Here lies Dick Siebert, an All-Star first baseman. He later became one of the winningest coaches in NCAA baseball history. He played for the Brooklyn Dodgers (1932, 1936), St. Louis Cardinals (1937-38) & Philadelphia Athletics (1939-45).
Dick Siebert was born in Fall River, Mass., on February 19, 1912. His family moved to St. Paul, and he played baseball at Concordia College. He originally signed with the Cardinals as a pitcher, but a sore arm led to his release. He then attended Concordia Seminary in St. Louis with the intent of entering the ministry. Before that happened, a higher power — the Yankees — signed him as a first baseman.
Siebert’s early career was turbulent. The Yankees sold him to Brooklyn, but the Dodgers hardly used him in the majors over the four years he was in their system. He was claimed by the Cubs, who sold him to the Cardinals, who got him in case young star Johnny Mize held out for more money. Siebert was kept in the minors until he complained to the MLB Commissioner. Kenesaw Landis didn’t intervene, but St. Louis traded him to the A’s. Only then did he get the chance to play regularly.
From 1939 through 1945, Siebert played in an average of 137 games and had a slash line of .283/.332/.382. He also broke up two Bob Feller no-hitters. He wasn’t a power hitter, but he was a good contact hitter who rarely struck out and was a great defensive first baseman.
Siebert’s best season came in 1941, when he hit .334, good for 5th in the AL. He knocked in a career high 79 runs and hit 5 home runs. He made the All-Star team in 1943, even though it was a down year for him.
Siebert was traded to the St. Louis Browns for the 1946 season. The Browns offered him $2,000 less than he made in 1945, so he up and quit the game.
In 1947, Siebert was hired as the head coach of the University of Minnesota baseball team, a job he held for 31 years. He won 3 College World Series and more than 700 games.
On November 9, 1978, Siebert was admitted to a hospital for ulcers and had surgery to remove his spleen 3 days after that. He then suffered from complications and pneumonia and died on December 9 at the age of 66.
Here lies Sherry Robertson, a 10-year major-leaguer, baseball executive and part of one of baseball’s most influential families. He was the nephew of Senators owner Clark Griffith, brother to Twins owner Calvin Grffith and brother-in-law to major leaguers Joe Haynes and Joe Cronin. Robertson played for the Washington Senators (1940-41, 1943, 1946-52) and Philadelphia Athletics (1952).
(There is a whole element of Senators/Twins ownership and racism that I can’t cover here; you’ll have to check out the blog link in my bio for those ugly details.)
Sherrard Robertson was born on Montreal, Quebec, on January 1, 1919. His father Jimmy was a professional baseball player who died when Sherry was just a year old. He and his siblings moved to Washington D.C. to live with their uncle, Clark Griffith.
Robertson could have joined the executive side at any time, but he chose to pursue his desire to play ball first. Despite accusations of nepotism — he played for the team his uncle owned — he made himself into a pretty valuable bench player. He had some power, some speed, good patience at the bat. Most importantly, he could play almost any position on the field — not well, but he could play them.
1949 was Robertson’s best season. He got into a career-high 110 games, slashed .251/.329/.401 and reached career highs in pretty much every offensive category. His 94 hits included 17 doubles and 11 home runs, and he had 42 RBIs. He even showed a little speed on the bases, with 10 thefts, and he walked 42 times against 35 strikeouts.
After making one appearance as a pinch runner in 1952, he was claimed by the Athletics on May 13 for an undisclosed price, and sports sections across the country didn’t fail to mention that Griffith sold off his own nephew.
In 10 seasons, Robertson had a slash line of .230/.323/.342, with 346 hits, 151 RBIs and 200 runs scored. He hit 26 home runs.
Robertson became the team’s farm director, inheriting a system with few prospects. After the team became the Twins and invested in a scouting department, they began producing real stars, like Tony Olivia & Rod Carew.
Robertson was killed in a car accident on Oct. 23, 1970 in South Dakota. He was 51.
Here lies Bert Brenner, who had a brilliant pitching debut but had only one more major-league appearance after that. Brenner played for the Cleveland Naps (1912).
Delbert Brenner was born in Minneapolis on July 18, 1887. Brenner never played in professional baseball until he threw his first pitch for Cleveland. He had played for some city teams in his hometown and pitched for amateur teams in Burlington, Iowa, in 1910 and in Alexandria, Minn., in 1911. That was where he started making a name for himself, and he joined the Racine Belles in 1912. After some early struggles, he won 15 of 18 games and showed some pop at the bat, too. The Cleveland Naps (nicknamed because of their star player Nap Lagoie) bought his contract for $2000 & brought him to the majors in late September.
He made his MLB debut on September 22 against the New York Highlanders and threw a 10-inning complete game 5-4 win. All the runs scored off him came off of errors, so it was a great start to Brenner’s career. He gave up 4 runs in a 3-inning relief appearance near the end of the season, leaving him with a 1-0 record and 2.77 ERA in 13 big-league innings.
While he was thought to be a lock for the 1913 team, he was shipped to the New Orleans Pelicans of the Southern Association instead. He couldn’t buy a win, with an 0-11 record. He was demoted once for his poor work and released in August, and he finished off the season for a team in Omaha. Brenner came down with arm problems after that (possibly due to overuse while in Racine and New Orleans) and played for just a couple more seasons before retiring.
Brenner settled in Minneapolis with his family and worked as a floor layer. While in his 60s, he was called out of retirement to coach his son’s adult softball team. That became something he enjoyed doing right up to the end of his life.
Bert Brenner died on April 11, 1971, at the age of 83.
Here lies Harold “Chief” Wonson, who had a brief career as a pitcher in the minor leagues. He had a long teaching career, but he still found a way to make it to the majors – as a batting practice pitcher.
Harold Wonson was born on August 3, 1918, in Washington, D.C. He graduated from Tabor Academy, on Cape Cod, Mass., and attended Dartmouth University. He was an ace pitcher for Dartmouth from 1938-40, coached by former big-leaguer Jeff Tesreau. There were a couple of stories about how the “Chief” nickname came to be. His version was that Tesreau jokingly told sportswriters that he was a full-blooded Native American (he wasn’t). From the 1940s onward, he was known as Chief.
Wonson majored in history, English and biology at Dartmouth. He joined the faculty at Blake School in Hopkins, Minn., and served as a baseball and football coach as well as a history, English and math teacher. He kept up with his pitching for various local teams, and he signed with the Minneapolis Millers as well — though only during the summer when school wasn’t in session.
Wonson made for a great story — a pitching teacher! — but he wasn’t very good. He was chased from his first Millers start in 1943 in the third inning. He ended that year with a 5.88 ERA in 16 games. The following season went even worse, as Wonson went 0-6 with a 6.20 ERA in 38 games. He lasted three games for the Millers in 1945 before the team released him.
His daughter, Barb, said at his death that he had been injured while pitching at Dartmouth, and he never regained his form.
Wonson pitched locally until 1954 and coached at Blake while working for an insurance company. In the mid-60s, thanks to a connection from his Millers days, he joined the Twins as a batting practice pitcher for a few years. Wonson’s contributions to the Twins were not forgotten. In 1965, when the team won the AL pennant, Wonson received $150 from the team as part of their playoff share. He bought a snowblower with the money, his wife said.
Chief Wonson died on February 17, 1998 from injuries suffered in a fall while clearing ice from the roof of his home in Hopkins. He was 79 years old.
Not baseball related, but this mausoleum at Lakewood Cemetery belongs to the Mars Family. THAT Mars Family, of candy bar fame. Mars makes M&Ms, 3 Musketeers, Snickers, Milky Way and tons of other goodies. The company also owns the Wrigley brand, and the Wrigleys used to own the Cubs, so I guess there is a tenuous baseball connection after all.
Franklin Mars (1883-1934) was born in Minnesota and started to make candy as a teenager. He moved to Minneapolis in 1920 and launched Mar-O-Bar Co. there in 1920. He introduced the Milky Way in 1923 and the Snickers Bar in 1930. He died from a heart condition in Maryland in 1934. His son, Forrest (1904-1999), had split from his dad but took over the family business upon his death. Forrest left his mark in the candy world by inventing M&Ms. Both are interred here, along with Frederick Mars’ parents and his first wife (Forrest’s mother), Ethel. His second wife, also Ethel (which is pretty convenient), is buried in Wisconsin.
