Friday, January 7, 2022

That Time John Dodge Died in Mobile

Recently one of my Google Alerts coughed up an interesting article. The piece was a brief notice about the unmarked grave of John Lewis Dodge [1893-1916], who has an unfortunate connection with Mobile. Because he was a professional baseball player in 1912 and 1913, the Society for American Baseball Research had paid for a marker at the plot in Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville, Kentucky, which was installed early in December 2021. 

Some sources say Dodge was born in Tennessee in 1889, but the 1900 U.S. Census has him as seven years old and living with his family in Bolivar, Mississippi. His father, born in Louisville, was a physician who moved to Bolivar to set up his practice and met his mother Fannie. The census also lists a two year-old sister, Mary. 

Fannie developed tuberculosis, and despite the family's move to Arizona she died in 1902. John's father died two years later, back in Mississippi, apparently from an overdose of chloroform he was using to self-medicate his headaches. What happened to John Jr. and Mary in the following few years is unknown, but by 1909 John was playing professional baseball in a minor league in Arkansas. 

Over the next four seasons with various teams he batted well and played even better on defense at third and second bases and shortstop. Late in the 1912 season he was called up by the Philadelphia Phillies and made his major league debut on August 29. Even though he played in only 30 games, he managed to demonstrate his defensive skills in a number of  plays noted by newspaper accounts.

Dodge was traded to the Cincinnati Reds on June 3, 1913, three games into the season and played his final game for them on October 5. His offense improved in the 94 games, but his defensive skills deteriorated--he made 27 errors at third base. During his major league career Dodge had a .215 batting average, made 90 hits, had four homers and 48 runs batted in, and scored 38 runs. 

New management of the Reds sold Dodge's contract to a Louisville Class AA team, at the time the highest level of minor league play. Perhaps the Reds wanted a more consistent player. His defense and hitting improved, but apparently not enough; he was traded down to the Nashville Class A team on July 27 of the 1914 season.

Among Dodge's teammates was pitcher Tom Rogers; the two would have a fateful reunion of sorts in 1916. In the 1915 season Dodge started off hitting well, but soon tapered off as pitchers figured him out. He was released by the Nashville team and then played winter ball in New Orleans.

For the 1916 season Dodge signed with the Mobile Sea Gulls, where he probably felt he had a final chance to move back upward toward the majors. He was hitting well after 39 games, but then came a home contest against his former team, the Nashville Volunteers, on June 18. 

In the seventh inning Dodge was hit with a fastball above his left eye. The Nashville pitcher was his friend and former teammate, Tom Rogers. At first the injury was not considered serious, but as a precaution Dodge was carried off the field and taken to the Inge-Bondurant Sanitarium, a private Mobile hospital. His condition worsened overnight and by the next morning Dodge was comatose. He died early that evening of internal hemorrhaging in the brain. 

His only survivors were his sister Mary Elizabeth and a grandmother in Memphis. On August 15 Mobile and the Chattanooga Lookouts played an exhibition game that raised $1500 for Mary. The sister later married, had two daughters and died in Connecticut in 1975. 

Dodge has been described as the first professional baseball player killed by a game pitch. In 1920 a shortstop for the Cleveland Indians, Ray Chapman became the first major league player to die in this way. These two men are certainly the best documented cases, although there may have been others in the early days of the game.  

I am indebted to the article on Dodge written by Chris Betsch at the Society for American Baseball Research site and the entry on Dodge at BaseballReference.com You can find much more information there. 

A general history that covers 1877-1973 is Robert Obojski's 1975 book, Bush League: A History of Minor League Baseball. 




Dodge playing for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1913

Source: Wikipedia






Dodge's new marker in Cave Hill Cemetery, Louisville, KY

Source: WDRB.com 




The private Mobile hospital where Dodge was taken after his injury. 











Tuesday, January 4, 2022

Alabama History & Culture News: January 4 edition

 


Here's the latest batch of links to just-published Alabama history and culture articles. Most of these items are from newspapers, with others from magazines and TV and radio station websites. Some articles may be behind a paywall. Enjoy!



Jerry Summers: WIlliam B. King - Bama's Vice President - Chattanoogan.com
The social and political history of the great State of Alabama has been filled with many unique individuals. The thirteenth Vice President of the ...

'African Town' traces the history of the last slave ship sent to the US - NPR
EYDER PERALTA, HOST: The Clotilda sleeps under the muddy waters of the Mobil River in Alabama. It was found there in 2018, and researchers said last ...

From Broadway to blues to big bands, Birmingham's musical talent shaped the sounds of a nation
Alabama NewsCenter is closing out Birmingham's 150th birthday with a sonic bang, delving deep into the musical history of the Magic City.


Metro Roundup: Shoal Creek added to Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage - Hoover Sun
The 2014 PGA Champions Tour Regions Tradition golf tournament took place at the Shoal Creek golf course. The Alabama Historical Commission added 15 ...


Greenville named among Alabama's best downtowns
These historic buildings have found new life while still preserving their history. For example, the historic train depot built in 1910 now houses the ..


Ancient Alabama journeys through 500 million years of the state's history - al.com
In this series, Ancient Alabama, we've covered 500 million years or so of Alabama's history. That length of time calls for a new definition to the ...


90 years on: Remembering the Scottsboro Boys - Alabama Political Reporter
Alabama laid the groundwork for later Supreme Court decisions that provide ... “We need to step back and stop seeing it as something historical,


Birmingham boasts an extraordinary musical legacy over 150 years - Alabama NewsCenter
Birmingham's rich music history includes such greats as, clockwise from upper left, Dennis Edwards, Erskine Hawkins, Hank Ballard, Lionel Hampton, ...


Several locations in the Wiregrass were added to the Alabama Register of ... Saint Paul A.M.E Church and Cemetery, Brundidge, Pike County.


OBITUARY E.O. Wilson, naturalist dubbed a modern-day Darwin, dies at 92 | Reuters
He even ventured into fiction - although he stuck to a topic he knew a lot about - in 2010 with "Anthill," a coming-of-age novel about an Alabama ...

Leading American naturalist EO Wilson, dubbed 'Darwin's heir', dies at 92 - BBC News
Born in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1929, EO Wilson said he developed an interest in ... His 1978 book On Human Nature, which won a Pulitzer Prize, ...


Alabama paleontologist helps discover new 40 million-year-old shark species - al.com
He is working on a book about the state's fossil shark teeth showing why Alabama is one of the best places in the world to study ancient sharks, ...


DNA found preserved on sunken slave ship could help descendants track ancestors - The Telegraph
A sonar image created released by the Alabama Historical Commission shows the remains of the Clotilda, the last known US ship involved in the ...

Auburn Project Would Highlight History of Black Community - USNews.com
... in Auburn would highlight the history of the city's Black community, the Opelika-Auburn News reported. ... Tags: Alabama, Associated Press.


Brundidge Council recognizes St. Paul AME, Rodgers family - The Troy Messenger
Boyd said the Alabama Register recognizes Alabama's historic places and encourages their continued preservation. “Listing in the state register is ...

Chattanooga pastors travel through Alabama to learn history, bridge racial divides ...
Chattanooga pastors and faith leaders traveled through Alabama earlier this month on a trip to visit civil rights landmarks and continue efforts ...


Saturday, January 1, 2022

What's Coming to the Blog in 2022?

For several years now I've been writing these "What's Coming" posts. You can read the 2021 post here and earlier ones here. I include a wish list of topics I hope to cover, and look at past lists to see which ones I managed to write and which I didn't. There's more wishing than achievement in these lists, but here we are for 2022. 

One of the topics mentioned last year that I'd like to finally do involves the natives or people with state connections who have stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. I've actually started this one; naturally, the list turned out to be pretty long. I'll probably have to split it into a couple of posts. And naturally I could follow that piece with ones on people from the state who have won Oscars, Emmys and Tony awards. Dream on.

I hope to complete four other posts in 2022 that I've been pondering for some time. Two of the most important figures in the history of LSD, Humphry Osmond and Timothy Leary, have Alabama connections--one early in his life and the other near the end of it. Henry Walthall was a major silent film star in the U.S., and his career extended into the talkie era until his death in 1936. He was a Shelby County native. Huntsville native Harry Townes became a very busy actor in Hollywood for several decades, especially on television. In 1974 he became an ordained Episcopal minister and returned to the Rocket City after retirement from acting in 1988. Speaking of Townes, I'd also like to do a post on the various state natives who appeared on the classic Perry Mason tv show. Townes acted in several episodes, as did R.G. ArmstrongLouise Fletcher and Cathy O'Donnell also turned up on the show. One day I'll also have to write a piece on all the Alabama connections on the Gunsmoke series. 

I did manage to complete two posts from last year's list. Back in the summer of 2016 I did five posts on "Beulah Vee's Cedar Chest." My dad's older sister died in 1939 just a few months after high school graduation; naturally I never met her. My grandmother Rosa Mae Wright kept a large cedar chest filled with her daughter's memorabilia. Most of those contents were donated to the Alabama Department of Archives and History in Montgomery; they form a sort of time capsule of one person's life in Gadsden, Alabama, in the 1920's and 1930's. I wrote a piece to describe that donation process and bring the story to a close.

Another topic I wanted to cover was Truman Capote and Marilyn Monroe. I had already done a pretty bogus post connecting MM and Alabama, but the one I wrote this past year was a bit stronger. You can read it here

In 2022 I'm sure I'll do new entries in ongoing series, such as films with Alabama connections, the usual crop of posts on "let's connect [fill in the blank] to Alabama!" and the usual stuff I haven't even thought of yet.

In closing, here are the number of posts I've written each year:

2021-90
2020-108
2019-110
2018-74
2017-80
2016-99
2015-91
2014-95

A total of 747 posts so far....sheesh....makes me tired just thinking about that...



Osmond coined the word "psychedelic"




Leary entered the University of Alabama in 1941 and stayed two years before being expelled. 



The ceremony for Bankhead's star was February 8, 1960

 


Walthall in 1918




Townes in the "OBIT" episode of The Outer Limits first broadcast on November 4, 1963 




Raymond Burr as Perry Mason and R.G. Armstrong as his client in the episode "The Case of the Petulant Partner" first broadcast on April 25, 1959





Louise Fletcher and Raymond Burr in "The Case of the Larcenous Lady" first broadcast on December 17, 1960




Cathy O'Donnell being cross-examined in "The Case of the Fickle Fortune" first broadcast on January 21, 1961




Mason's secretary Della Street [Barbara Hale] pretends a come-on to Townes in "The Case of the Lazy Lover" first broadcast May 31, 1958




Thursday, December 23, 2021

Some Pelham Christmas Ornaments

In the late 1990's and early 2000's when the kids were in secondary school, Dianne, Amos, Becca & I attended several Christmas tree lightings held at the Pelham Civic Complex. These events typically had performances by middle school and high school choirs [in which both children sang], performances of students at the ice skating school, an appearance by Santa driving the Zamboni out on the ice, and the lighting of a large Christmas tree.

Audience members who arrived early enough were given an ornament commemorating the event. I'm not sure when this tradition started, but the earliest one we have is from 1998 and the latest is 2003. Maybe we didn't attend the 2002 one; after 2003 our youngest Becca was no longer in high school, and we haven't returned in subsequent years. 

The event continued in 2021, although changes have been made. For the first time, a parade on U.S. 31 was held. You can see the 2021 tournament below. 

I wonder if anyone has a complete collection. And do other cities create these sorts of trinkets?

















Source: PelhamStrong Facebook page


Wednesday, December 22, 2021

Alabama History & Culture News: December 22, 2021 edition

 



Here's the latest batch of links to just-published Alabama history and culture articles. Most of these items are from newspapers, with others from magazines and TV and radio station websites. Some articles may be behind a paywall. Enjoy!


National Geographic: Clotilda slave ship more intact than thought, scans show - al.com
... ruins of the slave ship Clotilda was produced by continual sidescan sonar in March 2020 and released by the Alabama Historical Commission.



Alabama Historical Commission recognizes historic districts in Brundidge - The Troy ...
Specified areas of the City of Brundidge have been designated by the Alabama Historical Commission as historic districts.


The first Alabamians arrived 13,000 years ago, long before Moundville - al.com
Moundville is Alabama's best known ancient Native American site, ... There's a much older human history in Alabama, if you know where to look.


Opinion | Happy 125th birthday to the University of Montevallo - Alabama Political Reporter
Its rich history, cobblestone streets and beautiful, historic campus date back to 1896 when it was known as the Alabama Girls' Industrial School.


Saturday afternoon, Trussville city leaders, community members and local veterans held a groundbreaking ceremony for the future site of the ...

What's in a name? How Birmingham became Birmingham - Alabama NewsCenter
His eventual successor as president of the Elyton Land Company, Henry M. Caldwell, later wrote a history of the company that included an extensive ...

Gulf Shores seeks grant to highlight Native American history - Orange Beach News
Gulf Shores is taking aim at a $50000 historical grant to help ... by Dr. Greg Waselkov of South Alabama who is leading a study about the canal.



Why Alabama's 1st State House was a trapezoid and other findings in Old Cahawba - al.com
Historical archaeologist Linda Derry shows a simulated image of the First Alabama State House in Cahawba by Jeremiah Stager of the Office of ...


New book recounts the colorful 200-year history of Pike County - The Troy Messenger
For almost as long as Bullard can remember, she has had a strong interest in history, especially Alabama history, and, specifically, Pike County's ...

How a once visible Alabama Confederate statue is now displayed 'among hundreds' of objects
The complex interpretations of Semmes' legacy are on display within the timeline exhibit at the History Museum of Mobile, a venue that is located ...

Alabama high school student Jaycie Mandrell releases book
Alabama high school student Jaycie Mandrell releases book. By Joyanna Love The Clanton Advertiser. December 16, 2021. Alabama high school student ...


Anniston's New Haven celebrates 75 years of being a 'light' | The Alabama Baptist
... by playing “Amazing Grace” on the bagpipes. Sonja Adams of the Alabama Baptist Historical Commission presented the church with a plaque.

Historical marker placed at site of first seat of justice - The Troy Messenger
Alabama became a state on Dec. 14, 1819. On Dec. 17, 1921, Pike County was named after Gen. Zebulon Montgomery Pike, who actually never came here.

"Discoveries at the Site of Alabama's First State House" presented by Linda Derry - YouTube
Alabama Department of Archives & History ... will discuss the findings of archaeological work at Old Cahawba, Alabama's first state capital.

The Margaret, a new bar in Alabama, will be 'an excellent hang,' owner Pam Stallings says - al.com
The Nick, after all, is one of the most famous dive bars in Alabama, with a faithful clientele and a long history as a concert venue.

The new memorial now stands on a hill overlooking the Alabama girls home linked to eight children who died in a van crash that killed 10 people ...

Rozelle publishes first novel - The Clanton Advertiser
By JOYANNA LOVE/ Managing Editor. Lee Rozelle of Thorsby has released his first novel, “Ballad of Jasmine Wills.” The book has been published by ...


Alabama food blogger and author Kate Wood releasing new cookbook, 'Her Daily Bread ...
Kate Wood has revealed her highly anticipated new cookbook and devotional, “Her Daily Bread,” which consists of a year's worth of daily readings ...


Memorial dedicated at Alabama girls home to 8 crash victims - The San Diego Union-Tribune
A new memorial now stands on a hill overlooking the Alabama girls home linked to eight children who died in a van crash that killed 10 people ...

Alabamians who dealt with historic disasters reflect on recent Kentucky tornado - CBS 42
Wendy Suell of Hill's Carpet & Floor Coverings said memories of the tornado that tore through Central Alabama and destroyed her business on April 27, ...