Field of Dreams

[Tobywan]

Gary Woods


Gary Lee Woods was born on July 20, 1953 in Santa Barbara, California. He attended Santa Barbara City College and signed as a non-drafted free agent with the Oakland A's on May 12, 1973. He made his MLB debut on September 14, 1976 for the Athletics. He got his first hit in his only at bat of the game off of Dave Goltz . He played in just 6 games during his first stint. He was selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in their 1976 expansion draft and was in the starting line up for their first Opening Day game.

He was with the Houston Astros for their 1980-1981 post season. In December '81 he was traded to the Chicago Cubs for Jim Tracy, when Ty Waller struggled he became the starting center fielder. In 1982, though he was batting .350 they sat him in favor of Keith Moreland and Steve Henderson he played in 117 games the most in his career and he made no errors. He had limited time with them the next few seasons, he did play in one game of the 1984 NLCS. He spent 1986 in the minors for the Padres and retired the following year.


His last MLB appearance was September 27, 1985 for the Cubs. He played nine seasons for four clubs with a .243 BA, 13 homers and 110 RBI.

He is in the San Marcos High School Hall of Fame, and was also inducted into the Santa Barbara Athletic Roundtable Hall of Fame in 1994.

When his playing days were over he went back to school earning an MBA at Pepperdine University. He spent 15 years as an executive with GTE Mobilnet and Maps.com. He coached at the youth level and has spent many summers coaching for the Santa Barbara Foresters, one of the top teams in the California Collegiate League. He returned to baseball in 2006 as a scout for the Chicago White Sox in the Southern California area, he had a very close friendship with manager Robin Ventura.

He had married his high school sweetheart Susan Gordon, but the marriage ended in divorce. He passed away of a sudden heart attack on February 19, 2015 at his home in Solvang, CA, he was 61. He had scouted games at UCLA and Pepperdine as recently as the previous weekend. He is survived by his mother
Esther, brother Clancy, his children with Susan, sons Ryan and Randy, daughter Katy and three grandchildren. He was cremated.

[Tobywan]

Jim King



James Hubert King was born on August 27, 1932 in Elkins, Arkansas. He signed at 17 with the Vernon Dusters of the Independent Longhorn League in 1950 as an outfielder. His contract was sold to the St. Louis Cardinals where he played 4 seasons in their minor leagues. He was picked up in the Rule 5 draft by the Chicago Cubs in 1954 and made his MLB debut on April 17, 1955 with the Cubs.

After a couple trades he played the 1960 season in the Cleveland Indians organization with the Toronto Maple Leafs (one of his teammates was Sparky Anderson) where he earned the International League MVP. After the season the was taken by the Washington Senators in the 1960 expansion draft. He was finally a full time player for six seasons he hit double figures in home runs, recording his best year in 1963, with a career high 106 hits, 24 HR and 62 RBI. He hit for the cycle in a Senators' uniform, against the Boston Red Sox on May 26, 1964. He was the longest tenured player for the expansion Senators.

He play his final game on September 24, 1967 for the Indians. He played 11 seasons with six teams finishing with a career .240 BA with 699 hits, 117 HR, 401 RBI in 2,918 at-bats. Woods batted .348 (16-for-46) lifetime against Hall of Fame left-hander Steve Carlton.

After his retirement from the game he worked for the White River Telephone and Alltel Telephone Companies retiring after 24 years.

He passed away on February 23, 2015 at the White River Medical Center in Fayetteville, AR , he was 82. He was preceded in death by his parents, 5 brothers and 2 sisters. He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Rose, a daughter Sheree, one son, David, 2 grandchildren and a great-grandson. He is buried at Mt. Olive Cemetery in Elkins.

[Tobywan]

Alex Johnson


Alexander Johnson was born on December 7, 1942 in Helena, Arkansas, but grew up in Detroit Michigan. He was a teammate of Willie Horton at Northwestern High School. He also played football and received a scholarship offer to attend Michigan State University to play sandlot ball. He signed with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1961 as an amateur free agent. He tore it up in the minors and made the Phils opening day roster in 1964 on the bench, but was sent back to Triple-A without making an appearance. He was soon called back and made his ML debut on July 25, 1964 with the Phillies. He went three-for-four with a walk, two RBIs and a run scored.

In October 1965 he was traded along with Pat Corrales and Art Mahaffey to the St. Louis Cardinals for Bill White, Dick Groat and Bob Uecker. He became their left -fielder after shifting Lou Brock to right, with Curt Flood in center the trio was touted to be one of the best outfields in the National League. However, Johnson struggled at the plate and was sent down.

He returned for the 1967 season becoming a back-up for Roger Maris in right, he was a member of the 1967 St. Louis Cardinals World Series championship season but did not play in the post season.

Just before spring in 1968 he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds and finished in the top ten in batting for the National League during the 1968 and '69 seasons,
receiving the NL Comeback Player of the Year Award in 1968. He was a discipline problem with his first two teams, but he shined with the Reds, when his glove started to fail him though he was traded to the California Angels.

He won the American League batting championship in 1970 just barely (.0003) over Carl Yastrzemski, there was a bit of controversy due to his removal after the third at-bat in the final game to ensure the title. He finished with a .329 batting average, he was also an All-Star, the AL singles leader and had 202 hit season that year (the franchise record until Darin Erstad hit 240 in 2000). Johnson remains the only Angel to have won a battling title.

He began showing the same problems as his previous clubs and was fined and benched several times for what manager Lefty Phillips for loafing and lack of hustle. Mid-way through 1971 he lost his starting job, he claimed the issues with management and teammates was racially motivated. He claimed that teammate
and close friend Chico Ruiz (godfather of Johnson's adopted daughter) pointed a gun at him in the clubhouse after a loss to the Washington Senators on June 13th. Ruiz staunchly denied the incident. Alex had been benched five times and fined 29 times before Angels GM Dick Walsh suspended him indefinitely without pay. Johnson filed a grievance through the Player's Association, but his complaints feel on deaf ears when he defended his actions instead of denying that he was a problem. Later, he made a claim of being "emotionally disabled" as a defense. After the 30 day suspension (longest a team could issue at the time) Commissioner Bowie Kuhn placed Johnson on the restricted list to keep him from playing. Eventually, there were some discrepancies about the truth of the gun incident with Ruiz and after Arbitrator Lewis Gill heard from two psychiatrists he found in favor of Johnson. He determined that Johnson should have been placed on the disabled list citing an emotional disturbance was equal to a physical ailment. He was awarded $29,970 in back pay ( players on the Dl still receive full pay), but he was not reimbursed the $3,750 in fines he paid to the team. The end result was Manager Lefty Phillips and GM Dick Walsh fired, Chico Ruiz released and Johnson traded to the Cleveland Indians.

When Chico Ruiz was killed in a car accident in February 1972 (Alex went to the funeral) he became distraught, though he started the season well he slumped through the end of May. He was rebounding when news hit that Lefty Phillips (who was rehired by the Angels as a scout) died of an asthma attack in mid-June. He bottomed out at .219 but came back strong in August and September.

He was traded to the Texas Rangers in spring of 1973, manager Whitey Herzog made it clear he would release Johnson at the first sign of a problem. With the new DH rule, he provided a strong offense for the team. His 179 hits were a Senators/Rangers franchise record until 1979. When Billy Martin first took over the Rangers they got along, but by the end of the season Martin also got fed up with him and he was sent to the Yankees. He didn't thrive as a Yank in 1974 and in 1975 he was limited by injury. When Billy Martin came to the team he was released in early September.

He finished his ML career with the Detroit Tigers and made his last appearance on October 1, 1976, he was 33 years old. He spent 13 seasons with 8 teams, he finished with a .288 BA with 1,331 hits, 78 home runs and 525 RBI.

He played with the Mexican League's Diablos Rojos del México for one season before retiring. While Alex was playing baseball his brother Ron Johnson was an NFL running back from 1969-76, mostly the NY Giants.


After baseball he took over the "Johnson Trucking Service" after the death of his father in 1985.


He passed away on February 28, 2015 in Detroit, Michigan after a battle with prostate cancer, he was 72. He is survived by his brother Ron, sister Jean, his children with former wife Julia; a daughter Jenifer and son Alex Jr, five grandchildren and four great grandchildren. He is buried at Mount Hope Memorial Gardens in Livonia, MI.

[Tobywan]

Jeff McKnight


Jefferson Alan McKnight was born on February 18, 1963 in Conway, Arkansas. His father, Jim McKnight played briefly for the Chicago Cubs but spent 18 seasons in the minor leagues. Jeff started as an infielder, but the only position he never played was center fielder and pitcher, though he pitched occasionally in the minors.

He was was selected in the second round (secondary phase) of the January 1983 amateur draft by the New York Mets, making his debut for them on June 6, 1989. He was released after the season and signed with the Baltimore Orioles, he collected his first home run on September 12, 1990, a game-tying shot off Jack Morris of the Detroit Tigers. After two seasons there he went back to the Mets.

His father died in a car accident in February 1994, he was just 57. His final game was on August 11, 1994 with the Mets, he was 31.
In parts of six seasons with two teams, he batted .254 with 12 homers and 68 RBI in 218 games. He played 13 seasons in the minors. He also played two seasons in the independent leagues.

Jeff passed away on March 1, 2015 after a 10 year battle with Leukemia in Bee Branch, AR, he was 54. Just three weeks prior to his death, his older brother Jim Jr. died at age 58. He is survived by his mother Joy, brother Jack, three sisters JoAnne, Jill and Jackie, and his children by former wife Sarah, sons Matthew and Samuel.

[Tobywan]

Steve Shea



Steven Francis Shea was born on December 5, 1942 in Worcester, Massachusetts but grew up in Bedford. He signed with the Chicago Cubs as an amateur free agent in 1961 as a RHP. He was released in 1964, missed the 1965 season and signed with the Houston Astros.

He made his ML debut on July 14, 1968 for Houston.

He was purchased by the expansion Montreal Expos the night before their inaugural opening day in 1969 as a member of the 25-man roster and made his last appearance for them on May 31, 1969, he was just 26.

In 2 seasons he went 4-4 with a 3.22 ERA, and 26 Ks in 50.1 IP, all as a reliever. Shea played winter ball for the Leones del Caracas club of the Venezuelan League in the 1969–1970 season. He spent a total of nine years in the minor leagues. ending his career in 1971.

Prior to baseball he got a degree from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, but went back for an MBA from Boston College and becoming a bank executive. He retired as president and chief executive officer of Rockingham Bank Corp in 1997. In 1998 he created the Central Asia-American Education Foundation, serving as as president and board member for the rest of his life. The foundation uses funds to provide education in business and economics, travel expenses and housing here in the US for students from Central Asia.


He passed away on March 4, 2015 at his home in North Hampton, New Hampshire, he was 72. He is survived by his wife (50 years) Connie, daughters Colleen and Carrie and four grandchildren. He was cremated.



Steve and Connie.

[Tobywan]

John R. Keennan



John Robert Keennan was born on May 10, 1940 in Great Bend, Kansas. He was hired as a part-time scout in 1962 by the Los Angeles Dodgers scouting director Al Campani being promoted to full-time the following year. He became the Dodgers Midwest scouting supervisor and national cross-checker in 1986.

Among some of his more noteworthy finds were future Hall of Fame pitcher Don Sutton and infielders Davey Lopes, Bill Russell and Mickey Hatcher, all were members of Dodgers World Series championship teams. He also signed NL Rookie of the Year Rick Sutcliffe who also won the NL Cy Young with the Cubs.


He is a member of the Professional Baseball Scouts Association the Kansas Baseball Hall of Fame (1988) and the Greater Midwest Professional Baseball Scouts Association Hall of Fame (1998). He retired in 1998.

He passed away on March 5, 2015 at the Autumn Hills Retirement Home in Riley, Kansas, at the age of 74. He is survived by his wife of 48 years Ersa Koelsch, a son Mike and one brother Michael. He is buried at Lakin-Comanche District Cemetery, Ellinwood, Kansas.

[Tobywan]

Bob Anderson


Robert Carl Anderson was born on September 29, 1935 in East Chicago, Indiana. He was signed by the Chicago Cubs as an amateur free agent on July 29, 1954. During his 4th season in the minors he made his ML debut on July 31, 1957 with the Cubbies.

Anderson was part of one of the most unusual plays in ML history that also involved Stan Musial where 2 balls got into play. On June 30, 1959 at Wrigley Field, Cubs takin gon the Cardinals. Musial was at the plate with a 3-1 count. Catcher Sammy Taylor and Anderson believed his next pitch was foul tipped by Musial sending it to the back stop,home plate ump Vic Delmore called ball four. While the trio were arguing Musial broke for second, because the ball was still in play third baseman Alvin Dark went to get it but it ended up in the hands of the field announcer, Dark got it. In the meantime, the umpire handed a new ball to the catcher, Anderson finally noticed Musial grabbed the new ball and threw it to second baseman Tony Taylor which sailed over his head. Musial darted for third, Taylor after retrieving the original ball threw it to to SS Ernie Banks who tagged Musial on the run. Everyone put their heads together, shouted and after a long delay, Musial was ruled out. In true Cubs fashion it didn't make a difference in the outcome, they lost to the Cards 4-1.


He pitched just one complete game shut out in August 24, 1959 against the Milwaukee Braves. He pitched 235.1 innings in 1959 and 203.2 in 1960. He spent six seasons in Chicago before being traded to the Detroit Tigers in November 1962, after the 1963 season he was traded to the Kansas City Royals, spent 2 seasons in their minor leagues before his career ended due to injury.

His last MLB appearance was September 25, 1963 for the Detroit Tigers, he was 27. He pitched seven seasons for 2 teams going 36-46 with a 4.26 ERA with 502 Ks in 840.2 IP.

He became a salesman for Inland Steel Co leading to a transfer to Tulsa. after baseball, he also served in the National Guard. He lived with pain for many years until he finally had a thorough physical and found the torn rotator cuff.

He was diagnosed with liver cancer just after Christmas 2014 and it quickly spread to his hip and ribs, he didn't undergo extensive treatment, it was expected to extend his life very long. He passed away on March 12, 2015 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, he was 79. He is survived by his wife of 31 years Sherry and their children David, Matt and Mary, three step children, Kammy, Kerry and Kelsey and 13 grandchildren.

His wife reported that he had just finished a memoir of his life.

[Tobywan]

Al Rosen

Albert Leonard Rosen was born on February 29, 1924 in Spartanburg, South Carolina. His grandfather was from Poland, his parent divorced when he was young. His mother and grandmother took him and brother Jerry to Miami, Florida when he was a toddler. He suffered from asthma as a child, his mother got him to be outside more with sports to make him stronger. During his high school years he played baseball, football, basketball and boxing. He took up boxing to scare off bullies who taunted him because he was Jewish. He also participated in a lot of sports when he attended the Florida Military Academy in St. Petersburg, Florida. In 1941 he tried out for the Wilkes-Barre Barons but didn't make it. He was signed as an amateur free agent with the Cleveland Indians in 1942 as an infielder. He played with the Thomasville Tommies of the North Carolina State League (he made $75 a month) while finishing his education at the University of Miami where he continued football and boxing.

He then missed the 1943-1945 seasons while serving in the Navy during WW II. He navigated an assault boat in the first landing during the battle of Okinawa. He had earned the rank of lieutenant. He returned to the minors for the Pittsfield Electrics in 1946 playing all over the infield and wasn't happy. When Indians farm director Buzz Wetzel came to their field he said if anyone didn't want to play for the team they can be released and Rosen agreed. Scout Laddie Placek hunted Rosen down and convinced him to come back. He did, then led the Canadian-American League in RBI, slugging, triples and home runs hitting .323/.447/.600 though he still didn't have a set position and was not the MVP. Around this time he started a campaign for higher salaries.

He became the Texas League MVP in 1947. He was called up and made his ML debut on September 10, 1947, he struck out in his first at bat. He got his first hit 12 days later off Stubby Overmire during a ninth inning rally, leading to a win.

He spent most of 1948 and '49 in the minors, though he did get to bat for Cleveland in Game 5 of the 1948 World Series, he pinch hit for Satchel Paige but Warren Spahn got him to pop out. The Tribe lost the game but they won the Series over the Boston Braves.

He had his best seasons from 1950-1954 and was an All-Star from 1952-1955. He got his first ML home run in 1950 and was the first AL rookie to win the home run title with 37, an AL rookie record that stood until until A's Mark McGwire in 1987.


He hit four grand slams in 1951, the 9th player to hit four in a season. In 1953 he batted .336/.422/.613 with 43 homers, 115 runs, 85 walks and 145 RBI with only 45 strikeouts and 11 errors. He won the MVP, by a unanimous vote. The last player to be elected unanimously was the original "Hebrew Hammer," Hank Greenberg. He lost the Triple Crown to Mickey Vernon. Rosen also became the first third baseman to win the Sporting News Major League Player of the Year Award

In 1954 the Indians set a new AL record for wins in a season, Al went 3-for-12 with a walk in 3 games during the World Series as they were swept by the NY Giants. He made the cover of Sports Illustrated in 1955. The day before spring training began in 1955, Rosen's back was injured in a car accident. and he battled back and leg injuries his last two seasons. The injuries, a slump in production and his disputes with Cleveland's management over salary were too much to deal with so he retired after the 1956 season.

His nicknames were "Flip" and "The Hebrew Hammer" (after his idol Greenberg).

He played his final game on September 30, 1956 for the Tribe, he was 32. In 10 seasons all with the Cleveland Indians, he played in 1, 044 games with 192 homers, 717 RBI and a .285 BA in 3, 725 at-bats.

He wasn't afraid to stand up for himself, confidence he drew from his boxing days. When a White Sox player once yelled an anti-semitic slur at him he didn't hesitate to head to the dugout to challenge him, the player backed down. It happened often, one incident was from a Red Sox bench player who cursed him while Rosen was on the field, he called time out and confronted the player. He had to deal with taunts from the stands he wasn't about to take it on the field. Like Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax , Rosen would not play on Jewish Holy Days, causing a bit of debate among baseball officials, the media and fans. He worked for the brokerage firm Bache and Company in Cleveland for 17 years though he would help out the Indians as a batting instructor every spring. Tragedy struck when on May 4, 1971 his wife of almost 20 years the former Teresa Blumberg died under mysterious circumstances. She fell to her death from the Warwick Hotel in Philadelphia. He remarried several years later.

In 1973, got a job with Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. He also became a minority partner with George Steinbrenner to purchase the NY Yankees in 1973 and served as their President/CEO from 1978 to 1979, they won the WS in '78. He was constantly in the middle between the love/hate relationship between Steinbrenner and manager Billy Martin and things came to head in the middle of the '79 season and Rosen had enough. He worked as supervisor of credit operations at the Bally's casino in Atlantic City, but he authorized a $2.5 M loan to four casinos that were found to be involved in scamming. There were many arrest but a probe determined that Rosen did nothing but use bad judgment, he was unaware of any fraud.

He was the President and GM of the Astros (1980-1985), they landed their first play-off berth in 1980. He held the same job with the SF Giants (1985-1992). The Giants made it to the 1987 NLCS after winning their first division title in 16 seasons, he was named Executive of the Year by The Sporting News. In 1989 they won the pennant and reached the World Series for the first time in 27 years, but they were swept by the Oakland A's in the "Earthquake Series".
He then retired to Rancho Mirage, Ca.

He served as a consultant to many teams, was a special assistant to the general manager in 2001 and 2002 with the Yankees. He made an appearance in the 2010 movie narrated by Dustin Hoffman, "Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story".

He is a member of the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame (1978), the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame (1980), National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame (1998), the Texas League Hall of fame (2005) and the Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame (2006).

He passed away on March 13, 2015 at Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, California he was 91. He is survived by his wife Rita Kallman, three sons from his first marriage, Rob, Andy and Jim, 2 step children, four grandchildren and a great-grandchild.


A recap of notable Al Rosen Acheivments:

1947 MVP Texas League Oklahoma City Indians
4-time AL All-Star (1952-1955)
AL MVP (1953)
AL Slugging Percentage Leader (1953)
AL OPS Leader (1953)
AL Runs Scored Leader (1953)
2-time AL Total Bases Leader (1952 & 1953)
2-time AL Home Runs Leader (1950 & 1953)
2-time AL RBI Leader (1952 & 1953)
20-Home Run Seasons: 6 (1950-1955)
30-Home Run Seasons: 2 (1950 & 1953)
40-Home Run Seasons: 1 (1953)
100 RBI Seasons: 5 (1950-1954)
100 Runs Scored Seasons: 3 (1950, 1952 & 1953)
200 Hits Seasons: 1 (1953)
Won a World Series with the Cleveland Indians in 1948



Rosen with Luis Tiant.

[Tobywan]

Daniel Donahue

Daniel Jackson Donahue was born on April 23, 1923 in Lowell, Massachusetts and graduated from Dartmouth College. He served in the US Navy during WW II and then went on to get a law degree. He decided to leave the family owned practice that was founded in 1887 by the ancestor he was named after. He went out on his own and became a venture capitalist pursuing many business and financial opportunities.

As part of the Chicago based LaSalle Corporation (later the Atlanta-LaSalle Corporation) he became a part owner of the Milwaukee Braves in 1962, eventually moving the team to Atlanta in 1966. Donahue took over as President of the team in 1973 and was the main decision maker in the move to part with Hank Aaron sending him back to Milwaukee as a member of the Brewers in 1974. In 1976 the group sold the Braves to the (Ted) Turner Communications Corporation. Many of the executives stayed on briefly including Dan.


He passed away at the Barrington Garlands Prairieview facility in Barrington, Illinois on March 20, 2015, he was 91. He was preceded in death by his brother Joseph and sister Margaret. He is survived by his wife Marilyn Zobrist (31 years), a daughter Polly and two other children, 10 grandchildren, two brothers Richard and David and two sisters Dorothy and Catherine. He is buried at the Apostolic Christian Church Cemetery in Morton, IL.

[Tobywan]

Harley Hisner


Harley "Jim" Parnell Hisner was born on November 6, 1926 in Maples, Indiana. He grew up on a farm with three older brothers and a sister, the strong boys all played sports. Two of his brothers had signed with the Boston Red Sox and in 1945 they signed him as an amateur free agent after graduation, he received a $5,000 bonus. He must have been the strongest because one brother was released during spring and the other played just a couple of months before he got homesick and quit. His career had to wait, as he was drafted in June 1945 by the U.S. Army during WW II, the European conflict was over but the fighting in the Pacific still raged, he was discharged on December 30, 1946.

He reported to the San Jose Red Sox of the California League in 1947. The RHP had just one winning season in the Boston system when he went 11-3 posting a 2.48 ERAwith the Scranton Red Sox of the class A Eastern League in 1948, they went on to win the league title and the post season championship.

He was called up in mid-September but since the Sox were in a battle for the lead with New York, manager Steve O'Neill wouldn't take a chance on an unknown during a crucial time. The Sox tanked and got too far behind, the final series at Yankee Stadium was meaningless. So on the last day of the season and after five years in the Red Sox minor leagues he made his debut and his last appearance on September 30, 1951 for Boston. He faced a regular starting line-up of Yankees, with mostly Sox bench warmers behind him. He pitched 6 innings gave up 3 runs, seven hits and four walks striking out three, 2 of them against the rookie Mickey Mantle. He was the losing pitcher as Yankees Spec Shea and Johnny Sain combined for a 3-0 shut out. He gave up the last career regular season hit of Joe DiMaggio in the first, he got his only hit off Shea in the 5th and was lifted for pinch hitter Johnny Pesky in the seventh, not realizing he would never pitch in another ML game again. Not only had he lost but in the newspapers the next morning, the Associated Press was talking about a "Harvey Hisner." The Yankees went on to win the WS over the "shot heard round the world" New York Giants.

O'Neil wasn't in camp in 1952 replaced by Lou Boudreau who spent most of spring criticizing O'Neill, due to his previous arm issues Hisner refused to pitch batting practice until near the end of camp. He was throwing to the regulars and couldn't get his locker neighbor Ted Williams to whiff at anything, Williams quipped it was the best BP he ever had. Hisner was sent back to Louisville two hours before they broke camp. He played just one more season for Boston's Triple-A Louisville Colonels. He pitched his last pro season for the Wichita Falls Spudders (Big State League) in the Milwaukee Braves system. He went 14-6 with a 3.87 ERA they also went on to take the league title and playoff championship. He got no more ML offers, but his contract was sold to to the Corpus Christi Clippers of the Class C Gulf Coast League. When Clippers officials found out most of his salary would be paid "under the table" they never came up with all the money and he retired, he was just 27. He finished 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA in 6 IP in the majors. He played seven seasons in the minors with a 53-59 record, 4.39 ERA and 897.0 IP.


He went on to play semi-pro and amateur ball around Fort Wayne until he was 36, his team winning both the National Championship and the Global World Series in 1956. He also coached youth teams and in 1976 he inducted into the Northeast Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame. He had worked as a machinist/mechanic for Rea Magnet Wire in Monroeville, IN for years in the off seasons and became full time after baseball. He retired in 1987, then worked part time for Maples Ag concept and Commercial Warehouse as a truck driver hauling fertilizer for a few years.

He was a member of the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association, the American Legion Post #420 (Monroeville), and the Northeast Indiana Baseball Association. He served on the board of the NIBA for 12 years earning their Colin Lister Award for "dedication to the game of baseball and its historic legacy" in 2010.

On April 20, 2012 Hisner joined just under 200 former Boston players and coaches when Fenway Park celebrated it's 100th Anniversary. Though he had only played one game for the big club he was with them for six seasons and was a huge fan and remained so until the end of his life, he passed that love on to his entire family. They were all at Fenway that day.

While he was stationed at Fort Benjamin Harrison, he played ball, too. It was there that he met his future wife Anna Cain, she was in Special Services and wrote baseball reports for the local paper. She noticed every time "Parnell Hisner" was in the lineup his team won. She asked the coach about him and they were introduced, Hisner asked her to a movie and they were married on January 4, 1948. After 60 years they were residing together at the Village of Heritage nursing home in Monroeville where hundreds of autograph requests came through the mail. One of Harley's grandsons informed him there was an autograph ball of his going for $149 on EBay. Harley said he would give it to anyone free of charge.

Shortly after their 65th wedding anniversary, Anna passed away in 2013. She had joined him as much as she could on the road, after his pro career ended they got all their children involved in the game.


He passed away of cancer on March 20, 2015 at Park Place Assisted Living in Fort Wayne, Indiana , he was 88. Along with Anna, he was preceded in death by his sister Marvine, brothers Rowland, Gerald, Gordon and three grandchildren. He is survived by his daughters Deborah and Beverly, son Randy, eight grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. He is buried at I.O.O.F (Independent Order of Odd Fellows...I swear that is what it's called) Cemetery in New Haven, IN.

[Tobywan]

Bill Slayback



William Grover Slayback was born on February 21, 1948 in Hollywood, California. He attended Glendale Community College but to obtain a degree in Liberal Arts not for sports, he did pitch occasionally after high school. In a stroke of luck a neighbor needed an extra pitcher for his local team, after much persuasion Bill agreed to fill in. Jack Deutsch, a scout from Detroit, saw the game and asked him to fill out a card.Later, he had completely forgotten about the game, the scout and the card. That is, until he found out he had been selected by the Detroit Tigers in the seventh round of the 1968 MLB draft as a RHP. When a friend called him early one morning telling him he had been drafted, it was the middle of the Vietnam War, his friend said ,"No Bill, you've been drafted by the Detroit Tigers!". He was paid a small bonus and partial college tuition.


He pitched four seasons in the minors before he was called up, he got to Detroit, but couldn't find the stadium, he stopped at a gas station to ask for directionsWhen he told the attendant he'd been called up and his name the guy told him, "oh you're the one starting tonight against the Yankees", Slayback didn't know that. He made his ML debut that night on June 26, 1972 for the Tigers. The Tigers began the day tied for first with the Orioles.


The game was going well, or at least that's what Slayback thought, but no one was talking to him, most of his teammates wouldn't even look at him in the dugout, he was perplexed. At the start of the 8th inning Yank Johnny Callison slapped a ball into right, Kaline busted a gut toget to it and fired to first just narrowly missing the out. When they headed to the dugout he remarked to Kaline on his incredible play, then asked him, "am I doing okay? No one's talking to me." Alsaid "didn't you know what was going on? You had a no-hitter going." The Yanks started hitting him again int he ninth so he was pulled, but the Tigers preserved his win 4-3 an into first place.

He had another impressive start for the Tigers on July 20th, as he struck out 13 batters and allowed five hits while beating the Texas Rangers, 5–1. However, manager Billy Martin kept sticking him in relief between starts, many believed he was mishandled leading to a lot of armproblems. Weeks later, Martin ordered him to enter a game against the Oakland A's and hit outfielder Angel Mangual. His battery mate Duke Sims advised him if he didn't obey he might be sent to the minors. Salyback decided not to but a throw went errant sailing near Mangual's head. Benches erupted, he, Tigers infielder Ike Brown and Mangual were all ejected. Martin paid his fine and he didn't come clean that the throw was an accident.

The Tigers won the American League East but he didn't pitch he had been overused and become ineffective. The ALCS was marred by a bat throwing tirade by Oakland's Bert Campaneris toward Lerrin LaGrow and they were knocked out of the play-offs.

He soon found out just how true the stories of Al Kaline's persona were, the veteran bent over backwards to help out any teammate especially in tough times.
In the off season he went to college and sang in clubs for extra money. he was touched when he received a full share of division championship money due to Kaline and Martin's insistence.

He pitched in just three games during 1973 but came back in '74 mostly as a reliever and spent the last two seasons of his career in the minors. He retired in 1976.

He made his last ML appearance on October 2, 1974.

He pitched in 3 seasons for Detroit going 6-9 with a 3.84 ERA, with 89Ks, 3 complete games, one shut out in 138.1 IP. In eight seasons in the minors all with the Tigers he went 38-54 with 652Ks, a 3.47 ERA with 29 CG, 7 SHO in 809 IP.


In 1973, he recorded a single record that he co-wrote with his good friend Detroit Tigers broadcaster Ernie Harwell called "Move Over Babe (Here Comes Henry)." About Hank Aaron's bid to break Babe Ruth's all-time home run record. It got some airplay in the states and Japan, itwas also featured on and the NBC Game of the Week. It is included on Rhino Records' CD "Baseball's Greatest Hits." They also collaboratedon a song called "When The Dodgers Were In Brooklyn" shortly before Harwell's death in 2010, it was played by the Oakland A's as their tribute to Harwell.




In 2006, he put out a CD titled "Lady Dancing on Fire." He wrote, sang and played every instrument, former Tigers' manager Jim Leyland amusic enthusiast, occasional singer and hummer and a former minor league teammate and close friend gave it high praise. He toured with musicians like Jose Feliciano and recorded with Sergio Mendez he did a musical project with umpire and friend Joe West a few years back, he would play in local bars around the spring training camps in Arizona. A memorable night was a jam with former umpire Ed Montague on guitar and Phil Cuzzi on drums. He performed the National Anthem at Comerica Park on June 26, 2011, when the Tigers retired Sparky Anderson's No. 11. he also did commercials for Nike, Budweiser, 'Days of Our Lives' and ABC."

He was also a painter, woodworker and photographer, he built his own furniture and a studio but made his living as a pharmaceutical salesman, retiring in 2008.

He was married twice both ended in divorce. He lost his daughter Heather suddenly in 2011, his friends, Kaline, Leyland, Joe West and Gen Lamont gave him tremendous support. He had battled health issues in recent years and was on the bill to sing at a Tigers reunion in Lakeland in 2013 but had to decline, Jim Leyland did perform.

On March 25, 2015 he was found non-reponsive at his home in the La Crescenta-Montrose community of Los Angeles, the same home he grew up and lived his whole life. Paramedics were called, but he was pronounced dead on the scene, he was 67. He was preceded in death b his daughter Heather and is survived by his sister Susie and two daughters, Samantha and Kelli.








Jim Leyland and Bill Slayback.

[Tobywan]

Dick Mills





Richard Alan Mills was born on January 29, 1945 in Boston, Massachusetts. He was selected by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1965 amateur draft and Pittsburgh Pirates in the January 1966 draft, but didn't sign. He was selected by his hometown Boston Red Sox in June 1966 as a RHP.

He pitched five seasons in their minor league system before getting a call up in September. He made his MLB debut September 7, 1970 for the Red Sox. He came in when Boston was already down 7-2 to the Cleveland Indians. Cal Koonce had started, Chuck Hartenstein was lifted for Mills. He gave up 4 hits, one run, 2 walks and struck out two in the 8-2 loss.

He made his last MLB appearance September 13, 1970 for the Red Sox, another relief, another blow out, 13-2 loss to the Baltimore Orioles he pitched just two-thirds of an inning. He pitched just two games finishing 0-0 with a 2.45 ERA and 3 Ks. He spent his final season in Pawtucket and hung it up after the 1971 season.

After baseball was over he went from job to job until he got into selling water-purification products and settling in Scottsdale, AZ. He wrote a book on pitching. Together with Dr. Brent Rushall (a sports scientist), he co-wrote “The Science & Art of Baseball Pitching – A Coach’s Handbook For Scientific Pitching.” With the Internet he expanded his coaching business with a website and blog. There are video packages, books and manuals available, son Ryan is the star in most videos.

Ryan Mills spent seven seasons pitching in the minor leagues for the Minnesota Twins. When Ryan was drafted by the Twins in 1998, Dick tried to help him at first but the Twins didn't appreciate it. There was a point when father and son had a brief falling out. Dick decided to butt out, it ultimately cost Ryan his health and career, the club altered his mechanics, his numbers were atrocious and he suffered multiple injuries. Ryan at first balked at getting heavily into his father's
instructional business but learned to embrace it, and he took a lot of ribbing due to his bad numbers yet being the star in all of his father's videos. It was Dick's instruction that got him drafted with $2M signing bonus and by his second season in the minors his ERA was 8.87 and finished 5.97.

Dick was diagnosed with Stage 4 Melanoma cancer in February 2015, the disease progressed rapidly. He passed away on March 28, 2015 in Scottsdale, Arizona,, he was 70. He is survived by wife Ginny, son Ryan and his sister Patricia.




Dick and Ryan.

[Tobywan]

Víctor Sánchez



Víctor David Sánchez Rodríguez was born on January 30, 1995 in Río Chico, Miranda, Venezuela. He signed with the Seattle Mariners as an international free agent in August 2011 at the age of 16 as a RHP with a $2.5 M bonus. He went 6-2 with a 3.18 ERA at Class A Everett AquaSox in 2012. He pitched a no-hitter for Class-A Clinton LumberKings on July 18, 2013 against the Lansing Lugnuts in a 1-0 win , it was his 27th start. The youngest Mariner in franchise history to accomplish the feat.


In 2014 he finished 7-6 with a 4.19 ERA in 23 starts for Double-A Jackson. He also played for the Caracas Lions in Venezuela.
By the end of 2014 he was ranked 11th on the Mariner's prospect list. Because of his stature his teammates had nicknamed him "Shreck".


He was scheduled to join the Mariner's minor league mini-camp in Arizona in February and had a possible chance of being assigned to ClassAAA Tacoma during the 2015 season depending on his progress. On February 14th Victor sustained severe head injuries while swimming off beach in the coastal town of Campano in Venezuela. when he was hit by a boat propeller. Suffering from a double skull fracture and brain hematoma he the had a stroke. Surgery was performed at Polyclinic Campano Medical Center and he was placed in a medically induced coma. Never regaining consciousness, he succumbed to his injuries on March 28, 2015, he had celebrated his 20th birthday a month before his accident. Many teammates remember him as fun-loving and generous. He is survived by his mother Moraina Rodriguez and his wife.

[Tobywan]

Riccardo Ingram



Riccardo Benay Ingram was born on September 10, 1966 in Douglas, Georgia. He was a star athlete at Georgia Tech where he was a baseball and football star with the Yellow Jackets. He was named the Atlantic Coast Conference's athlete of the year and the McKelvin Award recipient after leading the football team with 79 tackles in eight games and hitting .426 with 17 home runs and 99 RBI for the baseball team in 1986-1987. The following year he was banned from college competition for accepting money from an agent and signed a representation contract before his collegiate playing career had ended which violated NCAA rules.

He was selected by the Detroit Tigers in the 4th Round (105th overall) of the 1987 MLB Draft as an outfielder. He was in his seventh season of playing in the minors when he made his MLB debut June 26, 1994 for the Tigers. In a game against the Oakland A's he came into the game as a pinch runner for Cecil Fielder inthe 9th, scoring on a single from Junior Felix for the 4th run of a 10-5 loss.

In 1995 he won the Triple-A batting crown with the Salt Lake Buzz with a .348 average. After the season he was granted free agency and signed with the Minnesota Twins on January 26, 1995, played just one season and signed with the SD Padres in November 1995, but was in the minors during the 1996 season. He played the 1997 season in the Mexican League with the Monterrey Sultanes.

His last MLB appearance was on July 30, 1995 for the Twins. He batted .198 in 16 games with 6 hits and 3 RBI. He played nine seasons in the minors with a .270/.332/.402 batting line with 74 home runs and 428 RBI.

He was inducted into the Georgia Tech Sports Hall of Fame in 1995.

The Twins gave him a job coaching in the minors, Ft. Wayne (1998), Quad City (1999), Ft. Myers Miracle (2000 to 2002), and New Britain Rock Cats (2003 to 2007 also managed in 2006 and '07), Gulf Coast Twins (2004, 2014-2015), and the Rochester Red Wings (2008-10, 2012).

Michael Cuddyer says Ingram helped mold him as a hitter and Denard Span credits him for giving him the encouragment to not give up when he was being bounced around early in his career.

His career is profiled in the book, "Journeymen: 24 Bittersweet Tales of Short Major League Sports Careers" by Kurt Dusterberg published in May 2007.

In 2009 he went to the Red Wing's team doctor to find out why he seemed to be having a lot of headaches. He was diagnosed with a Grade 4 cancerous tumor in his brain and given a year to live. A consultation with Dr. Allan Friedman, a Duke University neurological oncologist speculated that a combination of chewing tobacco and heavy beer consumption might have been a factor in the formation of the tumor. After radiation treatments for six weeks followed by months of chemotherapy stopped the growth, he was back to work as a roving instructor for the Twins in 2010.

Earlier in 2015 he was informed the cancer was back, he didn't respond as well to treatment, by March he was debilitated and became too weak to speak.

He passed away on March 31, 2015 in Lilburn, Georgia, he was 48. He is survived by his wife Allison and daughters Kacey and Kristen. He is interred at Melwood Cemetery in Stone Mountain, GA.

[Tobywan]

Jose Capellan




José Francisco Capellán was born on January 13, 1981 in Cotui, Sanchez Ramirez, Dominican Republic. On August 6, 1998 the RHP signed with the Atlanta Braves as an amateur free agent. He began with the DSL for two seasons and then brought to the states to play for the rookie class Danville Braves. Though he is listed as being suspended for the 2002 season by a usually reliable baseball stat site, he was out due to Tommy John surgery. He returned in 2003 to the GCL Braves and the Rome Braves in the SALL. After 2004 he quickly rose through three minor league levels ending up with the Richmond Braves. They went to the Triple-A championship game but they were defeated by the Sacramento River Cats 7-1 before he was called up.

He made his MLB debut on September 12, 2004 with the Braves as the starting pitcher against the Montreal Expos. He struck out Brad Wilkerson to begin the game. He gave up 2 runs on 4 hits, 3 walks and struck out 4. The Braves were ahead 6-2 when he left but the Expos chipped away then tied it up in the 9th when they hammered John Smoltz, the Braves won in extra innings with a walk off double by Andruw Jones. Jose didn't get the decision, Juan Cruz was the winning pitcher. His next start was horrendous giving up 7 runs in the first. He relieved for an inning in the final game of the season. He was traded to Milwaukee in December.

In three seasons with the Crew he went 5-5 with a 4.17 ERA in 85 appearances. He spent half a season with the Tigers in 2007. He was traded to the Colorado Rockies on December 4th then taken by San Francisco two days later in the Rule 5 draft.

He went 1-0 with a 3.38 ERA in the 2008 Caribbean Series with the Tigres del Licey when they won the championship for the 10th time.

He was placed on waivers in spring 2008, picked up by the Cincinnati Reds, within two weeks they gave him back. He signed with the Royals but never made it back up, he played his last pro season in MLB with the Houston Astros Triple-A Round Rock Express in 2009.

He made his last ML appearance on April 26, 2008 for the Colorado Rockies, he was 27. In parts of five seasons he went 5-7 with a 4.89 ERA and 98 strikeouts with four teams.

He had played six seasons with the Gigantes del Cibao in the Dominican Winter League, in the 2009-10 season he went 5-3 with a 2.66 ERA. This led to signing with the Hanwha Eagles of the Korean Baseball Organization, he was their opening day starter in 2010. His last active season was in 2013 with the Tigres de Aragua in the Venezuelan Winter League to complete 14 seasons in pro ball. He has also played for the Leones de Escogido and Toros del Este of the DOWL.

He had suffered with a sleeping disorder for many years and was being prescribed Ambien. He began severely abusing the drug, according to his wife. He was under treatment as part of MLB for the use of this medication at one point.

On April 7, 2015 he was found dead in bed by his step father in-law at his home in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he was 34. His wife was working at the time. it is believed he had a heart attack in his sleep. She denied rumors of suicide due marital or financial problems. His funeral took place in his hometown of Cotuí. He is survived by his wife of 11 years, Patricia, they had no children, his mother, a daughter from a previous relationship who lives in Miami and more than one brother.