the mystery of Harry Lunte -- AND W. Hershberger

I needed a cheap all-glove middle infelder and drafted Harry Lunte. When I looked at his card, I thought "why is THIS guy in ATG?" Lifetime, he played 49 games!

Here's why (as you probably know, SOM has a policy of including some smalltime players of historical interest):

"Lunte was the pinch runner for shortstop Ray Chapman after Chapman was hit in the head by a pitch thrown by New York Yankees pitcher Carl Mays on August 16, 1920. Chapman died the next day"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Lunte

-----------

edit:

wow -- I've got the all-death team

my backup catcher in a semi-platoon is 1940 Wllard Hrshberger - never heard of him, and again -- why's he in ATG?

check it out:

"Cohen found Hershberger's body by the bathtub with his throat slit"

he killed himself in the middle of the 1940 season -- no wonder he's an inj-6!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willard_Hershberger

Prior versions of ATG were based on single-season teams. Lunte came in through the 1920 Indians, and Hershberger's 1940 Reds team was also included. They each have about 15-20 teammates who also made the cut... and most of whom who have less gory claims to fame (well, other than Ray Chapman, that is...)

Unless I am mis-remembering, Hershberger is the only player to commit suicide during the season . . . not exactly the sort of record you would want to be known for. The Reds retired his number, only to later un-retire it. It was later retired again after being worn by none other than Johnny Bench.

Was Chick Stahl during the season? Kind of a grim topic (but good for Halloween) ... other than Don Wilson, what other big leaguers committed suicide while they were still playing?

The wiki blog on Harry Lunte made reference that Chapman was the 2nd major leaguer to be killed playing?

Never heard of the first or any other??

Maybe it was in reference to Chick Stahl?

Does anyone remember Ron Cey being hit in the head by a 94 mph Goose Gossage fastball during the 1981 World Series? That pitch--which clearly just got away from Goose-- very likely would have killed Cey if he hadn't been wearing a helmet. I saw it live on TV and it was extremely scary.

Here's the content of Cey's wikipedia article on the event:

Cey had a terrific 1981 World Series in which he helped spark the Dodgers to four straight victories after they had lost the first two games, including returning for the clinching Game 6 after having been being hit in the head by a Goose Gossage fastball during Game 5. Cey was named co-MVP along with Steve Yeager and Pedro Guerrero. He is still a part of the Dodgers' organization and continues to make appearances on the team's behalf.

As you can see, Cey came out of game 5 but played in game 6, the final game of the series. So thank God for helmets! It's actually amazing that more people weren't killed in the pre-helmet era. My own view is that pitchers didn't throw as fast back then and that the greatest of the fireballer's--Walter Johnson--had excellent control. It's a recorded fact that the Big Train was deathly afraid of hitting and perhaps killing someone. Maybe he would have felt better if hitters wore helmets.

Here's a link to Cey getting hit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7HYqkt0ck4

Was Chick Stahl during the season? Kind of a grim topic (but good for Halloween) ... other than Don Wilson, what other big leaguers committed suicide while they were still playing?

Marty Bergen committed suicide after killing his wife and children during the offseason in 1900.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marty_Bergen_(baseball)

Stahl was during spring training.

Man, that's quite a tragic story about Bergen. Never knew about him before. It's terrible what people went through before better mental health treatments were available.

Here's why (as you probably know, SOM has a policy of including some smalltime players of historical interest):

I did not know that. Is Rod Gaspar included because he was on the 69 Mets? Where's Bobby Pfeil then NEVER MIND -he didn't play in postseason right?

Wasn't it Bill Bergen? Marty Bergen is a bridge player, not a baseball player.