In 1918, there were at least nine players either invited to spring training or signed by the Red Sox during the regular season, but who never played in a game.
Lona Alvin Jaynes
Born: June 4, 1894, Morgantown, North Carolina
BB, TR
The Red Sox wired right-handed pitcher Lonnie Jaynes when the team was leaving Boston for spring training. Jaynes was 23 years old and working as a mechanical engineer in Buffalo. Baltimore’s Jack Dunn initially signed Jaynes, but it was New York Giants manager John McGraw that hired him as the team’s batting practice pitcher in August 1916. He went to spring camp with the Giants in 1917, but was sent to minor league Montreal before the season began. Jaynes was released by the Red Sox during spring training. He never played in the major leagues.
Robert Taylor Fisher
Born: November 3, 1886, Nashville, Tennessee
Died: August 4, 1963, Jacksonville, Florida
BR, TR, 5-9½, 170 lbs.
Bob Fisher had been a shortstop with three National League teams by the time he was in Hot Springs, Arkansas, with the Red Sox: Brooklyn (1912-13), the Chicago Cubs (1914-15) and Cincinnati (1916). He was 31 years old and was released by the Red Sox to Little Rock, where he played 73 games before being sent to the St. Louis Cardinals in late July 1918. He played 63 games and batted .317.
Henry Hack Eibel
Born: December 6, 1893, Brooklyn, New York
Died: October 16, 1945, Macon, Georgia
BL, TL, 5-11, 200 lbs.
Hack Eibel was a pitcher and first baseman in the International and Southern leagues. Boston manager Ed Barrow thought he could use Eibel as a relief pitcher. However, Eibel injured his foot at his Brooklyn home in January 1918 and he was not completely healthy by March. He tried playing during spring training, but gave up and went back north. Eibel’s major league career consisted of one game with Cleveland in 1912 and 29 games with the Red Sox in 1920. Eibel committed suicide at age 51 at the Sports Palace he operated in Georgia.
Norman Francis McNeil
Born: October 22, 1892, Chicago, Illinois
Died: April 11, 1942, Buffalo, New York
BR, TR, 5-11, 180 lbs.
Catcher Norm McNeil joined the Red Sox late in the season from and traveled with the team, but did not play. He was 3-9 in five games with the Red Sox in 1919. McNeil’s minor league career included stops in Erie (Central League, 1914-15), Providence (International League, 1917-18) and Toledo (American Association, 1920). Babe Ruth was the godfather of one of his sons, born in November 1919.
Albert E. DeVormer
Born: August 19, 1891, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Died: August 29, 1966, Grand Rapids, Michigan
BR, TR, 6-½, 175 lbs.
Al DeVormer was a catcher who was signed by Boston on July 26, 1918 from the Vernon club of the Pacific Coast League. Apparently, DeVormer spent less than one week with the Red Sox, because he made his major league debut with the White Sox on August 4. He played in a total of eight games with Chicago. DeVormer was also with the Yankees (1921-22), Red Sox (1923) and New York Giants (1927).
On April 16, 1927, he was arrested for arguing with a policeman who was breaking up a stickball game near his home in upper Manhattan. DeVormer’s two sons were playing in the game, but the policeman was backed up by a dozen mothers who believed their sons were in danger playing baseball in the street. DeVormer was found guilty by the Washington Heights Court Magistrate, but given a suspended sentence.
Alexander George McCarthy
Born: May 12, 1888, Chicago, Illinois
Died: March 12, 1978, Salisbury, Maryland
BR, TR, 5-9, 150 lbs.
It was reported on July 31, 1918 that Alex McCarthy had been signed by Boston and would report to the team two days later. McCarthy was mentioned as being the star second baseman of Kansas City in the American Association. He had also been with the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1910-1917 with two short stints with the Chicago Cubs in 1915 and 1916.
Mimos Ellenberg
BL
Ellenberg was a slender, 18-year-old shortstop from Moshern, Tennessee, who showed up at the Red Sox training camp on March 15, 1918. Former Boston outfielder Tilly Walker, now in Philadelphia, recommended Ellenberg to Athletics manager Connie Mack. Ellenberg turned down Mack’s offer, saying Boston was his first choice. Over the next three days, Red Sox shortstop Everett Scott arrived in camp, and Ellenberg got sick and was sent home. He never played in the major leagues.
Edmondson
On June 25, 1918, Harry Frazee purchased four players from the New Orleans Pelicans of the Southern Association: Red Bluhm, Walter Barbare, Jack Stansbury and Edmondson. However, some accounts do not mention Edmondson and he never joined the Red Sox. He might have been outfielder Ed Edmondson, whose major league career consisted of two games with Cleveland in 1913 and who would have been 28 years old.
Panalli
A Pacific Coast League pitcher who, according to one report, was with the Red Sox in late July 1918. It is not known how long he was with the team.
� 1997-20243 by Allan Wood.
