of the Central League by May, then the Grand Rapids (Michigan) Black Sox of the same league by late June.

Alcock had a nondescript 1916 season but improved in 1917 for manager Bill Essick in Grand Rapids. Before the 1918 season, Essick was named manager of the Vernon (California) Tigers of the PCL He later signed former Grand Rapids players Alcock, pitcher Phil Slattery, and catcher Al DeVormer to come out west with him. In Alcock’s first season with Vernon, he hit .237 in a utility role before the PCL ceased league play on July 14.83 Vernon, the holder of the best regular-season record, fell to the Los Angels in the playoffs.

Alcock’s September 1918 war draft card identified him as a checker at the Los Angeles Shipyards in San Pedro. In 1919, with World War I over, Alcock hit .238 in 34 games as Vernon won the league pennant. The Tigers then beat the St. Paul Saints, champions of the American Association, in the minor-league Junior World Series.

That November, Alcock joined a new singing quartet consisting of current and former PCL players Phil Koerner, Harry Krause, and Ira Colwell, with Alcock as the lead vocalist.84

In 1920, the ever-versatile Alcock even played catcher for Vernon manager/friend Essick,85 actually leading the league in fielding percentage for the position as of mid-August.86 Vernon won its third straight PCL title that year. In 1921, Alcock again filled a utility infielder role for a Tigers club that slipped to sixth place.

Before the 1922 season, Vernon traded Alcock, Frank “Stump” Edington (later adding Slim Love), and cash to the Beaumont Exporters of the Class A Texas League for Jakie May.87 Alcock was injured most of the early season,88 and had trouble with his eyes as well, necessitating glasses.89 After this season, Beaumont traded Alcock to the Evansville (Indiana) Evas of the Class B Three-I League.90 However, he bought his release from Evansville91 in order to sign a two-year contract to manage the Columbia (South Carolina) Comers of the South Atlantic Association.92 Alcock played some second base, but had trouble with boils and then with one of his legs, laying him up. After a fifth place (13-24) start, manager Alcock was fired in late May 1923.93

In 1925, Alcock took over as a manager of a bowling alley and billiard parlor in East Liverpool.94 He coached East Liverpool’s entry in the local industrial league in 1926. He also served as a scout for the St. Louis Cardinals, signing a local prospect named Bill Schneidmiller in 1948.95

After a long illness, Alcock’s wife Sherley died in 1937. The couple had been childless, and Scotty never remarried. J. Forbes Alcock Jr., age 87, died on January 30, 1973, in Wooster, Ohio, and was buried at Riverview Cemetery in East Liverpool, Ohio.96 He was survived by his brother Harry.

Acknowledgments

This biography was reviewed by Bill Lamb and Rory Costello and fact-checked by Brian P. Wood.

Photo credit: Scotty Alcock, Trading Card Database.

Sources

In addition to those listed in the endnotes below, the author utilized Baseball-Reference.com, StatsCrew.com, and MyHeritage.com.

Notes

1 “White Sox Will Take Star of Hoosier Feds,” Indianapolis News, October 30, 1913: 12.

2 “Notes,” Mansfield (Ohio) News-Journal, April 28, 1891: 2.

3 “Forbes ‘Scotty’ Alcock, Procured by Oakland from the Chicago White Sox,” Oakland Tribune, February 4, 1915: 14.

4 “Shelby Defeats Wooster,” News-Journal (Mansfield, Ohio), November 29, 1901: 3.

5 “Base Ball at Loudonville,” Mansfield (Ohio) News,” August 26, 1904: 8;” Wooster Won Another,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, August 13, 1904: 6;” Game Called in Seventh,” Times Recorder (Zanesville, Ohio), October 11, 1904: 8.

6 “Killed a Woodpecker,” Dayton (Ohio) Daily News, July 1, 1904: 12.

7 “Trolley League,” Cleveland Leader, May 31, 1905: 8.

8 “Two Good Games with Even Break,” Birmingham (Alabama) News, August 28, 1905: 9.

9 “Notes,” Birmingham News, August 28, 1905: 9.

10 “Alcock Sold to Meridian,” Birmingham News, May 26, 1906: 22.

11 “Roy Montgomery Out of Game with Injured Hand,” Atlanta Journal, June 16, 1906: 12.

12 “Baseball Notes,” Vicksburg (Mississippi) Evening Post, June 22, 1906: 3.

13 “Some Pertinent Facts Taken from the O. & P. Averages,” East Liverpool (Ohio) Evening Review, December 1, 1908: 6. Alcock tied with teammate Walter McClelland for the league lead in number of games played.

14 “O. and P. League,” Philadelphia Inquirer, September 8, 1908: 10.

15 “O. and P. League to Reorganize,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, November 29, 1908: 18.

16 “Two Leagues to End Their Seasons Today,” Zanesville (Ohio) Times Recorder, September 7, 1908: 6.

17 “Alcock Gets Money Due Him,” Evening Review (East Liverpool, Ohio), December 1, 1908: 6; see also “Players Will Fight for Salaries for Commissions,” Akron Beacon Journal, September 11, 1908: 5.

18 “Alcock and Upp Sing in Winter,” Evening Review, September 25, 1908: 9.

19 “Alcock Gets Money Due Him.”

20 “Season Averages Sally League,” Chattanooga Daily Times, October 6, 1909: 10. His end-of–season stats on Baseball-Reference incorrectly show him at 134-for-383 (.350).

21 “Reds Buy Chattanooga Man,” Chicago Tribune, August 17, 1909: 6. See also “Another New Player,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, August 16, 1909: 1; “Johnston, Baskette, and Alcock Sold to Major League Teams for $4,200,” Chattanooga News, August 16, 1909: 8.

22 “Chattanooga Is Now Champs of All Leagues in Dixieland,” Chattanooga Daily Times, September 26, 1909: 10.

23 “With Toasts and Cheers,” Chattanooga Daily Times, September 26, 1909: 10. Forbes’ brother Betchel, a concert and light opera tenor, later performed in Broadway. See “Betchel Alcock,” Newark (New Jersey) Advocate, June 29, 1961: 32.

24 “Dahlen Deeds,” Sporting Life, January 1, 1910: 6.

25 “Player Alcock Is Married,” Pittsburgh Gazette Times, January 21, 1910: 9.

26 “Love Song Romance Ends in Marriage,” Cleveland Press, January 21, 1910: 10.

27 “Alcock-Perry Duel,” Birmingham Post-Herald, May 1, 1910: 11.

28 “Alcock Goes to Mobile; Will Report Thursday,” Chattanooga News, May 5, 1910: 2.

29 “Batting Averages,” Commercial Appeal (Memphis), May 15, 1910: 24.

30 “Speed Boys Win in Slugging Contest,” Chattanooga News, May 5, 1910: 2.

31 “Matthews Led the Crackers,” Atlanta Constitution, September 25, 1910: 2.

32 Tom Akers, “Time Record Shattered in Season’s Last Game,” Atlanta Journal, September 18, 1910: 7.

33 “Alcock Sold to Matthews,” Chattanooga Daily Times, January 12, 1911: 9.

34 “Forbes Alcock, Old Time Potter, Led South Atlantic League with Stick,” East Liverpool Evening Review, October 23, 1911: 6; “S. Alcock was Best Swatter,” Columbus (South Carolina) Ledger, October 11, 1911: 7.

35 “In-and-Outer Is Alcock,” Chattanooga Daily Times, February 26, 1912: 7.

36 “Three Men Sure on Canton Team,” Fort Wayne (Indiana) Sentinel, January 30, 1913: 8.

37 “Forbes Alcock,” Wheeling (West Virginia) Intelligencer, February 21, 1913: 7.

38 “Infielder Alcock Won’t Report on Terms Offered, He Wires,” Canton (Ohio) Repository, April 22, 1913: 6; “Alcock Will Be Out for Season,” Fort Wayne Sentinel, April 24, 1913: 8.

39 “Bill Phillips Has Twenty-Three Players on Federal Club Roster,” Indianapolis Star, April 30, 1913: 7.

40 “Federal League Season Opens at Expo Park,” Pittsburgh Daily Post, May 7, 1913: 18.

41 “‘Scotty’ Alcock Touchy About Federal League,” Washington Times, June 21, 1914: 16.

42 I.E. Sanborn, “Sox Pound Sphere in Opener, 11 to 5; ‘Red’ Kuhn Injured,” Chicago Tribune, March 2, 1914: 14; “Scotty Alcock is Producing Goods,” Pittsburg Press, March 3, 1914: 21.

43 Eddie Ash, “Local Federals in Easy Victory Over Cleveland,” Indianapolis Star, July 18, 1913: 1.

44 “Swatters in Federal League,” Indianapolis Star, July 20, 1913: 44.

45 “Hoosiers Annex Extended Game,” Indianapolis Star, August 22, 1913: 11.

46 Eddie Ash, “Hoosiers Get Usual Timely Hits and Take Two from All-Stars,” Indianapolis Star, September 22, 1913: 9.

47 “Federal Champs,” Ashland (Ohio) Press, October 1, 1913: 8.

48 “Wooster Personal Items,” Wayne County (Wooster, Ohio) Democrat, October 7, 1913: 3.

49 “Scotty Alcock A Storm Center; May Cause Another Ball War,” Canton (Ohio) Repository, November 1, 1913: 6.

50 “Federal Leaguer for Chicago,” Sporting Life, October 25, 1913: 15.

51 “White Sox Get Scotty Alcock; Will Try for Third Base Job,” Canton (Ohio) Repository, October 2, 1913: 6.

52 Billy Fitz, “Oaks Sell Quinlan for Sox Shortstop,” Oakland Tribune, August 14, 1914: 18.

53 Mark Okkonen, The Federal League of 1914-1915: Baseball’s Third Major League (Garrett Park, Maryland: Society for American Baseball Research, 1989), 6.

54 “White Sox Will Take Star of Hoosier Feds,” Indianapolis News, October 30, 1913: 12.

55 “White Sox Will Take Star of Hoosier Feds,” above.

56 “Baseball War Near; Federal League Aroused,” Springfield (Massachusetts) Daily Republican, November 1, 1913: 12.

57 “’Feds’ Convention Has Busy Session,” South Bend (Indiana) Tribune, November 1, 1913: 14.

58 “Scotty Alcock A Storm Center; May Cause Another Ball War,” above.

59 “War Started Over Alcock,” Chattanooga Daily Times, November 4, 1913: 7.

60 “Club Owners in Dark for While,” Fort Wayne Sentinel, November 4, 1913: 8.

61 David Mandell, “Did the Federal League Have a Reserve Clause?” The National Pastime, Volume 28: 2008, Society of American Baseball Research. https://sabr.org/journal/article/did-the-federal-league-have-a-reserve-clause/

62 “Remarked on the Side,” Victoria (British Columbia) Daily Ties, August 21, 1914: 8.

63 M.F. Drukenbrod, “Daily Sports Gossip and Comment,” Fort Wayne (Indiana) Journal-Gazette, March 5, 1914: 13.

64 Harry A. Williams, “Joey and Blackburne Have Deadly Rival,” Los Angeles Daily Times, March 9, 1914: III-3.

65 I.E. Sanborn, “Cals Blank Naps in Inaugural, 7-0, as 15,000 Look On,” Chicago Tribune, April 23, 1914: 17; Henry P. Edwards, “Features,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, April 23, 1914: 13. The Plain Dealer reported that Alcock’s gift was a pair of cuff buttons.

66 “Baseball – Sports of All Sorts – Boxing,” (Chicago) Day Book, May 6, 1914: 22.

67 I.E. Sanborn, “Sox Close Jaunt; Down Rickeys, 8-1,” Chicago Tribune, May 6, 1914: 13.

68 “Harry Lord Quits White Sox; ‘Scotty’ Alcock Becomes Regular,” Chattanooga Daily Times, May 14, 1914: 10. Lord returned to baseball in 1915 with the Buffalo Blues of the Federal League.

69 “Benz Best Johnson; Would Have Pitched Another No-Hit Game but for Alcock,” Philadelphia Inquirer, June 11, 1914: 10. On May 31, Benz had no-hit the Cleveland Naps, winning 6-1.

70 George S. Robbins, “Breton Looks Like Real Baseball Find,” Chicago Daily News, June 27, 1914: 2.

71 “Official American League Fielding Records,” Lincoln (Nebraska) Star, December 13, 1914: 34.

72 Billy Fitz, “Oaks to Lose 3 Players to Majors this Winter,” Oakland Tribune, August 18, 1914: 10.

73 “Quinlan Balks at 1915 Sox Contract,” Oakland Tribune, August 16, 1914: 38.

74 “’Scotty’ Alcock Is Said to Have ‘Worked’ Comiskey,” Indianapolis Star, October 15, 1914: 4.

75 “Alcock, Released, To Ask for Pay from Comiskey,” Chicago Tribune, August 15, 1914: 10.

76 “Remarked on the Side,” Victoria (British Columbia) Daily News, August 21, 1914: 8.

77 “Alcock Refuses to Join Oaks and There May Be Another War,” Sacramento Star, August 24, 1914: 4.

78 “Blow to Buffalo,” Sporting Life, August 29, 1914: 13.

79 Edward Tranter, “Buffalo Busy,” Sporting Life, September 12, 1914: 13.

80 Billy Fitz, “Oaks to Get Infielder Whether Quinlan Signs or Not,” Oakland Tribune, September 11, 1914: 18.

81 Bill Fitz, “Base Ball,” Oakland Tribune, April 26, 1915: 10.

82 Billy Fitz, “Base Ball,” Oakland Tribune, April 21, 1915: 12.

83 “1919 Pacific Coast League Standings,” Statscrew.com. The season ended due to the Spanish Flu.

84 “Stove League Doings,” Salt Lake City Deseret Evening News, November 10, 1919: 12.

85 “Essick Past Master at Selecting Pitchers; He Lauds ‘Scotty’ Alcock,” Los Angeles Evening Express, June 9, 1920: 34.

86 “Coast Fielding Averages,” (Portland) Sunday Oregonian, August 22, 1920: 2.

87 Harry Grayson, “Coast League Should Be Faster than Ever,” Los Angeles Evening Express, January 4, 1922: 29.

88 “Home Ezzell Leading Texas League in Stolen Bases,” Shreveport (Louisiana) Journal, May 20, 1922: 9.

89 Billy Bee, “Exporters Now Resemble Wreck of Hesperus,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, August 4, 1922: 12.

90 “Former Local Players Now with Other Clubs,” Evansville (Indiana) Journal, February 4, 1923: 7.

91 “Alcock Will Not Join Evansville,” Evansville (Indiana) Courier, March 15, 1923: 8.

92 “Columbia Gets ‘Scotty’ Alcock as Manager for Next Two Years,” Columbia (South Carolina) Record, February 21, 1923: 7.

93 “Middleton Leads Columbia Comers,” Columbia (South Carolina) State, May 27, 1923: 10. The franchise moved to Gastonia, North Carolina in July 1923.

94 “Alcock Directs Liberty Alleys,” Evening Review, October 8, 1925: 12.

95 “BS Inks Name to Cardinals Pact,” Evening Review, September 22, 1948: 10.

96 “Forbes Alcock,” Evening Review, January 31, 1973: 6.