Minor league baseball tales

 In the last two years I've been reading short books on the history of minor league baseball in the USA. I'm reading 

I came across some interesting first names:  

Judy Cline , a dude who hit a 457' homer out of Merchants Park in Denver, CO. His legal name was William Cline Jr

Ed (Bears Track) Green played in the Western Association.  While doing a deeper dig on this  the searchh engine kept taking to me Ed  Bearss, Chief Historian of the National Park Service.

So much information is not on the internet because it hasn't been entered into any data system.

I'll keep having fun.

Nov 17, 2025

Marty Marion, the Cards SS won 1944 NL MVP the award for the St. Louis Cardinals for mostly his  defense. He hit .267  with 6 HR , 63 rbi.

He played  his minor league baseball in Huntington, WV of the Middle Atlantic League, then a few seasons in the International League for Rochester,NY, before moving up to the Cards.

Nov 27, 2025

OKC Indians had purchased a pitcher named Collins for the 1927 season, but he was playing as FayThomas  for NY Giants(NL). Commish Landis punished him with fines and an MLB ban . He didn't return to the MLB until 1931.

Dec 20, 2025

I noticed Earl Weaver, a 2B, had some decent stats for  Omaha, the Cardinals A team in the Western League, and wondered why he never got a shot to play in the MLB. At that time A ball was the highest minor league level. The levels were A, B, C, & D. 

I did some research  and  the Cardinals new manager, Eddie Stanky, chose himself over Weaver for the final roster spot on the 1952 opening day roster.

Jan 7, 2026

Spades Wood was a left-handed pitcher for Wichita, Tulsa, and St Joseph in the Western League in the 1930s . I wonder if his nickname came from playing cards.

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