Zack Wheat Memorial

Made me very happy. I was actually not going to stop for pics but I remembered it would be neat for the board and the Newbie collecting the Wheat cards. I like to travel with you guys on your trips to the National, Cooperstown, and so on through pics. So I figured why not bring another trip to the board. Not the biggest town at about 460 population but he is larger than life there.

Here is my only Wheat

[SethY]

Thanks for calling me the newbie! Haha

[Kawika]

Thanks for the photos, Andrew. You learn something new every day and I am probably the last guy to know that Zack had a brother, Mack Wheat, who played parts of seven seasons in the Bigs. Mack was born in Polo, older brother Zack was born a dozen miles up the road in Hamilton. Mack's sole appearance on a baseball card, if I am not mistaken (and I have been known to be mistaken) would be on a 1922 Zeenut when he was on the PCL Los Angeles roster. (Am I right on this one, Zeenutters??) Anybody got one to post?

[rhettyeakley]

David, here ya go (it's a fairly tough one to find)...



-Rhett

Edited to add: I also thought it was interesting that also included in the '22 Zeenuts was George Kelly's brother Ren Kelly (also a fairly tough Zee)

[Kawika]

Thanks, Rhett. What took you so long? You da Man!
Nice write-up on the Yeakley boys in the new OC.

[rhettyeakley]

Am I wrong or was Zack Wheat's first name actually Zachary and not Zachariah as they have on the memorial you pictured?

I could swear I always thought his name was Zachary and that his parents had a Presidential theme going through their sons names Zachary (Zachary Taylor) and McKinley (William McKinley).

-Rhett

Edited to add: After the OC write up maybe people will actually realize that we are not the same person (it happens all the time). Also Rhys is the older one by a year and 3 mo. (so we aren't twins or anything like that)

[Kawika]

Scabbed jpeg off eBay.

[rhettyeakley]

On Baseball-Reference and in my MacMillan Encyclopedia it lists his first name as I had rememebered it (Zachary Wheat)

However Baseball Almanac, Wikipedia (as if that means much), and the BBHOF all have his name as Zachariah Wheat.

I guess I'm wondering which one is really correct
-Rhett

[Zach Wheat]

Zachariah was actually his dad's name who then named him Zachariah as well. Family tradition says that he was named "Zach" although he signed documents and went by both Zach and Zack as well. He seems to have preferred Zach. Zachariah is actually the correct name for "Zach" Wheat although the MO legislature made a minor boo boo when naming MO Highway 13 the "Zack" Wheat Memorial Highway.

The stretch of Highway that was named for him ran from his farm in Polo, MO where his wife (who was his second cousin) would make him hold out for higher pay during his most prductive years and Hamilton, MO where he was born. Coincidentally, Zach is buried in the same cemetery (Forest Hill in Kansas City, MO) as the great Satchel Paige.

[RichardSimon]

A check signed by Wheat.

[wonkaticket]

Neat story...great player.