He also fit an unfortunate stereotype: he was an alcoholic, which gave him and his managers problems throughout his long career.

At six-foot-three, Eaves was quite a presence on the mound, but he often had trouble finding the strike zone. He made only 24 major league appearances, spread over five seasons, eight years (1935-42), and three teams (the Philadelphia Athletics, Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cubs). In 1940 he gave up 12 bases on balls in a single game, still a White Sox record.

He had outstanding years in the minor leagues, winning 21 games or more in four different seasons.

He pitched until his 40s, making his last appearance for Hobbs of Canada's Southwestern League in 1957. He'd retired three years before, but briefly unretired so he could join his son, Jerry, on the Hobbs roster.

He played in just 114 major league games over three National League seasons with three teams – Pittsburgh, Brooklyn and Boston. In 1920, with the Braves, he hit .328 in 87 games. (His other averages were .167 and .095.) As a pitcher he was 1-2 in 11 games with a 6.23 earned run average.

Edwin Eayrs was a Brown University graduate who returned to his alma mater in the 1940s as the baseball coach.

Eller had a dirty little secret – a pitch called the shineball which involved dirt, spit and some hard rubbing. The result was a pitch that fluttered as it approached the plate. Major League Baseball outlawed the pitch in 1920 and a year later Eller was out of the majors. He was only 27.

On his way up to the major leagues Elliott spent five seasons with Terre Haute of the III (Illinois-Indiana-Iowa) League, twice winning 20 or more games. He must have enjoyed Terre Haute because that's where the St. Louis native chose to settle down when he retired from baseball. He became sheriff of Vigo County, Indiana, a post he held for several years until he was defeated in the 1968 election by another former professional athlete, one-time basketball star Clyde Lovellette, who stood six-feet-ten-inches. They might have been the biggest pair of political opponents in American history.

Jewel Ens was the Syracuse manager when I attended my first game there. Now that I know his middle name, Ens is even more memorable. He is in the Syracuse Chiefs Hall of Fame and was named manager of the Chiefs' all-time team. On his way to the major leagues, Ens spent one season in Syracuse as a player, posting a career best .335 batting average in 1921.

That earned him a spot with the Pittsburgh Pirates, but while he spent part of four seasons with the Bucs, he played in only 67 games, batting .290. During those 67 games Ens played every infield position.

Late in the 1929 season he was named manager of the Pirates and held the job until he was fired after the 1931 season. He became the Syracuse manager in 1942 and held the job until his death in January 1950.

Epps? He'd have preferred to be called back for a second chance. After all, he had three hits, including a triple and three RBIs, in the only major league game he ever played, with Pittsburgh in 1935. The fact he committed two errors might have been the reason the Pirates never used him again.

Still ... how many baseball players can say they had a lifetime major league batting average of .750?

Then, THUD! His average fell to .224 in 1951. Evers played until 1956, but never again hit better than .264.

After his playing days, Evers remained part of major league baseball. He worked for awhile in the Cleveland Indian farm system and in 1971 became director of Detroit Tiger player development.