Harry Lumley, Moonlight Graham, and family ties
Harry Lumley was described in 1907 as the best slugger in all of major league baseball.
I never heard of him until Dawn Hale called several years ago to ask if I could help her on some family history research. Dawn is the family history go-to person for everyone at church in Frankfort, so that was a strange request. Why would the expert need my help?
Dawn is a direct descendant of Lumley. Her research had turned up a sketchy lead that he played baseball. I've been a member of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) for years. It's a club of math nerds, baseball statisticians, historians, writers and fanatics. I fit three of the five categories.
It only took seconds to find Lumley all over the baseball record.
Add one more finding this week, while at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Moonlight "Doc" Graham has ties to this place that opened all kinds of doors to a SABR nut. The connections got even stronger, to my great friend back home. The box score of the only game that Graham appeared in shows who the right fielder was on the opposing Brooklyn team -- "Lumley."
As you can see from the box score, Lumley drove in the only run for Brooklyn in the blowout that allowed Moonlight to play his only major league game.
Dawn, here are some more links and history of your ancestor who didn't just play baseball. He was one of the best of his time.
I never heard of him until Dawn Hale called several years ago to ask if I could help her on some family history research. Dawn is the family history go-to person for everyone at church in Frankfort, so that was a strange request. Why would the expert need my help?
Dawn is a direct descendant of Lumley. Her research had turned up a sketchy lead that he played baseball. I've been a member of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) for years. It's a club of math nerds, baseball statisticians, historians, writers and fanatics. I fit three of the five categories.
It only took seconds to find Lumley all over the baseball record.
Add one more finding this week, while at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Moonlight "Doc" Graham has ties to this place that opened all kinds of doors to a SABR nut. The connections got even stronger, to my great friend back home. The box score of the only game that Graham appeared in shows who the right fielder was on the opposing Brooklyn team -- "Lumley."
As you can see from the box score, Lumley drove in the only run for Brooklyn in the blowout that allowed Moonlight to play his only major league game.
Dawn, here are some more links and history of your ancestor who didn't just play baseball. He was one of the best of his time.
- Here is the link to Moonlight’s one game. Lumley is the right fielder for Brooklyn. Archie Graham subs in right field for the Giants but never gets to bat.
- Bio of Harry Lumley. https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/b9d1da16
- Berly "Trader" Horne: My own Moonlight Graham, years before "Field of Dreams."
- Visiting Moonlight Graham's gravesite in Rochester, Minnesota.