I too like digging into history especially post Civil War-turn of the 20th century history, as I am a big history nut as well, along with being a lifelong baseball historian since a young age, I just didn't realize it. The stories back then as pro baseball really took off starting in 1871, and then the two Major Leagues combined in 1901, that time was also very unbelievable as well. Just a few quick ones: Ed Delahanty, one the games best hitters up to 1903, got drunk threatened the train passengers, was forced to walk the rest of the way home, feel into the bottom of a ravine and drowned. Rube Waddell was one of the best left handed pitchers of the game, ever since the early 1900s, couldn't keep his attention well was always distracted by bell chimes, would literally chase after a fire engine if he saw one or heard it (did it a few times in the middle of the game), hurt himself the night before his first World Series start as a pitcher wrestling a teammate over a hat. He died in a flood where he was helping countless people, he was warned to quit swimming after and saving people I believe in a flood in Arkansas, and wound up drowning. Waddell was like a real life Forrest Gump, and that is only a few that I know of I can't imagine what else is out there in legend and folklore. We call a job today a "living" when it is more of a "doing." We can find them usually no problem, we don't take them that serious at all, and many people switch them wholesale. Post-reconstruction even up to the 1970's and 80's when people had a job they kept it and did not move. Turn of the century and before their jobs were quite often literal "livings," the impression I get at least. BTW that was my first thought in reading this is that it really reads like one of their stories about older haunts, or museum articles or maybe the correspondence letter to Houdini was the museum. I have seen a lot of those episodes and it really does qualify in my book as a great story to tell. It almost seems like the story that keeps on giving because it sounds like to me each time you dug a little you found more and more compelling facts, accounts of the people involved and the possible sickness that plagued these people due to past horrid abuse.
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Have you ever written about these lesser-known stories? They're really interesting, and the chime one is hilarious (despite the gruesome ending)! I think more people should write mini-biographies of the people that only make it to footnotes in history books. I don't know how famous these people were because I can probably count all of the athletes I know anything about on two hands, but these are the stories that add flavor.
Yes I really have, need to get it done, that was actually the initial of being here was to leave stories like that for posterity to whoever would want to hear them. All of those players were mega stars back then in the early 1900's, all are in the Baseball Hall of Fame based on their achievements alone. Lol, Ken Burns did a pretty good job on a few of them here:
