May 24, 1918: Ralph Sharman Dies In Service

May 24, 1918: Ralph Sharman dies in military service to America, although not in combat.

Ralph Edward Sharman was born on April 11, 1895 in Cleveland. He signed for the Portsmouth Cobblers of the Class D Ohio State League in 1915, and played for the Galveston Pirates of the Class B Texas League and the Memphis Chickasaws of the Class A Southern Association in 1916. In 1917, he played for the Texas Leagues' Fort Worth Panthers, and again for the Galveston Pirates, batting .341.

That caught the attention of the Philadelphia Athletics, whose manager and treasurer Connie Mack had broken up a championship team because he couldn't afford the higher salaries driven by the now-defunct Federal League. On September 10, Sharman debuted for the A's. He played 13 games for them, batting .297, with 2 RBIs. He hit no home runs, but he hit 2 doubles and a triple. He looked like a possibility for the A's from 1918 onward.

But World War I was raging, and on November 3, 1917, he enlisted in the U.S. Army. He was sent to Camp Sheridan outside Montgomery, Alabama. There, on May 24, 1918, he drowned in the Alabama River during a training exercise. He was only 23 years old.

He was buried at Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati, which would later become the final resting place of 2 members of the Baseball Hall of Fame: Miller Huggins, by this point the manager of the New York Yankees; and one of his eventual star pitchers, Waite Hoyt.

There is no commemoration of him at the current Philadelphia ballpark, Citizens Bank Park, home of the Phillies; nor at the current home of the Athletics franchise, the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.

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May 24, 1918 was a Friday. These baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Cleveland Indians, 3-2 at the Polo Grounds. Smoky Joe Wood, once a great pitcher who'd hurt his arm, had been converted into an outfielder, and hit the home run that won this game -- in the top of the 19th inning. Wood went 3-for-7 with a walk and 2 RBIs. He had previously homered in the 7th inning. Steve O'Neill went 4-for-7. Tris Speaker, the Indians' center fielder and manager, went 2-for-8.

Future Hall-of-Famer Stan Coveleski went the distance -- more than 2 full games' worth -- for the win. Over the next 24 days, he pitched 54 innings. This was during the "Dead Ball Era."

* The Brooklyn Robins (as the Dodgers were known while Wilbert Robinson managed them from 1914 to 1931) lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, 2-1 in 12 innings at Robison Field in St. Louis. Rogers Hornsby went 2-for-4 with a walk and an RBI for the Cards.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Chicago White Sox, 5-4 at Fenway Park in Boston. Shoeless Joe Jackson did not play in this game, since he was working in a shipyard, not wanting to tempt the draft due to the "work or fight" order like most players were still doing.

* The St. Louis Browns beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 9-3 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. George Sisler went 1-for-3 with 2 walks. Joe Gedeon went 2-for-3 with a walk and 2 RBIs. His nephew, Elmer Gedeon, would be 1 of only 2 MLB players killed in combat during World War II.

* The Detroit Tigers and the Washington Senators were tied at 2-2 at Griffith Stadium in Washington, when the game was called due to darkness after 16 innings -- and, as we've already seen, that wasn't the longest game of the day. Ty Cobb went 1-for-5 with a walk, a stolen base, and an RBI. Both pitchers, Eric Erickson of the Tigers and Harry Harper of the Senators, went the distance.

* The Boston Braves beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-3 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 2-1 at Redland Field in Cincinnati. (It was renamed Crosley Field in 1934.) Lena Blackburne scored the winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning, on a wild pitch by Milt Watson.

* And the New York Giants and the Chicago Cubs were rained out at Weeghman Park in Chicago. (It was renamed Cubs Park in 1920 and Wrigley Field in 1926.) The game was made up as part of a doubleheader on July 8. The Cubs won the opener, 6-3. The Giants won the nightcap, 3-1.