Van Dorn Tappan

A teenage shooting incident, fueled by jealousy, could have ended Van Dorn Tappan’s baseball career before it started. But the young man beat a charge of second-degree murder, freeing him to pursue a journey that included a brief stint as a slick-fielding, light-hitting infielder with the 1914 Kansas City Packers of the Federal League. After baseball, he largely made his living in stockyards in Kansas City and Los Angeles.

Some of Tappan’s biographical information has come down through the years incorrectly, starting with his name. As of 2025 he was listed as “Walter Tappan” in Baseball-Reference and Retrosheet. This correctly reflects Tappan’s birth name, but not his preference for his middle name, Van Dorn. In news stories throughout his life he was Van Dorn Tappan, Van D. Tappan, or simply Van Tappan, but almost never Walt or Walter.1 The preference dated back to his earliest years: As a 10-year-old in the 1900 US Census, his name was listed as “Vandorn,” the youngest of three sons of traveling salesman Edward Tappan and his wife, Margaret (Taylor).2 In the 1910 Census he was “Van Doren,” and in 1920 and 1930, “Van D.”3

Tappan’s listed birth date of October 8, 1890, is also open to discussion. Several important sources—including an Illinois birth listing, the record from his wedding in 1911, and his World War I draft registration card—indicate that 1889 was the correct year.4 The 1900 Census lists his age as 10 and his birth month as “October 1879,” clearly off by a decade but also hinting at 1889.5 Tappan’s death certificate says 1890, though the source for that information is not cited.6 On one aspect of his background, no dispute has arisen: Tappan was born in Carlinville, Illinois, in the west-central part of that state, though by 1900 his family had moved to Independence, Missouri, in the Kansas City area.7

Father Edward Tappan died of bronchitis in September 1906 after a year’s illness.8 Available Missouri newspapers do not mention any athletic efforts on his youngest son’s part in this period,9 although the Kansas City Star took note of Van Dorn attending a party of young people in February 1906. The other guests included a fellow Independence resident named Clyde St. Clair.10

The next time Tappan and St. Clair landed in the news together, it was in tragic circumstances. In the early hours of May 8, 1907, Tappan walked into Independence police headquarters, handed over two revolvers, and surrendered to desk sergeant W.W. Twyman, saying he had killed St. Clair in self-defense. St. Clair, 23 years old, was found dead in the city’s public square; he had been shot twice. Tappan was described as 17 years old and an employee of “Swift’s,” possibly the same Swift Packing Company where his father had worked. The killer and the victim had reportedly been close friends.11

News reports cited romantic jealousy as the cause of the killing. Tappan had squired a young lady named Fannie May Hughes, previously a sweetheart of St. Clair’s. Hughes later testified that St. Clair had written her letters threatening to harm Tappan. No one witnessed the shooting, but Tappan claimed St. Clair punched him and appeared to be reaching for a gun of his own when Tappan shot him.12 Authorities initially declined to press charges, accepting Tappan’s explanation of self-defense, but a second-degree murder charge was brought in May 1909, reportedly as a result of pressure from the St. Clair family. On October 14, 1909, a jury found Tappan not guilty, again for reasons of self-defense.13

It is during this fraught period that reports of Tappan’s athletic prowess become available. In December 1907 he started for an Independence basketball team.14 The following year, he landed a late-season stint as shortstop with a baseball team in Bonner Springs, Kansas, where the local newspaper commented as much on his looks as his skills: “The girls are warned not to steal him until after the game is finished, at any rate.”15

The young man had also been playing ball on the sandlot or semipro level around Independence as well. That experience was cited in January 1909 when Tappan signed with the Springfield (Missouri) Midgets of the Class C Western Association—his first stop in organized or affiliated minor-league baseball.16 He was compared to John Perrine, a second baseman and shortstop who played parts of three seasons in Springfield between 1902 and 1904 and went on to play with the 1907 Washington Nationals. But Tappan hit a weak .167 in 20 games with Springfield, getting loaned during the season to other Western Association teams in Enid, Oklahoma, and Pittsburg, Kansas.17

Tappan spent time that summer and fall with an amateur team in Kansas City sponsored by the Smith Baking Company, part of a loop called the Inter-City League. He thrived there, being acclaimed as “one of the cleverest all-round ballplayers” in the league.18 In September 1909, when Kansas City native and Chicago Cubs catcher Johnny Kling assembled a barnstorming team to play a series of semipro teams in Chicago, Tappan got the nod to play second base.19

By the spring of 1910 Tappan had fully hung out his shingle, declaring his occupation as “professional base ball player” on that year’s US Census. His commitment was not rewarded by success, though, as he ground out four straight seasons at Class D, the lowest level of the minor leagues. From 1910 through 1912 he played for the Falls City, Nebraska, team of the Missouri-Iowa-Nebraska-Kansas League; in 1913 he landed with a Nebraska State League team that moved from Seward to Beatrice in midseason after the former community was devastated by a tornado.20 It was also in this period that Tappan married Stella Closson in Leavenworth, Kansas, in April 1911. He supported his wife and himself with an offseason job in the Kansas City stockyards.21

Tappan earned a reputation as a defensive star in his Class D years, with key plays drawing notice in game accounts.22 The Beatrice Daily Express noted his “brilliant work at short” in August 1913 and recalled his “fancy fielding record” the following April.23 A Chicago Cubs scout checking out Nebraska State League action in 1913 cited Tappan as an especially good-looking prospect.24 But his hitting did not improve—he clocked batting averages of .252 in 1910, .274 in 1911, .247 in 1912, and .259 in 1913.25 “He could bat only .250 in a league in which the .300 hitters were almost as thick as flies,” the Beatrice newspaper sniffed.26

Available news stories don’t specify how the bush-leaguer—either 23 or 24, depending on which birthdate you believe—got a shot with the Federal League’s Packers for 1914. Tappan’s pro experience, ability to play multiple infield positions, and strong reputation in the Inter-City League might have been enough to earn him a place among four local players who received a spring-training invitation from the team that March.27 Opportunity abounded: The Packers had played in the 1913 Federal League, a newly formed independent minor league, but only three members of the 1913 team returned the following season.28

As Tappan headed to training with the Packers in Wichita Falls, Texas, a figure from his past reappeared in Kansas City headlines. On March 10, 1914, Fannie May Hughes died, her passing melodramatically blamed on “heart disease” and “shattered nerves” in one news account.29

In Texas, Tappan made the most of his opportunity from the start. His play at third base was described as “of the first-class order,” and he contributed a run-scoring single to Kansas City’s victory in its first exhibition game against the Indianapolis Hoosiers on March 15.30 On March 27, Packers manager George Stovall committed to signing Tappan to a contract as a utility player.31 On April 14, two days before the Packers’ first game, a Kansas City newspaper noted Tappan as one of two local players who had made the roster.32

Tappan was on hand on April 16, riding in a motorcade to the ballpark with other players, when the Packers opened against the Chicago Chi-Feds at Kansas City’s Gordon and Koppel Field. Identified in the Chicago Tribune as “a speedy youngster named Vantappen,” Tappan played a small part in the Packers’ 3–2 loss, pinch-running for third baseman George Perring after Perring singled with one out in the ninth. A popout by Ted Easterly and a strikeout by Gene Packard stranded Tappan at first.33 (Incidentally, the speedy Tappan’s playing height and weight were 5-foot-8 and 158 pounds, and he batted and threw right-handed.)

The young man who had worked his way into a Federal League roster spot quickly found himself in a starter’s role. On April 18 and 19, player-manager Stovall suffered injuries to both hands and benched himself. Perring shifted to first, while Tappan was inserted at the hot corner.34 He started three games against Indianapolis from April 20 to 22, going hitless in 12 at-bats and committing an error in the first game that contributed to a six-run inning for the visitors. Tappan helped the Packers pull out a walk-off victory in the April 22 game, though. After Duke Kenworthy led off the bottom of the ninth with a double, Tappan sacrificed him to third. Perring’s single scored Kenworthy for a 4–3 win.

His next opportunity arose between May 3 and 10, when Tappan started eight games as the Packers’ shortstop, replacing Pep Goodwin after Goodwin tore the nail off his right-hand index finger during pregame warmups on May 3.35

Tappan collected his first hit, a single off the Baltimore Terrapins’ George Suggs, on May 3. He followed the next day with his only big-league homer. The two-run shot over Gordon and Koppel Field’s short left-field wall off the Pittsburgh Rebels’ Elmer Knetzer gave the Packers a lead they never relinquished in an eventual 6–5 win.36 He collected his third and last big-league RBI, another game-winner, on May 5 against Pittsburgh, then feasted off Rebels pitching for his only big-league two-hit game on May 6. The latter accomplishment was overshadowed by the Rebels’ Ed Lennox, who became the only Federal Leaguer to hit for the cycle in a 10–4 Pittsburgh win.

Although Tappan hit .280 (7-for-25) in his eight games as starting shortstop, he was still hitting only .189 for the season following the game on May 10. He was described as “weak with the stick” and “[not] very strong in the batting department.”37 He drew notice for his flashy fielding plays but also committed four errors as a shortstop, including one apiece in each of his last three starts.38

Goodwin returned to the starting lineup for the game on May 11, and Tappan never started again. In fact, he didn’t play again until June 20, when he made the first of three appearances as a substitute at third base.39 In the last of these games, on June 27, Tappan collected his final big-league hit, a single off George Mullin of Indianapolis, fixing his FL average forever at .205.

He closed his career with three pinch-running appearances in the first half of July. Tappan’s 18th and last game, on July 15, went rather like his first: He ran for shortstop Cliff Daringer with two out in the ninth and was stranded on pinch-hitter Art Kruger’s game-ending pop to second. His apparent release passed unnoticed by Kansas City’s several daily newspapers; on August 9 Tappan resurfaced with a Kansas City semipro team called Forest Lake.40

Having jumped to the outlaw FL, Tappan found difficulty in returning to organized baseball. At one point in 1915, he was reported to be in talks to return to the Beatrice team in Class D; at another, he was said to be hoping for a job in a higher league.41 He was reported to have signed with Beatrice in late June but was not subsequently mentioned in game reports or box scores from that city.42 Tappan played that season with a Kansas City semipro team called the Bushwicks and also took part in a postseason barnstorming tour in October, playing third base for a team advertised as the Packers.43 The Federal League folded after the 1915 season.

By 1917 Tappan had moved on from professional baseball. His World War I draft registration card, filled out that June, described him as a self-employed speculator in the Kansas City stockyards. He remained married, with a son and daughter, and claimed exemption from the draft due to his dependents. Apparently, the claim worked, because Tappan never served in the military.44 Tappan went into business with his brothers Edward and Arthur, though Edward died in March 1918.45

The start of the 1920s found Tappan playing and managing sandlot ball in Sedalia, Missouri, and being described by a Sedalia newspaper as “one of Kansas City’s best third basemen.”46 That decade brought considerable turbulence to Tappan’s personal life. His mother died in 1921, and brother Arthur took his own life in 1926, leaving Tappan the sole survivor of his birth family.47 The following year, Van Dorn obtained a divorce from Stella, who was granted custody of their two children and $50 a month in support.48

The Kansas City stockyards were hit hard by the Great Depression as well as labor strife in the 1930s.49 Perhaps because of this, Tappan moved to the Los Angeles area in 1939 to work in stockyards there, which had been founded in 1922 and were comparatively thriving.50 A 1942 military draft card found Tappan working for the Cornelius Packing Company, claiming a birthdate in 1892, and apparently unmarried, for he did not cite a spouse as his primary contact.51

By the 1950 Census Tappan was still in the livestock business but had remarried; his wife, Helen, worked as a bookkeeper.52 According to Helen, Tappan continued working at the Los Angeles stockyards until they closed in 1960, at which time he retired. His hobbies included hunting, fishing, and baseball, Helen said: “Baseball was his life—and he never missed listening to or seeing any games.” Helen Tappan also indicated that her husband had suffered a back injury while playing baseball that bothered him for the rest of his life, though she did not specify when it occurred.53

Van Dorn Tappan died on the night of December 19, 1967, in a hospital in the Los Angeles-area city of Lynwood, California. The cause was listed as arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease and his age as 77, based on a birthdate of October 8, 1890.54 He was cremated and his ashes were subsequently buried in Mount Washington Cemetery in Independence.55 His listed survivors were wife Helen, son William, and daughter Maxine.56

Tappan’s newspaper obituary in Kansas City made no mention of his baseball career. He missed, by fewer than three months, living to see the March 1968 vote of the major leagues’ Special Baseball Records Committee that officially declared the Federal League to have been a major league.57

 

Acknowledgments

This biography was reviewed by Rory Costello and Abigail Miskowiec and fact-checked by members of the SABR Bio-Project factchecking team. The author thanks the Giamatti Research Center at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum for research assistance.

 

Sources and photo credit

In addition to the sources credited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org for background information on players, teams, and seasons, including Baseball-Reference’s two separate listings for Tappan.58 The author also consulted The Sporting News’ two contract cards for Tappan59 and the State Historical Society of Missouri’s newspaper database at https://shsmo.newspapers.com/.

Photo of Van Dorn Tappan from the Omaha (Nebraska) Daily News, August 28, 1910: 29.

 

Notes

1 For example, a Newspapers.com search of Kansas City, Missouri, newspapers between 1900 and Tappan’s death year of 1967 turned up one non-relevant match for “Walter Tappan” and none for “Walt Tappan.” Due to reporters’ errors, he also appeared in news stories under such variants as Van Doren Tappan, Van D. Tappen, and Vantappen.

2 1900 US Census listing for Tappan family, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-6S97-FC6?view=index&personArk=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AM3CB-9Y5&action=view&cc=1325221; Illinois marriage listing for Edward Tappan and Maggie Taylor, September 1885, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:HSCT-1M2M; World War I draft registration card for Van Dorn Tappan, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYTX-9VGB?view=index&personArk=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AWZH6-S2T2&action=view&cc=1968530; all accessed via Familysearch.org in December 2024.

3 US Census records from 1910 (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9RJD-ZQ5?view=index&personArk=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AMLM2-D73&action=view&cc=1727033), 1920 (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9RJ9-W3X?view=index&personArk=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AM8HG-JP1&action=view&cc=1488411), and 1930  (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GRHR-HNR?view=index&personArk=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AXHFW-2J4&action=view&cc=1810731), accessed via Familysearch.org in December 2024. By the time the 1950 Census came around, Tappan was finally “Walter D.”

4 Illinois birth record for Walter Van Dorn Tappan, transcription accessed via Familysearch.org in December 2024, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:H9LV-TC2M. The Kansas marriage record for Tappan’s wedding to Stella Closson, also transcribed on Familysearch.org, indicates Tappan was 21 on his wedding day, April 21, 1911; had he been born in October 1890, he would only have been 20. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2MY-7SZX.

5 The census taker appears to have flubbed the birth years of two of the three Tappan boys in 1900. Middle brother Edward was listed as 12 years old, but his birth year was listed as 1877 instead of 1887. Youngest brother Van Dorn was listed as 10, but his birth year was given as 1879 instead of 1889. Only oldest brother Arthur’s listing is correct: 14 years old and born in 1886. The 1890 US Census might help resolve the matter – Tappan would be in it if he were born in October 1889, and not if he were born in October 1890 – but a fire in 1921 destroyed 99 percent of 1890 Census records. “The 1890 U.S. Federal Census,” Ancestry.com, accessed December 2024, https://support.ancestry.com/s/article/The-1890-U-S-Federal-Census?language=en_US.

6 Tappan’s state of California death certificate is included in his clip file at the Giamatti Research Center of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Incidentally, the death certificate lists his name as “Walter Van Dorn Tappan a.k.a. Van D. Tappan,” further proof that he preferred some variant of his middle name to his first.

7 As of December 2024, Tappan was the only major-league player, coach, manager, or umpire listed in Retrosheet with a birthplace of Carlinville. Independence was also the adopted hometown of future US President Harry S Truman, who moved there in 1890 when he was about six years old. “Harry S Truman,” National Park Service website for Harry S Truman National Historic Site, accessed December 2024, https://www.nps.gov/people/harry-s-truman.htm.

8 “Brief Bits of City News,” Kansas City Star, September 7, 1906: 2. This news item lists the elder Tappan’s former employer as the Swift Packing Company. It’s not clear whether Edward Tappan’s work in the meatpacking industry influenced his son’s later decision to enter the field, or whether Van Dorn went into the business simply because it was a significant employer in Kansas City at the time.

9 Based on Newspaper.com searches in December 2024 for the names Tappan and Tappen in Missouri between 1904 and 1906, roughly the period when Tappan would have been in high school – if he attended – or starting a sandlot career. The author also searched the State Historical Society of Missouri’s newspaper database at https://shsmo.newspapers.com/

10 “In Society,” Kansas City Star, February 18, 1906: 5.

11 “A Jealous Boy’s Crime,” Kansas City Star, May 8, 1907: 3; “Insurance Payment Refused,” Kansas City Times, June 4, 1908: 14. It’s worth noting that Tappan’s listed age of 17 supports a birthdate in October 1889. A few early news stories gave Tappan’s age as 23, presumably a confusion with St. Clair’s age.

12 “Girl Men Fought Over in Court,” Kansas City Times, October 14, 1909: 1.

13 “Van Doren [sic] Tappan Charged with Second Degree Murder,” Kansas City Post, May 29, 1909: 1; “A Slayer Must Stand Trial,” Kansas City Times, May 29, 1909: 10; “Van Doran [sic] Tappan is Free,” Kansas City Times, October 15, 1909: 1.

14 “Independence,” Kansas City Post, December 12, 1907: 8.

15 “It Was Easy Picking,” Bonner Springs (Kansas) Chieftain, September 3, 1908: 6. As of December 2024, Baseball-Reference did not list any teams from Bonner Springs, Kansas, as having participated in minor-league baseball.

16 “Baseball News,” Topeka (Kansas) State Journal, January 16, 1909: 2; “Midget Management Seeks New Blood in the Association Team,” Springfield (Missouri) Daily Republican, January 6, 1909: 3. Baseball-Reference also had no indication as of December 2024 that Independence, Missouri, had ever hosted a team in an affiliated professional minor league.

17 “Western Association Batting Averages,” Topeka Daily Capital, November 8, 1909: 2; “Diamond,” Enid (Oklahoma) Daily Eagle, July 22, 1909: 8; “Tappan Still a Midget,” Springfield Daily Republican, May 9, 1909: 6.

18 “A Speedy City Leaguer” (illustration and caption), Kansas City Star, September 12, 1909: 12A.

19 “Murphy’s Bluff Arrives,” Kansas City Star, September 3, 1909: 14; “Kling Off to Chicago,” Kansas City Times, September 6, 1909: 6; “Kling Et. Al. in Avalanche,” Chicago Tribune, September 8, 1909: 10. Kling, an avid billiards player, took the 1909 season off to operate a pool hall in Kansas City. Gil Bogen and David W. Andersen, “Johnny Kling,” SABR Biography Project, accessed December 2024, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/johnny-kling/.

20 “How Beatrice Got Franchise,” Beatrice (Nebraska) Daily Express, July 10, 1913: 1.

21 Transcription of Kansas marriage record, accessed via Familysearch.org in December 2024, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2MY-7SZX; “Base B-a-w-l-s,” Falls City (Nebraska) Daily News, August 30, 1912: 4.

22 Two examples: “Base Ball,” Falls City Journal, August 17, 1912: 1; “Base Ball,” Falls City Journal, August 27, 1912: 1.

23 “York Draws a Shut-Out,” Beatrice Daily Express, August 9, 1913: 3; “State League Gossip,” Beatrice Daily Express, April 2, 1914: 3.

24 “Chicago Cubs Base Ball Scout at Superior-Beatrice Games,” Beatrice Daily Express, August 27, 1913: 1.

25 “Table of Averages in MINK League,” Nemaha County (Auburn, Nebraska) Republican, November 11, 1910: 7; “The ‘MINK’ League,” Sporting Life, January 6, 1912: 16, https://digital.la84.org/digital/collection/p17103coll17/id/27361/rec/10; “Official Mink League Averages,” Nemaha County Republican, October 18, 1912: 3; “Lotz Leads State League,” Omaha (Nebraska) Sunday Bee, September 21, 1913: 4S.

26 “State League Gossip.”

27 “Packers to Leave Tonight for Camp,” Kansas City Journal, March 9, 1914: 7; “The Packers Leave Tonight,” Kansas City Times, March 9, 1914: 10. The other three players were identified as Armstrong, Pollock, and Turner; no players by those names are credited with appearing in any regular-season games for the 1914 Packers.

28 The returnees were infielder Cliff Daringer and pitchers Pete Henning and George Hogan.

29 “Slaying of Fiance by Another Suitor Caused Her Death,” Kansas City Post, March 10, 1914: 10. This article portrays the relationship between Hughes, Tappan, and St. Clair differently and more sensationally than earlier stories, claiming that Hughes and St. Clair were engaged to be married at the time of the shooting. This article fails to mention that Hughes had since married another man and had a daughter, as mentioned in “Former Olathe Man Dies,” Kansas City Journal, March 10, 1914: 10.

30 “Packers Win Over Hoosiers,” Kansas City Post, March 16, 1914: 6.

31 “Van Tappan Will Be Retained by Packers,” Kansas City Journal, March 28, 1914: 5.

32 “A Lively Workout for Packers,” Kansas City Times, April 14, 1914: 8. The other was pitcher Ben Harris, who went 7-7 with a 4.09 ERA in 31 appearances for the Packers that season.

33 Sam Weller, “Chifeds Open Race with 3-2 Victory Over Kansas City,” Chicago Tribune, April 17, 1914: 11.

34 “Notes of the Game,” Kansas City Times, April 20, 1914: 10.

35 “Packer Pickings,” Kansas City Journal, May 4, 1914: 5.

36 “Rebels Lose Tight Combat to Packers,” Kansas City Journal, May 5, 1914: 8. According to the Seamheads ballpark database (accessed December 2024), Gordon and Koppel Field was just 270 feet down the left-field line. https://www.seamheads.com/ballparks/ballpark.php?parkID=KAN04#.

37 “Now for the Trailers,” Kansas City Star, May 4, 1914: 10.

38 “The Packers Off Tonight,” Kansas City Star, May 9, 1914: 7.

39 Tappan appears to have been with the club during this time. One Kansas City newspaper reported that he was ejected from the May 21 game against Brooklyn despite not playing in it, and he was mentioned as a possible shortstop in a June 12 story. “Notes of the Game,” Kansas City Times, May 22, 1914: 10; “Waiting for the ‘Breaks,’” Kansas City Star, June 12, 1914: 3B. None of the Brooklyn or New York City newspapers reported Tappan’s ejection in the May 21 game, and it was not listed in Retrosheet as of December 2024.

40 “Semi Pros and Amateurs,” Kansas City Journal, August 9, 1914: 6B. Some Kansas City papers mentioned that Tappan was one of three Packers who did not accompany the team on a road trip to Indianapolis in late July, and that Tappan would be missed in team pinochle games. “Stovall on the Bench,” Kansas City Star, July 23, 1914: 8.

41 “Line Drives,” Beatrice Daily Sun, March 30, 1915: 3; “Line Drives,” Beatrice Daily Sun, April 13, 1915: 6.

42 “‘Toots’ Kortum Sold to Mason City, Iowa Club,” Beatrice Daily Sun, June 25, 1915: 3; Newspapers.com searches in the Beatrice Daily Sun for July through September 1915.

43 “Semi-Pros and Amateurs,” Kansas City Journal, July 6, 1915: 7; “Packer Barnstormers to Play Two Weeks,” Kansas City Journal, October 6, 1915: 8; “Double Bill at Fed Park Today,” Kansas City Post, October 10, 1915: 8A.

44 1917 World War I draft registration card and 1930 US Census listing, both cited above.

45 “Tappan” (death notice), Kansas City Times, March 14, 1918: 5.

46 “Opening Game of Ball Season to Be Sunday,” Sedalia (Missouri) Democrat, May 11, 1922: 10, https://archive.org/details/sedalia-democrat-1922-05-11/page/n7/mode/2up.. News reports have Tappan playing in Sedalia as early as 1919, including “Sedalia Ball Team Reorganizes for 1921,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, March 21, 1921: 8, https://shsmo.newspapers.com/image/572526578/?match=1&terms=%22van%20tappan%22.

47 “Tappan” (death notice), Kansas City Star, September 27, 1921: 2; “A.L. Tappan Tries Suicide,” Kansas City Times, January 9, 1926: 9; “A.L. Tappan Funeral Today,” Kansas City Star, January 11, 1926: 3.

48 “A Divorce to Vandorn [sic] Tappan,” Kansas City Star, July 18, 1927: 6.

49 John Herron, “Making Meat: Race, Labor, and the Kansas City Stockyards,” Kansas City Public Library Digital History site, accessed December 2024, https://pendergastkc.org/articles/making-meat-race-labor-and-kansas-city-stockyards.

50 C.A. Mortenson, “Union Stockyard Breathing Last,” Los Angeles Times, April 29, 1960: III:2. Tappan’s widow, Helen, listed 1939 as the year he moved west in a letter that is preserved in Tappan’s clip file at the Giamatti Research Center and cited further later in these endnotes.

51 Asked to provide the name and address of a person who would always know his address, Tappan cited not a wife, but someone named Eli Hurt. 1942 draft registration card for Walter Van Dorn Tappan, accessed via Familysearch.org in December 2024, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939V-ZYSX-TS?view=index&personArk=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AV4D8-D6B&action=view&cc=1861144.

52 1950 US Census records, accessed via Familysearch.org in December 2024, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QHN-LQH7-192X-K?view=index&action=view&cc=4464515.

53 Undated letter from Helen Tappan in Van Dorn Tappan’s clip file at the Giamatti Research Center. The letter was most likely a response to researcher Bill Haber and may have been sent in the fall of 1975. Van Dorn Tappan’s clip file also includes a response letter to Haber from son Bud Tappan, dated November 10, 1975, in which the younger Tappan declined to comment on his father’s baseball career.

54 California death certificate for Walter Van Dorn Tappan a.k.a. Van D. Tappan.

55 Findagrave.com did not have an entry for Tappan’s grave as of December 2024. Tappan’s clip file at the Giamatti Research Center includes a letter from a Mount Washington Cemetery representative, dated November 12, 1975, indicating that Tappan’s ashes were interred there on May 11, 1968. Tappan’s brothers Arthur and Edward are buried at the same cemetery, according to Findagrave.com.

56 “Van D. Tappan,” Kansas City Times, December 21, 1967: 4B. Maxine achieved a degree of fame in the 1930s and ’40s as a singer. Helen Tappan makes mention of this in the letter in Tappan’s clip file. Other sources include “Maxine Tappan at Zephyr,” Kansas City Star, July 15, 1942: 3D, and “Cabana Has Maxine Tappan,” Kansas City Star, May 7, 1939: 3D.

57 John Thorn, “Why Is the National Association Not a Major League … and Other Records Issues,” posted May 4, 2015, https://ourgame.mlblogs.com/why-is-the-national-association-not-a-major-league-and-other-records-issues-7507e1683b66.

58 As of December 2024, Baseball-Reference had a listing for “Walter Tappan” that included his Federal League season (https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/t/tappawa01.shtml) and a listing for “W. VanTappan” summarizing his minor-league play from 1909 through 1912 (https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=vantap001w–).

59 One contract card identifies the player as a shortstop named “W. Van Tappan” (https://digital.la84.org/digital/collection/p17103coll3/id/112328/rec/7) and covers his career from 1910 to 1914. The other calls him “Van D. Tappan” and sums up his unsuccessful attempt to return to the pro ranks after his departure from the Federal League (https://digital.la84.org/digital/collection/p17103coll3/id/107843/rec/6).