Herbert T. "Hub" McGavock

According to Baseball-Reference.com, Herbert T. "Hub" McGavock played for the Indianapolis Jewell's ABCs in 1919, for the 1920 Nashville Giants, and finally for the 1921 Montgomery Grey Sox.

Several years before that he played for the Black Sox of the Capital City League in Nashville, Tennessee.

I haven't done much research, but it appears the Capital City League was formed around 1913 and carried the name through at least 1919.

The first I find of Herbert McGavock in the newspapers is as a player for the Black Sox.

Nashville Globe - May 23, 1913

He shows up again about four years later, still playing for the Black Sox.

Nashville Globe - June 8, 1917

Huzzah, the Globe has included a photo of Hub.

Nashville Globe - June 8, 1917

It seems that not soon after that Uncle Sam came calling and Herbert T. McGavock registered for the Draft.

Registration State: Tennessee; Registration County: Davidson; Roll: 1877599; Draft Board: 1
Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line].
Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.

Original data: United States, Selective Service System. World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. M1509, 4,582 rolls.
Imaged from Family History Library microfilm.

He was assigned to Camp Greene in North Carolina to be a butcher.

Ancestry.com. U.S., Lists of Men Ordered to Report to Local Board for Military Duty, 1917–1918, Select States [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.

Original data: War Department, Office of the Provost Marshal General, Selective Service System, 1917– 07/15/1919.
Lists of Men Ordered to Report to Local Board for Military Service, 1917–1918. ARC ID: 578684. Textual records. Records of the Selective Service System (World War I), Record Group 163.
National Archives at Atlanta. Atlanta, Georgia. U.S.A.

After his stint in the Army he went back to baseball.  The following (from GenealogyBank.com) shows him in the outfield with Turkey Stearnes.

New Orleans Item - May 21, 1921

I lost his trail until he passed away in 1954.

Ancestry.com. U.S. National Cemetery Interment Control Forms, 1928-1962 [database on-line].
Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.
Interment Control Forms, 1928–1962. Interment Control Forms, A1 2110-B. Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, 1774–1985, Record Group 92. The National Archives at College Park, College Park, Maryland.

image from Kathleen Fleury Bilbrey
from FindAGrave.com
used with permission

As usual, I'm sure that there is more research to be done on Herbert T. "Hub" McGavock, both about his personal life and his baseball exploits.

More information on the Capital City League of Nashville can be found in the Nashville Globe from the Library of Congress' Chronicling America site.

Pitchers and Catchers Report

Pitchers and Catchers Report.  After a long, cold winter, these are the words that baseball fans like to hear.

Last evening on Twitter @SABR retweeted @mighty_flynn's tweet on an early use of the term "pitchers and catcher(s) report".

Baseball in old newspapers. That caught my eye.  The link led to a clipping from Newspapers.com which I've copied below.

The Indianapolis News - March 18, 1907

@mighty_flynn is T.S. Flynn, Social Media Director for the Halsey Hall Chapter of SABR, one of the more active chapters.  T.S. did a nice job qualifying his tweet.  It was earliest instance of the phrase that he had found.  Not the definitive "it is the earliest instance".

He used one set of tools, I thought I should use a another set and see if I could get a different result.  I turned to GenealogyBank.com and found the following from a few years earlier.

Plain Dealer - February 22, 1905

There might even be an earlier mention of the phrase.  I didn't find one over at Chronicling America.

Now to be very clear: this is not about one upping another researcher.  This is not about being first or better.  This is about adding to the collective knowledge of baseball.

Is this important?  Sure, on some level.  But what I got out of this is a new (to me) baseball researcher that I can learn from and perhaps call on in the future.  Thanks, T.S.

Happy Groundhog Day

In honor of Groundhog Day, let's see some articles about Shadow Ball.

I found my first reference to Shadow Ball in an article about the tour of Japan in late 1913.

Evening Post (Charleston, SC) - December 31, 1913

The practice carried on for several decades.

Omaha World Herald - September 15, 1945

It wasn't just confined to baseball, but softball got in the act.

Omaha World Herald - July 28, 1952

And not just pantomiming having a ball, but some were led to believe that special glowing equipment would be used.

Morning Olympian (Washington) - July 29, 1940

Not so, as it turns out.

Morning Olympian (Washington) - July 31, 1940