twenty K’s for padrón

Bill Mullins found that the Kokomo Tribune credited Juan Padrón with 20 strikeouts in his June 4, 1916, game against George Mullin and the Kokomo Red Sox—and printed a full, play-by-play account of the game:

(Kokomo Tribune, June 5, 1916)

Comments

[Bill Mullins]

I found some box scores where he played with the baseball Decatur Staleys. He also played with the football Decatur Staleys. His nickname as a player was "Windy" Lotshaw.

[scott simkus]

He appeared in a couple of games, but served as their "umpire" in a lot of games. In Halas' biography, he mentions how the Staley's team got all of the advantageous calls when Andy was working behind the plate. I think its amazing that Negro League teams won close to 80% of their games against very good semi-pro teams, despite the kind of advantages these teams had with hometown umps, occassionally hostile crowds, and isolated incidents of good ol' fashioned cheating. I'm thinking here, of course, of the Bushwicks "freezing" the baseballs when they faced black and Cuban teams in the 1930s and 40s.

[Gary Ashwill]

Thanks, Scott.

Did Lotshaw by any chance play for Halas's Decatur Staleys baseball club (which played the Cuban Stars & maybe a couple of other Negro League teams ca. 1920-21)?

[Scott Simkus]

That's Andy Lotshaw in the outfield for Mullin's team. Lotshaw was an outstanding minor league baseball player who later befriended George Halas (of Chicago Bears fame). Through his relationship with Halas, he later became a trainer for the Bears during the Fall, and the Chicago Cubs during the summer. He's one of the guys who was giving Babe Ruth a hard time at Wrigley Field during the 1932 World Series. Ruth said he "didn't mind being heckled" but took umbrage when the Cubs trainer started giving him the business. This is the series, of course, where Ruth gestured toward the Cubs dugout (but didn't point to centerfield)and then hit a home run. The "called shot."