Willie Ludolph

Three scoreless innings in his first two major-league games followed by one bad inning in his third outing would seem to indicate that a promising 24-year-old right-handed pitcher might get another shot at the big leagues. That chance never came for Willie Ludolph. Later in his career, Ludolph explained his failure to stick longer with the Detroit Tigers in 1924 by saying simply, “I didn’t know enough.”1 Instead he fashioned a long and successful minor-league career, mostly in the Pacific Coast League (PCL). His success afforded him the opportunity to become one of the first “Sunday only” pitchers: he was required to pitch only on Sundays, which permitted him to attend to his business interests during the week.

Ludolph seemed content to pitch (and be paid well for his services) on the West Coast, but he played during an era in which minor-league club owners could place exorbitant sale prices on star players. On at least one occasion this prevented a major-league team from acquiring him. 2 There is no record that he ever publicly expressed regret, but Eddie Murphy, a writer for the Oakland Tribune suspected, “Bill is probably a bit disappointed over not being sold to some major league club. He has toiled hard for the past six years to try and make the big time, and failure to get a call…was disappointing to him.”3

William Francis Ludolph was born on January 21, 1900, in San Francisco, California. His ancestry and childhood are a bit sketchy. A record of a marriage was found between M. A. O’Neill and Wm. Ludolph in July of 1899, six months before Willie was born. It not known what became of Wm. Ludolph, assumed to be Willie’s father, but at the time of the 1910 US Census William Ludolph, age nine, and his younger brother Paul are listed as grandsons in a San Francisco household headed by Patrick and Delia O’Neill, presumably Willie’s maternal grandparents.

By 1920, Willie and Paul were living in a household headed by Agnes Ludolph, who was a member of Willie’s household in 1940. The California funeral record for his brother Paul shows a father, William Ludolph, and mother, Agnes O’Neill. Willie’s death certificate lists his father as William Ludolph, but his mother only as Agnes. This leads to the conclusion that William Ludolph was Willie’s father and that the M. A. O’Neill he married in 1899 was his mother, Agnes.

As a teenager, Ludolph4 was a celebrated all-around athlete at Lowell High School in San Francisco. In addition to being a star pitcher for the school’s baseball team, he threw the shot put and played basketball, once being described as a “slippery forward.”5 In 1918 Ludolph was the star of the 120-pound basketball team and by 1919 had graduated to the 145-pound team at Lowell High.

But baseball, especially pitching, was where Ludolph truly excelled. In the spring of 1919, he routinely recorded strikeout totals in the mid-teens against high school opponents. In May 1919, he lost a 2-1 decision to Polytechnic High School for the San Francisco Athletic League championship.6 By then 19 years old and presumably having graduated, Ludolph was recruited by several Bay Area amateur and (before strict collegiate eligibility rules) semipro teams.

He signed with the Young Men’s Institute (Y.M.I.), described as a Catholic fraternal organization, in December 1919.7 By early 1920 he pitched for the Swift Lumber Company, and later the Granat Brothers in the San Francisco Seals Midwinter League.8 A report in January 1920 said that Ludolph had entered Santa Clara University.9 Instead, he enrolled at St. Mary’s College in Oakland. His St. Mary’s Phoenix club barnstormed in February 1920, losing a game to the C.L. Best Tractor team of San Leandro.10 In May, while pitching for St. Mary’s, he tossed a no-hitter and struck out 14 against Alameda.11

By late May, Ludolph was with the Monterey Barracudas of the independent Mission League. He left the Monterey team in mid-June for a ballclub in Utah, where he was to receive $250 a month for his services.12 Ludolph played in the collegiate Cache Valley League in Utah in the summer, first for Lewiston in late June, then by early August for Logan.13 He returned to the Bay Area that fall and pitched for San Jose of the Mission League. In October 1920 it was reported that he had signed with the San Francisco Seals of the PCL for the following season.14 He kept in shape that off-season pitching in the (San Francisco) Chronicle Winter League.15

In his professional debut the following spring, Ludolph appeared in four games for the Seals, recording one win against no losses. In mid-May he was found in need of more experience (which Ludolph would not get sitting on the bench), so the Seals turned him over to the Des Moines Boosters of the Class A Western League.16 Citing a “failure to deliver” (he did allow 54 runs in 55 innings), Des Moines returned him to San Francisco,17 which then released him outright. Des Moines manager Jack Coffey then helped him hook on with Sioux Falls of the Class D Dakota League where he remained for the balance of the 1921 season.18

His promising career could have been prematurely derailed at this point, but under the tutelage of Sioux Falls manager Fred Carisch, a former major-league catcher, Ludolph rounded into form and posted winning records in 1921 and 1922. The Dakota League disbanded in July 1923 but by that time he had attracted the attention of the Detroit Americans. Ludolph, along with Sioux Falls teammates Frank Naleway and Hi Bell, were signed and ordered to report to Detroit.19 The scout who signed them, Judge McCredie,20 said, “[Bell and Ludolph] are two of the best looking young pitchers I have seen this year.” He went on to add, “of course, they need training. They have faults which are to be found in any minor league pitcher, but with proper care, I see no reason why they should not make the grade.”21 (Bell had more success than Ludolph, appearing in 221 major-league games over eight seasons).

The Tigers immediately turned Ludolph over to the Bay City Wolves of the Class B Michigan-Ontario League. He went 9-1 in 11 games with a 2.09 ERA. After helping Bay City to the league championship, he was recalled to Detroit in September 1923.22 Ludolph stayed with the club the rest of the season but did not get into any games.

During the Tigers spring training camp in Augusta, Georgia, in 1924, manager Ty Cobb compared Ludolph’s delivery to that of Philadelphia A’s right-hander Rollie Naylor. At this point in his career Ludolph was getting by primarily with his fastball; Cobb recognized that he lacked a change of pace and a curveball “of sufficient deceptiveness to deceive batsmen in the big loop.”23 Regardless, Ludolph was one of 11 pitchers taken north by Cobb to start the season, although the skipper cautioned that two or three would be let go when rosters needed to be trimmed.

Ludolph made his major-league debut on May 28, 1924, in the second game of a doubleheader against the St. Louis Browns before 25,000 fans at Navin Field in Detroit. After Tiger starter Ken Holloway surrendered six seventh-inning runs, allowing the Browns to take a 7-0 lead, Ludolph entered in relief and pitched two scoreless innings, the only blemish being a Jack Tobin single. His next action was on June 6 against the Washington Senators. He pitched a scoreless ninth inning, again allowing just one hit, in a 2-0 shutout loss to Walter Johnson. Ludolph watched from the bench for two weeks until June 20, when he entered a game in Detroit against the Cleveland Indians. With one out in the seventh, Indian runners on first and second, and the Tigers trailing 8-4, he got the final two outs without being scored upon. After the Tigers cut the lead to 8-6, Ludolph pitched a scoreless eighth, but opened the ninth with two walks and a hit batsman. Two singles followed, resulting in three runs before Ludolph retired the side. The Tigers answered with three in the ninth, but fell short, losing 11-9. Ludolph was not involved in the decision.

Ludolph stayed with Detroit until early July, mainly being used as a batting practice pitcher. He was then optioned to the Vernon (California) Tigers of the PCL.24

Although he could not have imagined it at the time, Ludolph’s major-league career was over. He had appeared in three games for Detroit, allowing five hits and three runs, all earned, in 5 2/3 innings for a 4.76 ERA. He walked two and hit a batter (all in that fateful ninth inning against the Indians) and struck out one. He did not have a pitching decision.

Ludolph had a less than stellar record (7-10, 4.63 ERA) in 26 games for Vernon. One report said that he had been repurchased by Detroit25 after the season. Instead, he returned to Vernon in 1925. He beat the Chicago Cubs 5-4 in a preseason spring training game26 and went on to win 13 games for the Vernon Tigers. After the season, he hooked up with a club called Joe Pirrone’s All-Stars and defeated the Colored Giants and their great Negro League pitcher “Bullet” Rogan, 4-3.27

On October 6, 1924, Ludolph married Kathryn Elizabeth Colleran in Los Angeles, where the couple made their home.28 During the 1925-1926 off-season, the Vernon Tigers franchise relocated to San Francisco and became the Mission Reds (generally called the Missions), so Ludolph had to move up the coast while his new wife stayed in Southern California. He reported late in the spring of 1926 because Kathryn was having a difficult pregnancy with the birth of their first child, William, Jr. Following camp, Ludolph had an up and down year, going 15-13.

In 1927, Ludolph’s record slipped to 9-20, but he did have one highlight, a one-hitter against Sacramento on September 20. After the season, as was his custom, he returned to Los Angeles to play with Pirrone’s All-Stars. They competed in a four-team league that included two Black teams: the Philadelphia Hilldale Giants and the Cleveland Colored Giants.29

After Ludolph’s poor 1927 season, Mission owner William McCarthy tried to cut his salary for the next year. Ludolph did not report until May 20 and compiled a record of just 2-4. The Reds released him on option to Little Rock (Arkansas) of the Class A Southern Association. The reason given in the announcement was “Ludolph failed to get going”30 – but the deciding factor was when he surrendered a home run to Los Angeles Angels pitcher Clyde Barfoot in the 10th inning a few days earlier, sending the Reds to a 7-6 loss.31 Once in Little Rock, Ludolph won 12 games for the Travelers.

During the winter minor-league meetings, the Missions severed all ties with Ludolph when they sold him to the Birmingham (Alabama) Barons, also members of the Southern Association.32 He won a league-leading 21 games in 1929 and helped the Barons to the league pennant. Birmingham then faced the Dallas Steers, winners of the Texas League, in the Dixie Series. Manager John Dobbs gave Ludolph the starting assignment in the opener and he responded with a brilliant two-hit 1-0 victory, outdueling Sarge Connally.33 Ludolph came back three days later, but this time Dallas knocked him out of the box in the fourth inning as the Steers evened the series 2-2.34 The Barons won Game Five and Ludolph started Game Six. He was staked to an early 3-0 lead but faltered in the fourth as Dallas took a 4-3 lead. Birmingham responded with four runs over the next three innings, and stellar relief pitching by Carlos Moore and Bunny Hearn allowed the Barons to take a 7-5 series-clinching win.35

Ludolph returned to Birmingham in 1930 and had another good season, going 14-9 in 33 games. The following February, he got an opportunity to play closer to home when Birmingham engineered a trade sending him to Oakland of the PCL for left-handed pitcher Jim Edwards.36 The trade was also welcomed by Edwards, a native of Mississippi. Ludolph got off to a strong start by tossing a no-hitter against his old team, the Missions, on June 6. The 4-0 win snapped an Oaks 14-game losing streak.37 He finished the 1931 season with a 10-12 record in 39 games.

Ludolph improved to 16 wins in 1932, second on the team to former White Sox right-hander Ed Walsh (son of Hall of Famer Big Ed Walsh), who recorded 19. Ludolph’s 2.76 ERA was second in the league behind San Francisco’s Curt Davis. He increased his victory total to 19 (against only nine defeats) in 1933 and his 3.09 ERA was the best mark in the PCL.38 Slowed by a sore arm part of the year, Ludolph fell off to a record of 16-12 in 1934. He had a tonsillectomy that fall, due to a belief at that time that such a procedure would help recovery from arm ailments.

Ludolph entered the 1935 season healthy and confident, predicting that he would win 20 games for the Oaks, by then an affiliate of the New York Yankees.39 On September 1, Ludolph held Joe DiMaggio hitless in four at-bats in a 4-3 win over San Francisco Seals (DiMaggio was later sold by San Francisco to the New York Yankees). Ludolph delivered as promised, beating Portland, 5-1 on the last day of the season for his 20th win. His 3.08 ERA was second in the league to Los Angeles’ Mike Meola.

By this point in his career, Ludolph had gained enough experience to harness his ability and become an accomplished pitcher. “Ludolph knows how to pitch…He mixes his delivery, seldom giving the opposition a good ball to hit, and is poison to hard hitters. He has a change of pace, a nice fastball, and a low curve.”40 His experience and excellent control (he averaged around two walks per nine innings while with Oakland) made him, arguably, one of the best pitchers in the country outside of the major leagues.

Having just turned 36 years old and in his 16th year of professional baseball, even the usually self-confident Ludolph could not have predicted what was in store in 1936. The lean (6’1”, 170 pounds) hurler always kept in condition and his veteran status allowed him to prepare for the season in his own way. He was “allowed to move about as he pleased, as [manager Bill] Meyer is satisfied that no one can show the wise Willie how to prepare himself…all Ludolph had to do to keep in pitching condition was to take his daily shaves and have his hair cut just before the season opened.”41

Ludolph won his first six games of the season and 10 of his first 11 decisions.42 By early August, he had run his record to 17-3. On August 20, the Oaks planned a “night” to honor Ludolph; that afternoon he beat the Missions 8-6 for his 19th win of season and 100th in his career as an Oak.

There was never a hint of controversy throughout Ludolph’s long career, so he took exception when Lem Taylor, columnist for the Oakland Tribune, criticized how Ludolph’s teammates “passed the hat” to take up a collection at the event. Taylor questioned why fans should be asked to contribute to a player already making $600 a month.43

Ludolph wrote a lengthy letter, which the Tribune printed in full a few days later. He said that he was surprised by his teammates’ actions and further defended the practice, saying that voluntary collections were commonplace for ballplayers. In a rare display of anger, Ludolph added, “your article was the only sour note in an otherwise successful event.” Taylor didn’t back down but did write in a follow-up column, “As for Wee Willie, Uncle Lem considers him a scholar, a gentleman, a damn fine pitcher, and one swell guy.”44

Ludolph won two more games down the stretch, pushing his season record to 21-6 with a 2.70 ERA, which was second in the league behind Seattle’s Lou Koupal. Two other pitchers had more victories, but his .778 winning percentage was tops in the league. Remarkably, he did not have a single wild pitch and hit only one batter.45 As a result, The Sporting News named Ludolph the Most Valuable Player in the PCL for the 1936 season. Ludolph modestly commented, “I pitched no better than last year. I had a better team behind me.”46

Ludolph followed up arguably his best season by announcing his retirement from baseball the following spring. He put a positive spin on the decision, saying, “I am walking out of baseball while I can still fool ’em,”47 Ludolph and his family – wife Kathryn, son William (age 11 in 1937), and two-year old daughter Nancy – were by then living year-round in Oakland. His younger brother Paul ran a successful creamery trucking business in San Francisco, and Willie worked with him during offseasons. However, in the midst of the Depression, Willie was offered a position of superintendent in the business at a salary of $350 a month. Despite an offer of a raise from Oakland management, Ludolph decided that stable year-round employment was better for his long-term security.

However, no more than a month later, Ludolph showed up at an Oaks practice and asked manager Bill Meyer, “How about me taking a little workout with the boys?”48 Still in condition, he proposed a part-time role that would allow him to keep his job at the creamery. Meyer and team owner Vic Devincenzi initially rejected the idea, but they reconsidered after a 14-23 start had the Oaks in seventh place. Desperate for pitching help to turn things around, Oakland agreed to Ludolph’s demand to become a” Sunday only” pitcher; his contract required him to work only Sundays at home at $200 a game. 49 He went 7-4 in 99 innings over 12 games and his 2.45 ERA would have led the league had he pitched the required number of innings.50

Ludolph proposed the same conditions for 1938 – but this time team management rejected the idea. There were rumblings, beginning the previous season, that the special consideration granted Ludolph caused a sore spot with his fellow Oakland pitchers because it upset the regular pitching rotation. In addition, other team owners across the league feared that this practice would set a poor example and that some of their pitchers would demand the same “Sunday only” contract.51

Even Art Cohn, sports editor of the Oakland Tribune, weighed in: “Mr. Ludolph fancies himself as a privileged character, one who should be granted a right no other man in organized baseball has … to pitch on Sundays only. After being in the game 17 years, Ludolph should know that organized baseball is a profession, not a hobby.”52 At the end of March, Oakland gave Ludolph his unconditional release. They did so, instead of placing hm on the suspended list, so that another team could sign him if they agreed to his terms as a Sunday pitcher.

Nothing transpired, so Ludolph retired from baseball after pitching 17 minor league seasons spanning 1921 to 1937. In 3,728 innings over 575 games, he won 241 and lost 176. More than two thirds of his games, innings, and wins came in the highest classification of minor league ball at the time (AA) in the PCL. Career and season strikeout totals are not known but Ludolph allowed just 1.3 and 1.6 walks per nine innings in his 20-win seasons in 1935 and 1936.

Over the next decade he devoted his time to helping his brother build the Paul Ludolph Milk Transportation Company. Their fleet of trucks carried milk from farms to creameries in San Francisco, Marin, and Sonoma counties. Married with young children, Willie was exempt from the draft during World War II. He ran the business alone while Paul served 18 months in France with the US Army, achieving the rank of major.53 His son, Willie, Jr. earned eight battle stars in the South Pacific campaign with the US Navy.54

After retirement, Ludolph enjoyed playing in Old Timers Games in Oakland and even still pitched some semipro ball when time allowed. In 1951, he suffered a heart attack and spent several weeks in the hospital. He suffered a second heart attack and died on April 8, 1952, in Oakland at the age of 52.55 He was survived by wife Kathryn, and three children, Bill, 26, Nancy, 17, and Jim, eight. After funeral services and a high Mass, Ludolph was buried at Holy Sepulcher Cemetery in Hayward, California.

Ludolph received many tributes during his career, upon retirement, and after his passing. When he first retired in the spring of 1937, Art Cohn wrote, “Ludolph is the highest type of competitor … intelligent, fearless, modest. Under fire, there was never a chucker with more of what it takes.”56 After Ludolph’s final retirement, old PCL foe Gerald “Jerry” Donovan fondly recalled him, saying “why, that skinny guy could do more tricks with a baseball than a monkey with three coconuts.”57 Upon Ludolph’s death, his old Oakland owner, Vic Devincenzi, said, “Wee Willie Ludolph was the best Pacific Coast League pitcher to appear in Oaks Park the past 20 years. It will be a long time before another as good comes along.”58

Acknowledgments

The author would like to recognize the contribution of SABR colleague Darren Gibson, who shared his research on Ludolph.

This biography was reviewed by Rory Costello and Rick Zucker and fact-checked by Dan Schoenholz.

Sources

Unless otherwise noted, statistics from Ludolph’s playing career are taken from Baseball-Reference.com and genealogical and family history was obtained from Ancestry.com. The author also used information from clippings in Ludolph’s file at the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Notes

1 “Except for Brief Trial in A. L., ‘Wee Willie’ Has Served Entire Career in Minors,” The Sporting News, October 8, 1936: 8.

2 It is not known how many times Ludolph had offers to return to the major leagues. It is known that in the summer of 1932, Ludolph was on the radar of the Chicago Cubs who were looking for pitching help after releasing Burleigh Grimes. Apparently, Oakland’s asking price of $10,000 was more than the Cubs were willing to pay.

3 Eddie Murphy, “Star Twirler Offered Fine Position,” Oakland Tribune, February 19, 1937: 12.

4 Possibly the tallest player to have the nickname “Wee”, as an adolescent Ludolph had reached nearly his full adult height of 6 – 1 ½ on a gangly 170-pound frame. He also picked up monikers such as “We We”, “Tiny”, “Wee Willie”, and even “Oui”.

5 “Willow Basketers Undisputed Champs,” San Francisco Chronicle, March 31, 1918; 8.

6 “Lowell Loses to Polytechnic High,” San Francisco Examiner, May 16, 1919: 10.

7 “Ludolph Captain of Y.M.I. 145-lb. Five,” San Francisco Examiner, December 20, 1919: 9.

8 William J. Slattery, “Ren Kelly Hangs Up One More Shutout,” San Francisco Examiner, January 19, 1920: 9.

9 “Ludolph, Local Hi Athlete, to Enter Santa Clara ‘O’,” San Francisco Chronicle, January 7, 1920; 9.

10 “Phoenix are Defeated by the Tractors,” Oakland Tribune, March 15, 1920: 6.

11 St. Mary’s High Wins,” Oakland Tribune, April 17, 1920: 8.

12 “Ludolph Quits Local Team for Utah,” Monterey (California) Daily Cypress, June 17, 1920: 1.

13 “Logan Shuts Out Lewiston in Good Game,” The Journal (Logan, Utah), August 9, 1920: 6.

14 “Mission League Series to Start Next Sunday,” San Francisco Chronicle, October 8, 1920; 11.

15 “Pitcher Ludolph Shows Real Class in the Chronicle League,” San Francisco Chronicle, December 6, 1920; 13.

16 “Wee Ludolph and Anfinson Are farmed By Seals,” San Francisco Chronicle, May 6, 1920; 9.

17 “Pitcher Ludolph is Released by Locals,” Des Moines Tribune, July 6, 1921: 12.

18 “Boosters Release Pitcher Ludolph,” Des Moines Register, July 6, 1921: 12.

19 “Wee Ludolph Goes to Detroit,” San Francisco Chronicle, July 27, 1923; 3.

20 The name was misspelled MacReedy in the original source.

21 “Detroit’s Scout Gets 4 Players,’ Sioux Falls (South Dakota) Argus Leader, July 23, 1923: 16.

22 “Good And Ludolph Will Join Tigers,” Detroit Free Press, September 11, 1923: 24.

23 “Just Like Naylor,” Detroit Free Press, March 23, 1924: 8.

24 “Dauss’ Relief Work Big Help to Tigers,” The Sporting News, July 17, 1924: 1.

25 “Detroit Tigers to Use Willie Ludolph,” Bakersfield (California) Morning Echo, December 30, 1924: 6.

26 R.A. Cronin, “Wee Willie Ludolph Stops Cubs,” Daily News (Los Angeles), March 22, 1925: 23.

27 “Vernon Hurlers Have Good Day,” Los Angeles Evening Post Record, November 30, 1925: 4.

28 “William E. Ludolph Marries in Los Angeles,” Sioux Falls (South Dakota) Argus Leader, November 5, 1924: 5

29 “Conclude Exhibition Series,” Los Angeles Evening Post-Record, October 28, 1927: 18.

30 “Diamond Dust,” San Francisco Examiner, May 20, 1928: 98.

31 “Gallagher on Baseball,” Los Angeles Evening Express, May 1, 1928: 16.

32 “Minors Sell Star Players at Toronto Ball Meeting,” Salt Lake City Telegram, December 6, 1928: 4.

33 “Hasty and Glazner Will Pitch Second,” Birmingham (Alabama) News, September 26, 1929: 20.

34 “Dallas Evens Series by Pounding Ludolph,” Birmingham (Alabama) News, September 30, 1929: 10.

35 “Great Base Running Brings Victory, 7 to 5,” Birmingham (Alabama) News, October 3, 1929: 22

36 “Barons Trade Dick Ludolph to Oakland for Hurler Edwards,” Birmingham (Alabama) News, February 7, 1931: 7.

37 “Ludolph Hurls No-hit, No-Run Game to Break Oaks’ Bad Luck”, Fresno (California) Morning Republican, June 7, 1931: 22.

38 “Ludolph and Ward Share Pitching Laurels on Coast,” The Sporting News, November 9, 1933: 8. Criteria for qualification for the ERA title in the PCL is not known. Hal Turpin of Portland had a lower ERA but pitched only 104 innings. Ludolph was recognized as the ERA leader per the following, “In reality, he [Ludolph] led on the earned runs basis although Hal Turpin, in but ten games for Portland, topped that column…” (Sacramento Bee, November 1, 1933: 15.)

39 “Ludolph Confident,” Oakland Tribune, March 2, 1935: 8.

40 Alan Gould, “Sport Slants,” Evening Vanguard (Venice, California), August 23, 1932: 6.

41 “Ludolph All Set,” Oakland Tribune, March 25, 1936: 14.

42 “Thomas Holds Coast Slab Lead with No Defeats,” Sacramento (California) Bee, June 11, 1936: 28.

43 Lem Taylor, “Rough Stuff,” Oakland Tribune, August 23, 1936: 12.

44 Lem Taylor, “Rough Stuff,” Oakland Tribune, August 29, 1936: 12.

45 “Ludolph Premier Hurler,” Oakland Tribune, February 14, 1937: 8

46 “Ludolph Reached Heights After 17 Seasons,” The Sporting News, October 8, 1936: 8.

47 Art Cohn, “Willie Ludolph Quits Baseball,” Oakland Tribune, March 9, 1937: 25.

48 “Ludolph Can’t Resist Appeal,” Oakland Tribune, April 5, 1937: 12.

49 “Wee Willie Ludolph, Ex-Oak Great, Dies,” Oakland Tribune, April 8, 1952: 32.

50 “Ludolph Most Effective Coast Hurler,” Los Angeles Times, November 28, 1937: 36.

51 “Sunday Pitcher Ban,” Oakland Tribune, November 1, 1937: 7.

52 Art Cohn, “Cohn-ing Tower, Oakland Tribune, January 27, 1938: 22.

53 “Camp Meeker,” Santa Rosa (California) Press Democrat, December 22, 1944: 13.

54 “Billy Ludolph Returns Home,” The Southwest Wave (Los Angeles),September 23, 1945: 8.

55 “Wee Willie Ludolph, Ex-Oak Great, Dies,” Oakland Tribune, April 8, 1952: 32.

56 Art Cohn, “Willie Ludolph Quits Baseball.

57 Alan Ward, “On Second Thought,” Oakland Tribune, March 8, 1948: 22.

58 Alan Ward, “On Second Thought,” Oakland Tribune, April 9, 1952: 38.