Here lies Ewing Kauffman, who founded the Kansas City Royals and guided the team for more than 20 years. He made his fortune in the pharmaceutical business and gave back to his Kansas City home, not only with a world champion baseball team but also with a philanthropic foundation that continues to operate today.
Ewing Kauffman was born on September 21, 1916, on a farm near Garden City, Mo. The family moved to Kansas City when he was young. He was an academic whiz as a child and got a business management degree in college.
Kauffman became a pharmaceutical salesman in Kansas City and started his own business, Marion Laboratories, in 1950. It started as a one-man show working out of his house, but by 1960 it had expanded and had sales of more than $1 million.
Marion Labs’ success left Kauffman one of the richest people in Missouri. He put in a bid for a baseball team in Kansas City to replace the departed KC Athletics. He got the winning bid, and for $7 million, he became the owner of the team eventually called the Kansas City Royals.
Kauffman knew nothing about baseball management, but he hired good baseball men and bankrolled their efforts. The Royals began play in 1969, and by the mid-1970s they were among the best teams in the AL. The team lost three straight Champion Series to the Yankees from 1976-78 but won the AL Pennant in 1980 and the World Series in 1985.
Kauffman gave the Royals a great new home with Royals Stadium — now Kauffman Stadium — in 1973. It wasn’t a multi-sport abomination like most of the baseball stadiums from the ‘70s. It was a beautiful baseball-only park that is still a great place to watch a ballgame.
Kauffman’s health declined in the ‘90s, and he was very concerned about keeping the Royals in Kansas City after he wasn’t around. He created a complex succession plan that essentially gave the team to a civic organization, which would find a buyer who would keep the team in town. Proceeds from the sale went to area charities.
On May 19, 1993, Kauffman announced that he had been diagnosed with bone cancer. He was too ill to attend a July ceremony to rename Royals Stadium after him. He died Aug. 1, 1993 at the age of 76.
Here lies Billy Hitchcock, whose life in baseball included stints as a player, coach, manager and minor-league executive. As an infielder, Hitchcock played for the Detroit Tigers (1942, 1946, 1953), Washington Senators (1946), St. Louis Browns (1947), Boston Red Sox (1948-1949) and Philadelphia Athletics (1950-1952). He also served as a manager for the Tigers (1960), Baltimore Orioles (1962-63) and Atlanta Braves (1966-67).
Billy Hitchcock was born in Inverness, Ala., on July 31, 1916. He and his older brother Jimmy were star athletes at Auburn University, and the baseball field is named after them both. Billy played on the school’s 1st SEC Champion baseball team and scored a touchdown in its first football bowl game.
Hitchcock started playing in the minors for the Yankees in 1939, but his contract was sold to the Tigers in 1942. He soon became the team’s starting shortstop and hit .211 before departing to enter the Army. He served stateside and in the Pacific before being discharged in early 1946.
He rejoined Detroit, but they had no place for him in the lineup. He was sold to the Senators and hit .212 before being sent to the Browns in 1947.
Hitchcock moved around frequently and was a decent infielder and mediocre hitter at best. He did have a couple good seasons at the bat. The best stretch of Hitchcock’s playing career were the 3 seasons he spent in Philadelphia. He hit .306 in 1951 and briefly challenged for the batting title.
In his 9-year career, Hitchcock slashed .243/.310/.299, with 547 hits in 703 games. He had 67 doubles, 22 triples, 5 home runs and 257 RBIs.
Hitchcock was a Tigers coach after retirement and managed the Orioles and Braves for a few seasons. He didn’t do too badly, but the laid-back, pipe-smoking Southerner was overmatched at controlling his players. He later found his ideal job as President of the Southern League. He ran the minor league from his home in Opelika, AL. During his tenure from 1971-80, attendance skyrocketed as the league worked to become more family-friendly. He is a member of the Auburn and Southern League Halls of Fame.
Billy Hitchcock died on April 9, 2006, in Opelika. He was 89 years old.
Here lies Bobby Reis, who started his career as a third baseman and ended it as a pitcher/jack of all trades. He played every single position on the diamond in his 6-year career with the Brooklyn Dodgers (1931-32, 1935) & Boston Braves (1936-38).
Bobby Reis was born on January 2, 1909 in Woodside, N.Y. He played ball on sandlots in Queens while working as a bank clerk at the Long Island City Savings Bank. Reis was discovered by Dave Driscoll, who was the business manager for the Brooklyn Robins (Dodgers). Driscoll arranged for Reis to take a leave of absence from the bank to play in the minors in the Carolinas. He hit .373 in his first season, so He never went back to that bank.
Reis made it to the majors with Brooklyn in 1931, the same year that teammate and future brother-in-law Phil Gallivan debuted (see a few posts back for more on him). Reis hit .294 in 6 games, but he was mostly stuck in the minors through 1935. He didn’t get much of a chance to show his stuff until Casey Stengel took over the Dodgers in 1935.
Reis never hit that well in the majors, but he was versatile enough that he played pretty much everywhere on the field. He even volunteered to pitch when Stengel needed bullpen help, and he did well. Reis pitched in 14 games in ‘35, with 2 starts, and ended the season with a 3-2 record, 2.83 ERA, 2 saves and a complete game.
Reis was traded to the Braves, and they used him mainly as a pitcher in ‘36 and then a fielder in 1937. Stengel took over the Braves in 1938 and put Reis back into his Jack-of-all-trades role. He even spent a few innings as a catcher for a game. Unfortunately, Reis put together his worst season in 1938, both at the bat and on the mound, and he was demoted to the minor leagues.
For his career, Reis had a 10-13 record, with a 4.27 ERA and 1.673 WHIP. He pitched in 69 games with 2 saves. He also started 9 games and completed 5. He struck out 52 batters and walked 144. At the plate, he slashed .233/.291/.270 in 175 games. His 70 hits included 10 doubles and 2 triples.
Reis worked for the Fleischman distillery after his baseball career, while playing locally in the Twin Cities. He died on May 1, 1973 at the age of 64.
Here lies Tom Lanning, who had a major-league pitching career that lasted about three weeks. He and his wife, Martha, are buried in this unmarked plot in Marietta, Ga. Lanning pitched for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1938. His younger brother, Johnny, also a pitcher, had an 11-year MLB career in the 1930s and ‘40s.
Tom Lanning was born on April 22, 1907 in North Carolina, most likely in Asheville. Lanning, a left-handed pitcher, was a star athlete at Wake Forest College and Biltmore Junior College, which is now the University of North Carolina at Asheville. He was said to have a good curve, and he also threw a knuckleball. He began professional ball in 1932, when he was 25 years old.
It would seem that baseball was not a driving passion for Lanning. Several times in his career, he didn’t make an pro ball appearance until the summer was halfway over. Judging from news reports, Lanning worked in Asheville and pitched in the semipro textile leagues in the area for a part of the summer, and then he would sign with a pro team and pitch there for the rest of the season. He had some impressive performances when he did play, and lefties have always had value in baseball. Had Lanning dedicated himself to the game, it’s reasonable to think that he could have had the type of career that his younger brother did. As it was, after the 1937 season, Lanning was 30 and had played mostly in the low minors for teams in the South and Southeast.
Lanning spent 1938 with the Montgomery Rebels, which was in a more advanced league. He went 14-10 with a 3.17 ERA and was brought to the majors by the Phillies that fall. He appeared in 3 games — 2 scoreless relief outings and 1 start where he gave up 5 runs in 4 innings to the Dodgers. Lanning pitched 7 innings over the three games, with an 0-1 record and 6.43 ERA. He struck out 2, walked 2 and gave up 9 hits.
Lanning was returned to the minors and played 1 more season before calling it quits in professional ball. He moved to Atlanta and pitched for semipro teams for years afterward.
Tom Lanning died at the age of 60 on November 4, 1967, at his home in Marietta, Ga. At the time of his death, he was a salesman for Atlanta Motor Parts Inc.
I’ve been quoted in an article from the @startribune about a fascinating bit of Minneapolis baseball history. Columnist Curt Brown tells the story of Elmer Foster, who I’ve profiled in the past, and he references my and my RIP Baseball blog in his story. Elmer was quite a colorful character, who created chaos wherever he went.
It’s quite a treat to get featured in print. I know you can’t click on the link I’ll post to get to the story, but if you want to read it, go to the Star-Tribune’s website and do a search for Elmer Foster. You can also visit my blog (link in bio), and I’ve got a direct link in my latest post.
http://www.startribune.com/minneapolis-born-baseball-star-was-a-most-colorful-character/564288462/
