Passing On
Here are but a few of the ballplayers who left us during 2003.
Bygone baseball by C. Philip Francis
Barbara Galdonik – (1935-2003): Barbara died on June 29th in Kenosha, Wisconsin and was a youngest member of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League that filled in for major league baseball during World War II. She was only 15 and one of four girls of a Kenosha, Wisconsin pick-up baseball team who were invited to try out for the new women’s professional baseball league. She made the team in 1949. Barbara loved competition, and was playing horseshoes only a few weeks before her death. She seldom talked of her baseball career, but was always delighted when she received autograph requests that were honored without cost.
Warren Spahn – (1921-2003): Baseball’s Hall of Fame lost a member this year when the winningest left-handed pitcher in baseball history with 363 victories against 245 losses died at his home in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma on November 24th at the age of 82. His name became part of the famous verse written by Boston Post sports editor Gerald V. Hern in 1948 when the Boston Braves were fighting for the National League pennant: “First we’ll use Spahn, then we’ll use Sain, then an off day, followed by rain. Back will come Spahn, followed by Sain, and followed, we hope, by two days of rain.”
Warren debuted in 1942 with the Boston Braves, missed the 1943-45 seasons due to World War II, and notched his first win in1946 at the age of 25. He was drafted into the army and assigned to the 176th Combat Engineers Battalion. His unit fought in the Battle of the Bulge, and was involved in the taking of the bridge at Remagen that allowed the army into Germany. Because of Spahn’s bravery he was awarded a battlefield commission, the Bronze Star, and a Purple Heart after being hit with shrapnel.
The lefty won only eight games during his first year back, and then started his long Hall of Fame career when he won at least 20 or more games 13 times. The 14-time All-Star pitcher hurled 21 major league seasons. He finished with 5,243 2/3 innings that is still a National League record. The Buffalo, New York-born Spahn also hit 35 home runs that is a NL record for pitcher s. The high-kicker won the Cy Young award in 1957, and threw two no-hitters. After his major league career ended in 1965 Spahn pitched in Mexico and in the minors the next two years before retiring at the age of 46. His final mound appearance occurred in 1967 for the Tulsa Oilers of the Pacific Coast League when he said, “I didn’t quit; baseball retired me.” Spahn is the only major league pitcher to homer in every ballpark he ever played in
Claude Passeau – (1909-2003): Claude, a competitive right-hander for the Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago Cubs in 1930’s and ‘40’s, had no regrets about his close connection with number 13. He wore uniform number 13, his car license plate was 13, his rifle’s serial number was 13, his life insurance policy ended with a 13, he lived at 113 London Street, spent 13 years in the major leagues, and has 13 letters in his name. After three losing years with the Phillies, the Claude became a top hurler for the wartime Cubs and a four-time All-Star. He finished his major league career with 162 wins, and threw a one-hitter against the Detroit Tigers in the 1945 World Series. Passeau died on August 30th in his native state of Mississippi at the age of 94.