Baseball Suicides

Baseball Suicides

Nearly every decade since 1880 a minimum of two active or retired Major League ballplayers have committed suicide. Though the numbers have decreased in recent history, there still have been several recorded instances where players took their lives. The not so legendary list below is an analysis of known instances where Major League players have taken their lives.

"This isn't a psychiatric ward. Nobody's going to commit suicide. Nobody's beating their wives. It's not as drastic as people make it out to be." - Detroit Tigers (37-105 at the time) Outfielder Dmitri Young (2003)

Baseball Suicides In Chronological Order
Player Name^(Age)	Date	Method of Suicide	Notes
Frank Ringo⁽²⁸⁾	04-12-1889	Drug Overdose	Morphine was ingested
Jim McElroy⁽²⁶⁾	07-24-1889	Drug Overdose	Papers wrote "Morphine or Opium"
Ernie Hickman⁽³⁵⁾	11-19-1891	Gun	Self-inflicted gunshot wound
Terry Larkin^(uk)	09-16-1894	Razor	Slit his own throat inside a Brooklyn Asylum
Edgar McNabb⁽²⁸⁾	02-28-1894	Gun	Gunshot wound / Shot his girlfriend first
Ed Crane⁽³⁴⁾	09-20-1896	Poison	Ingested a liquid poison
Marty Bergen⁽²⁸⁾	01-19-1900	Razor	Slit throat / Killed his own wife & two kids first
Win Mercer⁽²⁸⁾	01-12-1903	Gas	Inhaled gas / Left warning note on evils of women & gambling
Dan Mahoney⁽³⁹⁾	01-31-1904	Poison	Ingested carbolic acid
Bob Langsford⁽⁴¹⁾	01-10-1907	Poison	Ingested carbolic acid / known mental problems
Chick Stahl⁽³⁴⁾	03-28-1907	Poison	Ingested carbolic acid
Ike Van Zandt⁽³²⁾	09-14-1908	Gun	Self-inflicted gunshot wound
Reddy Foster⁽⁴⁴⁾	12-19-1908	Gun	Self-inflicted gunshot wound
Dan McGann⁽³⁹⁾	12-13-1910	Gun	Gunshot wound in heart / Brother killed self earlier same year
Dick Scott⁽²⁷⁾	01-18-1911	Razor	Slit his own wrists
Walt Goldsby⁽⁵²⁾	01-11-1914	Gun	Self-inflicted gunshot wound
Charlie Weber ⁽⁴⁵⁾	06-13-1914	Gun	Self-inflicted gunshot wound
Eddie Hohnhorst⁽³¹⁾	03-28-1916	Gun	Gunshot wound / A cop who used his gun on a street corner
Patsy Tebeau⁽⁵³⁾	05-15-1918	Gun	Self-inflicted gunshot wound
Lou Meyers⁽⁶⁰⁾	11-30-1920	Poison	Ingested Strychnine
Arthur Irwin⁽⁶³⁾	07-16-1921	Drowned	Jumped off a ship into the Atlantic Ocean
Drummond Brown⁽⁴¹⁾	01-27-1927	Gun	Self-inflicted gunshot wound
Bill Gannon⁽⁵⁰⁾	04-26-1927	Drowned	No additional details in obituary
Tony Brottem⁽³⁷⁾	08-05-1929	Gun	Self-inflicted gunshot wound
Zeke Rosebraugh⁽⁵⁹⁾	07-16-1930	Gun	Self-inflicted gunshot wound
Jimmy McAleer⁽⁵⁶⁾	04-29-1931	Gun	Self-inflicted gunshot wound to head on 04-28
Carl Sitton⁽⁴⁸⁾	09-11-1931	Gun	Self-inflicted gunshot wound
Bill Grey⁽⁶¹⁾	12-08-1932	Gun	Self-inflicted gunshot wound
Pea Ridge Day⁽³⁴⁾	03-21-1934	Hunting Knife	Slit own throat / Operation to repair pitching arm failed
Charlie Dexter⁽⁵⁷⁾	06-09-1934	Gun	Self-inflicted gunshot wound
Guy Morrison⁽³⁸⁾	08-14-1934	Gun	Self-inflicted gunshot wound
Walt Kuhn⁽⁵¹⁾	06-14-1935	Gun	Self-inflicted gunshot wound
Emmett McCann⁽³⁵⁾	04-15-1937	Gun	Self-inflicted gunshot wound
Benny Frey⁽³¹⁾	11-01-1937	Gas	Carbon Monoxide / Sent down to minors at end of season
Willard Hershberger⁽³⁰⁾	08-03-1940	Knife	Slit own throat / Suffered from depression
Charlie Hollocher⁽⁴⁴⁾	08-14-1940	Gun	Self-inflicted gunshot wound into his own throat
Ralph Works⁽⁴³⁾	08-08-1941	Gun	Self-inflicted gunshot wound
Harvey Hendrick⁽⁴³⁾	10-29-1941	Gun	Self-inflicted gunshot wound
Lyle Bigbee⁽⁴⁸⁾	08-05-1942	Gun	Self-inflicted gunshot wound
Chet Chadbourne⁽⁵⁸⁾	06-21-1943	Gun	Self-inflicted gunshot wound
Bob Gandy⁽⁵¹⁾	06-19-1945	Gun	Self-inflicted gunshot wound
Harry McNeal⁽⁶⁶⁾	01-11-1945	Gun	Self-inflicted gunshot wound
Bob Gandy⁽⁵¹⁾	06-19-1945	Gun	Self-inflicted gunshot wound
Hack Eibel⁽⁵¹⁾	10-16-1945	Gun	Self-inflicted gunshot wound
Morrie Rath⁽⁵⁸⁾	11-18-1945	Gun	Self-inflicted gunshot wound
Ferdie Moore⁽⁵¹⁾	05-06-1947	Gun	Self-inflicted gunshot wound
Luke Stuart⁽⁵⁵⁾	06-15-1947	Gun	Self-inflicted gunshot wound
Bert Hall⁽⁵⁵⁾	07-18-1948	Hanging	Hung self in home
Jake Powell⁽⁴⁰⁾	11-04-1948	Gun	Self-inflicted gunshot wound / Inside a police station
Tim Bowden⁽⁵⁸⁾	10-25-1949	Gun	Self-inflicted gunshot wound
Wattie Holm⁽⁴⁸⁾	05-19-1950	Gun	Self-inflicted gunshot wound / Shot & killed wife first
Frank Pearce⁽⁴⁵⁾	09-03-1950	Gun	Self-inflicted gunshot wound
Hugh Casey⁽³⁷⁾	07-03-1951	Gun	Self-inflicted shotgun blast to neck
Wally Roettger⁽⁴⁹⁾	09-14-1951	Razor	Slit wrists
Skeeter Shelton⁽⁶⁵⁾	01-09-1954	Gun	Self-inflicted gunshot wound
Jim Oglesby⁽⁵⁰⁾	09-01-1955	Gun	Self-inflicted shotgun blast
Limb McKenry⁽⁶⁸⁾	11-01-1956	Gun	Self-inflicted gunshot wound
Fred Anderson⁽⁷¹⁾	11-08-1957	Gun	Self-inflicted shotgun blast
Gibby Brack⁽⁴⁷⁾	01-20-1960	Gun	Self-inflicted gunshot wound
John Mohardt⁽⁶³⁾	11-24-1961	Knife	Cut his femoral artery
George Davis⁽⁷¹⁾	06-04-1961	Hanging	Hung self in home
Fred Bratschi⁽⁷⁰⁾	01-10-1962	Poison	Ingested Battery Acid
Otto Miller⁽⁷²⁾	03-29-1962	Jumped	From fourth floor window at Brooklyn Eye and Ear Hospital
Cy Morgan⁽⁸³⁾	06-28-1962	Razor	Slit wrists
Johnny Niggeling⁽⁶⁰⁾	09-16-1963	Hanging	Hung self in home
Paul Zahniser ⁽⁶⁸⁾	09-26-1964	Gun	Self-inflicted gunshot wound
Stan Pitula⁽³⁴⁾	08-15-1965	Gas	Carbon Monoxide
Lew Moren⁽⁸³⁾	11-02-1966	Razor	Slit throat
Art Giribaldi⁽⁶⁰⁾	10-19-1967	Gun	Self-inflicted gunshot wound
Emil Kush⁽⁵³⁾	11-26-1969	Gas	Carbon Monoxide
Murray Wall⁽⁴⁵⁾	10-08-1971	Gun	Self-inflicted gunshot wound
Del Bissonette⁽⁷²⁾	06-09-1972	Gun	Self-inflicted gunshot wound
Don Wilson⁽²⁹⁾	01-05-1975	Gas	Carbon Monoxide
Dan Thomas⁽²⁹⁾	06-12-1980	Hanging	Hung self in jail / Arrested for a rape
Virgil Stallcup⁽⁶⁷⁾	05-02-1989	Gun	Self-inflicted gunshot wound
Carlos Bernier⁽⁶²⁾	04-06-1989	Hanging	Hung self in home
Donnie Moore⁽³⁵⁾	07-18-1989	Gun	Self-inflicted gunshot wound / Shot wife first
Mike Reinbach⁽³⁹⁾	05-20-1989	Car Crash	Drove his car over the edge of a cliff
Charlie Shoemaker⁽⁵¹⁾	05-31-1990	Gun	Self-inflicted gunshot wound
Terry Enyart⁽⁵⁶⁾	02-16-2007	Gun	Hit wife, stangled dog, shot son, self-inflicted gunshot wound
Player Name^(Age)	Date	Method of Suicide	Notes
Baseball Suicides

The baseball suicide chart is, sadly enough, not complete. Some print sources have mentioned at least another four names of ballplayers who likely killed themselves, but as their obituary did not support the claim we chose not to include them. If you find research / evidence about a player not on this page please email us.

The Cultural Encyclopedia of Baseball (Second Edition) by Jonathan Fraser Light has an entire section about baseball suicides. About twenty players on the chart above are listed in detail and two baseball related stories about suicides:

Good Planning. In 1938 a Cincinnati woman left a suicide note providing for the distribution of her All-Star Game tickets that she had not yet received.

Nagging Wife. An Atlanta cab driver shot himself to death after his wife told him to turn off the television and go to work. He did, just missing Henry Aaron's 715th home run.

Did you know that a number of baseball notables have committed suicide as well? Included in this list are Harry Pulliam, National League President from 1903 to 1909, who shot himself through the eye on July 28, 1909 & Ron Luciano, 11-Year American League umpire / author, who committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning.

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