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Posted By: prewarsports

The Chick Stahl story is really intriguing. He supposedly was having an affair with a woman who was threatening to go to the press and so he comitted suicide by drinking acid. He excused himself from a dinner party at his house and then went upstairs and did the deed while the rest of the group continued with the party.

Also, for the record, Dan McGann most likely was murdered.

Arthur Irwin is THE Best (if you can tactfully say that) suicide story. He kept a wife and family in two cities for years and years with no suspicion. One day the stress got to him and he threw himself off a boat. It got a bit odd when two wives and two full sets of children showed up at the funeral.

Another thing to remember is that A LOT of early ballplayers had all sorts of venerial diseases which eventually affected the brain as well. Others like Marty Bergen would be able to be treated with medication today. The off-the-field lives of early baseball players is often much more interesting than the study of their on-field performances.