July 2, 1961: Ernest Hemingway Commits Suicide

July 2, 1961: Ernest Hemingway dies by his own hand. Contrary to what his wife said in the immediate aftermath, it was no accident.

He had published 4 of the most acclaimed novels of his time: The Sun Also Rises in 1926, about his recent experiences in France and Spain; A Farewell to Arms in 1929, about his experiences in World War I; For Whom the Bell Tolls in 1940, about his experiences in the recent Spanish Civil War; and The Old Man and the Sea in 1952, based on stories he had heard in Cuba.

He had also written, among other things, Death in the Afternoon, in 1932, about bullfighting in Spain, which he had also written about in The Sun Also Rises; The Green Hills of Africa, in 1935, about a safari he and his 2nd wife, Pauline Pfeiffer, took, detailing their hunting; and To Have and Have Not, published in 1937, not well-regarded, but it became a popular movie starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, who ended up getting married as a result.

But mental illness ran rampant in his family. And his constant adventuring had gotten him hurt, over and over again, including head injuries. He married 4 times, and was abusive to all his wives. Many men have tried to copy his writing style. Too many have also tried to copy his dangerous lifestyle. And a few, most notably William S. Burroughs and Norman Mailer, even copied his treatment of his wives.

In 1954, he and his 4th wife, Mary Welsh, went on an African safari, and survived a plane crash -- and then survived another crash the very next day. That 2nd crash gave him another head injury, and accelerated his descent into erratic behavior.

On July 2, 1961, at his house in Ketchum, Idaho, having alienated pretty much everybody in his life, and having hunted just about every animal he could find, he took a shotgun, and shot the most dangerous animal he had ever faced: Himself. He was 61 years old.

In a 1976 episode of M*A*S*H, taking place in 1951, Alan Alda's character, Captain Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce, M.D., U.S. Army Reserve, said, “I used to love Hemingway, because he wrote so well. But now, I can’t understand why anyone would willingly go to a war. I'd do anything to get out of here. It's crazy.”

*

July 2, 1961 was a Sunday. These games were played in Major League Baseball:

* The New York Yankees beat the Washington Senators, 13-4 at Yankee Stadium. Bud Daley was the winning pitcher. Roger Maris hit 2 home runs, giving him 30 on the season; Mickey Mantle hit one, giving him 28; Bill "Moose" Skowron hit one, giving him 17; and Elston Howard hit one, giving him 4. Maris would finish with 61, Mantle with 54, Skowron with 28, and Howard with 21.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Boston Red Sox, 12-6 at Fenway Park. Carl Yastrzemski went 3-for-5 with an RBI. But Boston reliever Arnold Earley falls apart in the top of the 10th inning, and reliever Dave Hillman can't stop the bleeding. The Indians scored 6 runs in the inning.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 2-1 at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia. Don Drysdale outpitched Robin Roberts, and helped his own cause with a home run.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Detroit Tigers, 6-3 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Brooks Robinson went 3-for-4 with an RBI. Al Kaline went 2-for-3 with a solo home run.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates swept a doubleheader from the San Francisco Giants at Forbes Field, 7-6 and 9-0, the nightcap shortened to 7 innings. Over the 2 games, Roberto Clemente went 3-for-6 with 3 walks and 3 RBIs, and Willie Mays went 1-for-6 with a walk.

* The Chicago Cubs beat their arch-rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals, 10-9 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Stan Musial went 0-for-5. For the Cubs, Ernie Banks went 2-for-4 with a walk, and Glenn Hobbie and Sammy Taylor each hit 2 home runs. But it was a single in the 8th inning by former Phillies star Richie Ashburn that won the game for the Cubbies.

* The Cincinnati Reds swept a doubleheader with the Milwaukee Braves at Milwaukee County Stadium, 8-5 and 4-3. Gordy Coleman won the opener with a home run in the top of the 13th inning. Frank Robinson went 4-for-8 with 3 walks, a home run and 2 RBIs, Hank Aaron went 3-for-8 with a walk, a home run and 2 RBIs, Eddie Mathews went 2-for-6 with 2 home runs and 3 RBIs, and Joe Torre went 2-for-6.

* The Kansas City Athletics beat the Minnesota Twins, 8-7 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium. Harmon Killebrew went 3-for-4 with a home run and 2 RBIs. Jim Lemon doubled Killebrew home to tie the game in the top of the 9th. But in the bottom of the 9th, Dick Howser singled home the winning run.

* The Los Angeles Angels beat the Chicago White Sox, 8-3 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, where the Angels were renting from the Dodgers.