OT.... Grave Site of Lefty Grove (and Other Major League Ball Players)
 

I took my boys to see the grave of Lefty Grove today. Lefty is buried in Frostburg, MD. I have attached a few pictures below. Lefty was my cousin and is theirs as well. Lefty and I were both born in the same small town of Lonaconing, MD.

Lefty's is the only grave of a baseball player that I have seen. If you have been to the grave of some other ball players and have pictures, please share them.

Brad,

You and the other members might like the following site called the Deadball Era. I am not trying to be macabre, but it deals with deceased major league players and has a baseball card section:

http://www.thedeadballera.com/

Fyi
 

Two interesting websites related to this post are:

http://www.thedeadballera.com/

http://www.findagrave.com/

Overlapping Posts
 

Brian:

Another example of great minds thinking alike! ;)

Kevin

Hiya Brad-
So those are your boys, eh. Good looking young fellows.
After the recent Baltimore National I visited Gettysburg and was treated to a terrific battlefield tour by Jay Wolt. The next day I shot up to Lewisburg specifically to visit Christy Mathewson's grave. I even considered heading to NE Penna to see Joe Wood's resting place as well but had an early flight the next day and couldn't bring it off.
Thanks for breakfast in Baltimore, amigo. It was good to see you again.
David McD.

http://photos.imageevent.com/kawika_...DSC04653_1.JPG

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Those are neat pictures of Matty's grave. Thanks for sharing.

Yes... Those are my boys. Wesley is wearing the blue sweatshirt and Austin is wearing the green sweatshirt. Wesley is a very good pitcher himself!

After I took the pictures of the boys, my daughter Erin also wanted her picture taken. See below.

Brad,

Great thread and a great looking family!

Do you have any closeups of the Lefty plaque?

Greg

Thanks! And Yes, I have close-ups of the plaque. I took these pictures a few years ago....

Zach Wheat
 

Not my pics, but off of www.findagrave as previously mentioned (of which I am a contributor) of Zach Wheat in Forest Hill Cemetery, Kansas City, MO. Grandfathers going back 4 generations were brothers; his half of the family went to southern IL and my half went to northern IL.

Z Wheat

Some may find this interesting:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZ4GB9OeS28

I'm headed to NE Georgia on business today. I have Royston programmed on my GPS.

Interesting site. Going through trying to see who's near me in Texas and see that they have Mickey Mantle in Dallas, Rogers Hornsby in Austin, Tris Speaker in Hubbard, and Charles "Charlie" Neal right here in Longview. Definitely will have to visit that site soon.

As odd as going to gravesites of people that one has never met seems to me, there is something strangely interesting about it.

I think it would be kinda cool to have members of these boards check out various burial sites and show pictures of famous or infamous people who are buried near their homes. I know, near me I have various members of the Bailey's of the Barnum and Bailey circus burried in a little, out of the way cemetary.

I also live not too far from Watertown, Wisconsin which is the birthplace of Fred Merkle. While he is not buried there, the town has erected a small monument to him. There is also a town where my inlaws are from in Northern Illinois where former Cubs pitcher, Carl Lundgren is buried. I would be willing to go out and take some pictures of these and other sites.

As I said this is a bit weird yet interesting to me and I know my wife will look at me like I am crazy when I tell her what I am going to do but hey, it is something to do on a Saturday......right? LOL

Lou Gehrig
 

My father is buried near Lou Gehrig in Kensico Cemetary in Valhalla, NY.
We visit Lou's grave when we visit my Dad's. People are always leaving baseballs and Yankee caps behind.

I think most cemeteries have a map of where all the famous people are buried.

Funny and true story for you. I went to school at Bucknell in Lewisburg. The cemetery where Christy is buried is located on route 15 (i think its 15) between the school and where all the seniors lived. One Saturday night in 1983 a "friend" of mine knocks on the door at 3 am (way too much to drink). She tried cutting across one of the dirt roads that led through the cemetary to route 15 in her car and drove into a partially dug grave. We get 4-5 friends and tried to lift/push the car out. 30 minutes later we're sitting in the Lewisburg police station with a lot of "splaining" to do.

As I reminded David before & since, on our trip into Gettysburg we ate at Eddie Plank's restaurant. (Not his joint specifically as he died in 1926)
He was buried across the street in Evergreen Cemetery past the soldiers grave sites. A mere 100 yards or so from where we ate.

Gehrig at Kensico
 

Got to briefly visit Kensico Cemetery during a trip to the East Coast National in White Plains.
I have been to other cemeteries to visit graves but I have never seen one with a tourist map and recorded tour. Kensico has color maps printed and famous graves are tagged with a metal sign. They even have a pre-recorded cellphone guide!
I was able to visit Gehrig's grave and the grave of New Yorker cartoonist Peter Arno. I understand Ruth is buried not far away from Kensico. Maybe next time.
There were baseballs and gloves left on Gehrig's grave but the most disturbing thing left behind was a Starting Lineup figure of Gehrig! Those damn plastic things haunt everyone!

Andy

Attachment 75232

This photo of James O'Rourke's headstone was taken on September 1st 2005, which marked the 155th anniversary of his birth (born 9-1-1850). O'Rourke is buried in St. Michael's Cemetery in Stratford, CT. (Section 2 Lot 10). Pictured is my daughter Kelly, who is a great-great-great granddaughter of the Orator. O'Rourke played 7 years for Boston from 1873-1878, and 1880, hence the Boston cap.

The headstone can be located by turning from Stratford Ave (where the "A" is pictured on the map) onto St. Augustine Ave (which is the vertical road through the middle of the cemetery). The O'Rourke headstone can be see on the left side of St. Augustine Ave soon after you turn in, and is close to the road. If you continue driving to the next intersection which is St. James Ave. (also within the cemetery) you've gone too far. The address of St. Michael's Cemetery is 2205 Stratford Ave, Stratford CT.

Andrew - I guess I see this a tad differently, I think its very respectful and can also be a way to teach the younger generation values, history and possibly some perspective.
I wanted to see JFK in Arlington very much even though he was killed prior to my birth. I viewed this as respect for the man, his family and the stamp he left on our nation. You can make an argument that these ball players are somewhat similar. This forum shows huge amounts of respect for the older ball players. One day I would love to see the site of L Gehrig and J Robinson. These ball players have also left a stamp on our nation to certain degrees. I wish I had some pics to share. :(

players graves
 

Here is Babe Ruths. He is resting at Gates Of Heaven Cemetery Hawthorne N.Y. I was there a long time ago.

Next visit for sure, Jay. Am already jonesing for a hot dog at Ernie's.
Alexander Cartwright is buried in Oahu Cemetery in Honolulu. Twenty years living there and I never took a minute to visit his gravesite. Next time, and am always jonesing for local kine grinds.

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Charlie Neal
 

So this thread sparked a little project for me yesterday to find the grave site of Charlie Neal who is buried where I live in Longview, Texas.

If you'd like to read the story, you can find it at www.varsitycollectibles.com

Here is a picture of Charlie's headstone.

http://i1240.photobucket.com/albums/.../nealgrave.jpg

You know Steven, I think you may be right. Visiting their gravesites and showing these players from eras that have passed is a way to keep their memory alive. While I think there would still be a bit of "uncomfortableness" when visiting a grave site for me, I guess I have to keep it in perspective in that I am paying homage and respect to these men and will insure that at least for one day....they were not forgotten.

That's neat! Thanks for the picture and the story!

This thread reminded me of MN SABR member Stew Thornley. He has been to grave site of ever deceased member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

http://stewthornley.net/#Graveyard

Not exactly on topic, but I travelled to Ravensdale, Washington because I had heard the cemetery there had been desecrated in the 1960's, when the former coal mining town was all but abandoned. The graveyard is still in a sad state of disrepair, reclaimed by the Cascade wilderness decades ago.

Tried to find Jack Muncie's grave site, he was Jimmy Claxtons' former coach in Ravensdale 1910-13. The first coach to integrate the local, Coal Miners League. Claxton began his career as a catcher for the local nine. Muncie was tragically killed in a mining accident in November 1915 along with thirty others. Many of them prominent town members listed in link below.

I could not locate it, and was heartbroken to see the sarcophagi of others spread around the heavily wooded area. Absolutely horrible, if you know of at risk sites please volunteer the time to assist in the preservation of history.

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=...ed=0CD8Q9QEwCQ