By Bill Ivory

    Graveyards are not a significant part of baseball lore. True, the 1919 Cincinnati Reds held spring workouts in a Texas town's cemetery. Moe Berg, visiting a Baltimore cemetery after dark, is reported to have stood on the grave of Edgar Allan Poe and recited "The Raven" from beginning to end. Edd Roush administered a cemetery in Indiana for many years. Bored broadcasters sometimes mumble that Richie Hebner's off-season occupation is grave-digging.

    The burial sites and circumstances of baseball's important figures can be an interesting area of research. I have found it so in the last couple of years, during which time I have researched the obituaries of all the deceased members of the Hall of Fame and have visited the last resting place of about one-half of those Cooperstown greats. The primary objective was to find out what kind of memorial remains for these sports heroes other than the plaque that is displayed at Cooperstown. Other questions raised in the research include: Do the tombstones include baseball references? Are the graves obscured or neglected? Is there more than one former star buried in a particular cemetery? What other prominent people are buried there?

    My interest in this subject was sparked by an article by Tom Hufford in the 1976 Baseball Research Journal about the old Orioles reunited in New Cathedral Cemetery in Baltimore. Buried there are John McGraw, Wilbert Robinson, Joe Kelley, and Ned Hanlon, all prominent Orioles of the 1 890s who also managed major league clubs for a total of 74 years. Also buried in the cemetery are Bobby Mathews, a top pitcher in baseball's early years, and Eddie Rommel, a pitcher and umpire in the 1920-1960 period. McGraw, Robinson and Keiley are in the Hall of Fame. No other cemetery has three Cooperstown greats, but several have two.

    Sam Crawford and Bobby Wallace are buried in Inglewood Park, California, the westernmost of the eight cemeteries containing two Hall of Fame graves. Rube Waddell and Ross Youngs, both of whom died in their thirties, rest in Mission Burial Park, San Antonio, Texas. Zack Wheat and Satchel Paige, widely separated by age and racial barriers, are both buried in Forest Hill, Kansas City, Missouri. Paul Waner and his former manager, Bill McKechnie, lie in Manasota, just outside of Bradenton, Florida. Up the eastern seaboard, Brooklyn boys Willie Keeler and Mickey Welch are interred in Calvary Cemetery in nearby Queens, while Lou Gehrig and Ed Barrow are in Kensico in suburban Westchester County. The Heavenly Twins, Hugh Duffy and Tommy McCarthy, lie in Old Calvary just west of Boston. Across the Charles River, two 300- game winners, Tim Keefe and John Clarkson, are buried in the Cambridge city cemetery.

    Other American notables share cemetery space with Cooperstown inductees. Duffy's plot, for example, is in the shadow of the impressive obelisk erected over the grave of John L. Sullivan, the old-time boxing champion. A signer of the Declaration of Independence and firearms magnate Christopher Colt lie near John Montgomery Ward in Babylon, New York. That old cemetery, once neglected, has been restored. Grover Cleveland's second Vice President, Adlai Stevenson, is buried a few yards from Charles "Old Hoss" Radbourn in Bloomington, Illinois. Governors, senators, judges, and 17 mayors are buried along with Sam Thompson in Detroit's Elmwood Cemetery. Also interred there is a gentleman familiar to many baseball fans, brewer Bernard Stroh.

    Humphrey Bogart and Clark Gable head an impressive list of Hollywood luminaries in world famous Forest Lawn. Those gaudy gardens contain no bigger actor than Casey Stengel, who, like another Forest Lawner, W. C. Fields, would rather be there than in Philadelphia. Back to back in the afterlife just as they were in the Yankees batting order, Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig are buried in adjoining cemeteries. Along with the Bambino in Gate of Heaven are New York Mayor Jimmy Walker and journalists Dorothy Kilgallen and Westbrook Pegler.

    Prominent clergymen participated in the funerals of several Hall of Famers. Evangelist Billy Sunday conducted an emotional service for pitcher Addie Joss, struck down at age 3 1 in Toledo in 1911. Father Charles Coughlin, famed as the Radio Priest during the Depression years of the l930s, led prayers over the body of his good friend Harry Heilmann in Detroit in 1951. The Reverend Jesse Jackson eulogized Jackie Robinson at services held in Riverside Church in Manhattan in 1972.

    Although I have not visited or seen pictures of the graves of all Hall of Famers, I would estimate that not more than ten percent incorporate baseball displays in their stone memorials. Hack Wilson, who died a pauper and whose body was not claimed for three days, has a large memorial in Rosehill Cemetery, Martinsburg, West Virginia. When his plight was publicized, contributions came from the National League, the Elks Club, former teammates and others. It is a tapered granite block ten feet high. Near the top are crossed baseball bats with the inscription ONE OF BASEBALL'S IMMORTALS - LEWIS R. "HACK" WILSON RESTS HERE.

    Home Run Baker has a bat, ball and glove superimposed on a chapel window on his large stone in Easton, Maryland. Cap Anson, Babe Ruth, and Casey Stengel are among the others who have baseball motifs. Although Frank Navin, former owner and president of the Detroit Tigers, never made it to the Hall of Fame, his memorial in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery near Detroit is eye-catching because a large stone Bengal tiger is situated at each side of his mausoleum.

    No Hall of Fame member rests in the nation's most famous burial ground - Arlington National Cemetery in Northern Virginia. General Abner Doubleday, mistakenly credited with laying out the first baseball diamond, is buried there. Air Force General William Eckert, Baseball Commissioner from 1965 to 1969, also is interred there. The best player buried in Arlington is former first baseman Lu Blue, a World War I veteran who lived in the area.

    There follows an alphabetical list of the final resting place of all deceased Hall of Famers. If readers have supplemental or corrective information on any of those on the list, the writer would appreciate hearing from you.

               Burial Sites for Baseball Hall of Famers

Name                                       Burial Site

Gtover Alexander                   Elmwood, St. Paul, NE

Cap Anson                              Oakwood, Chicago, IL

Frank Baker                            Spring Hill, Easton, MD

Dave Bancroft                        Greenwood, Superior, WI

Ed Barrow                              Kensico, Valhalla, NY

Jake Beckley                           Riverside, Hannibal, MO

Chief Bender                                      Ardsly Burial Park, Philadelphia, PA

Jim Bottomley                         I.O.O.F., Sullivan, MO

Roger Bresnahan                     Calvary, Toledo, OH

Dan Brouthers                         Wappinger Falls, NY

Mordecai Brown                     Roselawn Memorial, Terre Haute, IN

Morgan Bulkeley                    Cedar Hill, Hartford, CT

Jesse Burkett                           St. John's, Worcester, MA

Max Carey                              Woodland, Miami, FL

Alexander Cartwright             Oahu, Honolulu, HI

Henry Chadwick                     Greenwood, Brooklyn, NY

Frank Chance                          Rosedale, Los Angeles, CA

Oscar Charleston                     Floral Park, Indianapolis, IN

Jack Chesbro                           Howland, Conway, MA

Fred Clarke                             St. Mary's, Winfield, KS

John Clarkson                         City, Cambridge, MA

Roberto Clemente                   Lost at sea

Ty Cobb                                  Village, Royston, GA

Mickey Cochrane                    Cremated

Eddie Collins                          Linwood, Weston, MA

Jimmy Collins                         Holy Cross, Buffalo, NY

Earle Combs                            City, Richmond, KY

Charles Comiskey                   Calvary, Chicago, IL

Tommy Connolly                    St. Patrick's, Natick, MA

Roger Connor                                     Old St. Joseph's, Waterbury, CT

Sam Crawford                        Inglewood Park, Inglewood, CA

Candy Cummings                   Ware, MA

Ki Ki Cuyler                           St. Ann's, Harrisville, MI

Dizzy Dean                             Bond, Wiggins, MS

Ed Delahanty                          Calvary, Cleveland, OH

Martin Dihigo                         Cienfuegos, Cuba

Hugh Duffy                            Old Calvary, Mattapan, MA

Billy Evans                              Noilwood Mausoleum, Cleveland, OH

John Evers                               St. Mary's, Troy, NY

Buck Ewing                            Mt. Washington, Cincinnati, OH

Red Faber                               Acacia Park, Chicago, IL

Elmer Flick                              Crown Hill, Twinsburg, OH

Rube Foster                             Lincoln, Chicago, IL

Jimmie Foxx                            Flagler Memorial Park, Miami, FL

Ford Frick                               Christ Church Columbarium, Bronxville, NY

Frank Frisch                            Woodland, Bronx, NY

Pud Galvin                              Calvary, Pittsburgh, PA

Lou Gehrig                              Kensico, Valhalla, NY

Josh Gibson                             Allegheny, Pittsburgh, PA

Warren Giles                           Riverside, Moline, IL

Goose Goslin                          Baptist, Salem, NJ

Clark Griffith                          Fort Lincoln, Suitland, MD

Lefty Grove                            Memorial, Frostburg, MD

Chick Hafey                            St. Helena, St. Helena, CA

Jesse Haines                            Bethel, Phillipsburg, OH

Billy Hamilton                        Eastwood, South Lancaster, MA

William Harridge                    Memorial Park, Chicago, IL

Bucky Harris                           Pittstown, PA

Gabby Hartnett                                   All Saints, Des Plaines, IL

Harry Heilmann                      Holy Sepulchre, Southfield, MI

Harry Hooper                          Mount Calvary, Aptos, CA

Rogers Hornsby                      Hornsby's Bend, TX

Cal Hubbard                           Milan, MO

Miller Huggins                        Spring Grove, Cincinnati, OH

Hugh Jennings                                    St. Catherine, Scranton, PA

Byron Johnson                        Spencer, IN

Walter Johnson                                   Union, Rockville, MD

Addie Joss                              Woodlawn, Toledo, OH

Tim Keefe                               City, Cambridge, MA

Willie Keeler                           Calvary, Queens, NY

Joe Kelley                               New Cathedral, Baltimore, MD

Mike Kelly                              Mt. Hope, Boston, MA

Chuck Klien                            Holy Cross, Indianapolis, IN

Bill Klem                                  Graceland Memorial Park, Miami, FL

Nap Lajoie                              Cedar Hill, Daytona Beach, FL

Kenesaw Landis                     Cremated

Fred Lindstrom                                   All Saints, Chicago, IL

John Lloyd                              City, Atlantic City, NJ

Connie Mack                           Holy Sepulchre, Philadelphia, PA

Larry MacPhail                       Elkland Township, Cass City, MI

Heinie Manush                        Memorial, Sarasota, FL

Rabbit Maranville                   St. Michael's, Springfield, MA

Rube Marquard                       Hebrew, Baltimore, MD

Christy Mathewson                 City, Lewisburg, PA

Joe McCarthy                          Mt. Olivet, Buffalo, NY

Tom McCarthy                        Old Calvary, Mattapan, MA

Joe McGinnity                                    Oak Hill, McAllister, OK

John McGraw                         New Cathedral, Baltimore, MD

Bill McKechnie                       Manasota, Oneco, FL

Joe Medwick                           St. Lucas, St. Louis, MO

Kid Nichols                             Mt. Moriah, Kansas City, MO

Jim O'Rourke                          St. Michael's, Bridgeport, CT

Mel Ott                                   Metairie, New Orleans, LA

Satchel Paige                           Forest Hill, Kansas City, MO

Herb Pennock                                     Union Hill, New York, NY

Eddie Plank                            Greenlawn, Gettysburg, PA

Charles Radbourn                   Evergreen, Bloomington, IL

Sam Rice                                 Cremated

Branch Rickey                                    Deer Run, OH

Eppa Rixey                             Greenlawn, Milford, OH

Jackie Robinson                      Cyprus Hills, Brooklyn, NY

Wilbert Robinson                    New Cathedral, Baltimore, MD

Amos Rusie                             Acacia Memorial Park, Seattle, WA

Babe Ruth                               Gate of Heaven, Hawthorne, NY

Ray Schalk                              Evergreen, Chicago, Ii

Al Simmons                            St. Adalbert's, Milwaukee, WI

George Sisler                           Cremated

Albert Spalding                       Cremated

Tris Speaker                            Fairview, Hubbard, TX

Casey Stengel                         Forest Lawn, Glendale, CA

Sam Thompson                       Elmwood, Detroit, MI

Joe Tinker                                Greenwood, Orlando, FL

Pie Traynor                              Homewood, Pittsburgh, PA

Dazzy Vance                           Stage Stand, Homosassa Springs, FL

Rube Waddell                                     Mission Burial Park, San Antonio, TX

Honus Wagner                        Jefferson Memorial Park, Pittsburgh, PA

Bobby Wallace                        Inglewood Park, Inglewood, CA

Ed Walsh                                Forest Lawn, Pompano Beach, FL

Lloyd Waner                           Rosehill, Oklahoma City, OK

Paul Waner                              Manasota, Oneco, FL

John Ward                               Rural, Babylon, NY

George Weiss                          Evergreen, New Haven, CN

Mickey Welch                         Calvary, Queens, NY

Zack Wheat                             Forest Hill, Kansas City, MO

Hack Wilson                           Rosehill, Martinsburg, WV

George Wright                        Holyhood, Brookline, MA

Harry Wright                           West Laurel Hill, Philadelphia, PA

Thomas Yawkey                     Cremated

Cy Young                               Methodist Church, Peoli, OH

Ross Youngs                           Mission Burial Park, San Antonio, TX