THREE RIVERS AREA — Fred Worth, Ph.D., grew up a baseball fan, which shows some determination because he was a New York Mets fan in the club’s early years when, he admits, “They were terrible.” Yet following the games led to one of the first steps in his career.
“When I was in the first grade, my mother helped me learn division and multiplication so I could figure baseball averages,” said Worth, who was raised in New Jersey. “I also played Strat-O-Matic (a baseball board game) that you play using numbers.” Worth is a professor of mathematics, in the field of topology, and teaches at Henderson State University in Arkadelphia.
He is also a member of the Society of American Baseball Researchers and has developed an unusual hobby. He visits the graves of major league baseball players.
“I have been doing this for about five years,” Worth said.
In that time he has visited 1,304 players’ graves in 674 cemeteries in 16 states, including 77in Arkansas.
“I’ve found as few as five in Nebraska and as many as 362 in Texas,” Worth said. “Over spring break, I hope to add 25 more.” Much of Worth’s vacation time is spent finding the graves of major leaguers.
“It’s fun, and I enjoy the traveling,” Worth said. “I also enjoy the detective work.” Newspaper stories and obituaries provide some leads for his search. Funeral homes are another good source.
“I went to Iowa for two weeks and visited 65 of the 75 graves said to be there,” Worth said. “I have been to parts of Iowa even most Iowans don’t get to see.”
Sometimes the information is wrong, and the trip can be frustrating.
“Dave Davenport (played 1914-1919, died 1954) is supposed to be buried at Arlington Memorial Park in El Dorado,” Worth said. “I have walked it twice and haven’t found it. It could be that I missed it, it could be unmarked, or it could be that he is not there.”
Sometimes the remains have been moved. Once Worth followed his research to the city where a player died, but a search of funeral-home records revealed the player had been buried several states away.
Another time Worth discovered the exact spot where a player had been buried, but there was no marker. Finally, he probed with his pocket knife and found the marker had sunk, and the earth had closed over it.
Worth has traveled to the final resting places of the most famous of ballplayers. One trip took him to the Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, N.Y., and the grave of Babe Ruth.
“There was still snow on the ground when I got there,” Worth said. “You could see that people would leave stuff there like balls, bats or other items”
Worth gives the same attention to unknown players who had only a brief turn on the major league stage.
Bob Mavis was a player with a one-day career in the big leagues. On Sept. 17, 1949, the 31-year-old Mavis was used as a pinch runner by the Detroit Tigers in Yankee Stadium, Worth said.
Mavis played with the Arkansas Travelers from 1944 to 1949 and had been with the Toledo Mud Hens before he was called up to the majors. In 1950, he returned to the minor leagues and played until 1957.He died in Little Rock and is buried in Forest Hills Memorial Park in Alexander.
Members of the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame have found a final resting place in Arkansas. Yankee catcher Bill Dickey is buried in Roselawn Memorial Park in Little Rock, his monument emblazoned with the New York Yankee emblem. He was named to the American League All-Star Team 11 times and played in eight World Series. His 1936 batting average of .362 was a record for catchers that stood for 73 years. Dickey-Stephens Park, Home of the Arkansas Travelers, carries his name.
Worth visited the grave of Hall of Famer George Kell soon after he was buried in Swifton Cemetery in 2009. Kell played from 1943 to 1957. In 1949, Kell won the American League batting championship, his .343 average surpassing Ted Williams’ by .0002 of a point. When Kell’s playing days were over, he was an announcer for the Detroit Tigers from 1959 to 1996. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1983.
Kell also served as an Arkansas highway commissioner for 10 years.
Worth reported on his latest grave discoveries during a meeting of the Society of American Baseball Researchers Deadball Committee in Hot Springs.
The early 1900s are known as the “Deadball” era in baseball because the balls didn’t carry well when hit. Worth says the graves he finds are often of players from that era.
The committee meets every other year for a convention they call their “boil out.”
Mike Dugan, a Hot Springs native and a member of the Society of American Baseball Researchers, said the name comes from when baseball teams came to Hot Springs for spring training.
“In 1886, future Hall of Famer Cap Anson was manager and first baseman for the Chicago White Stockings and brought his team south to prepare for the season,” Dugan said. “Anson had learned about our mineral waters and spas, and the reason he brought the team to Hot Springs was so they could ‘boil out the alcoholic microbes’ in his hardliving players.”
The players got in shape by soaking in the spas, hiking the mountains and playing baseball in a more moderate climate. With those trips, spring training was born.
Worth has a set routine when he reaches a grave of a major league player.
“I take a picture of the gate, especially if it has the name of the cemetery on it,” Worth said. “I take a picture of the headstone and then take its GPS location.”
While searching for the graves, Worth has contacted the families of baseball players and has found himself at a grave during a family visit.
“I have talked to some family members,” Worth said. “They are happy someone still is interested long after the cheering has stopped.”
Three Rivers, Pages 115 on 03/21/2010