Posted on 10/06/2019 3:34:46 PM PDT by fugazi
101 years ago this week, U.S. Army Capt. Eddie Grant was killed in action on the Western Front. "Harvard Eddie" was a fascinating character: soldier, scholar, lawyer, and third baseman -- playing ten seasons in the Major Leagues before becoming one of the first baseball veterans to volunteer for military service. He was one of eight big league baseball players to die during the war. Here are their stories:
On April 21,1914 New York Yankees skipper Frank Chance called on a 20-year-old rookie named Tom Burr to take over at center field in a close game against the Washington Senators. Burr was pulled before he could hit and no one hit the ball to him in what would mark the last game both Burr and Chance (yes, of the famed Chicago Cubs "Tinkers to Evers to Chance" double-play combination) would play.
Four years later Burr was called up again -- this time flying warplanes for the U.S. Air Service's 31st Aero Squadron. On Oct. 12, 1918, just one month before the armistice, Lt. Burr's plane collided with another flyer during gunnery training in France, sending the former major leaguer plunging to his death into Lake Cazaux.
[...]
On Sept. 15, 1912, the Detroit Tigers sent a 6'4" German righthander named Robert "Bun" Troy to the mound to face Walter Johnson and the Washington Senators. Troy pitched six scoreless innings but was pulled in the seventh after allowing four runs on nine hits in his only Major League game. On October 7, 1918, Sgt. Troy -- fighting his native countrymen with the 80th (U.S.) Infantry Division -- was killed by an enemy round to the chest while fighting southeast of Verdun, France.
link to the post: http://www.victoryinstitute.net/blogs/utb/2019/10/06/real-american-heroes-harvard-eddie-grant-and-the-fallen-baseball-players-of-world-war-i/
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