Hall of Famer Ed Delahanty was one the best hitters of the 1890s. He was 35 when he died in the Niagara River. Was he pushed? Did he jump? Was he mugged? No one knows.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The tombstone sits in section 10 of Calvary Cemetery.
It reads one word: DELAHANTY.
It's said to be the grave of Ed Delahanty, a Hall of Fame baseball player who had a lifetime batting average of .346.
He also is the first player who merited a memorial arm band, worn by the Indians. The latest is the No. 7 patch on Tribe's uniforms this season, honoring the death of former Indian Al Rosen.
The death of Delahanty remains one of baseball's great mysteries. When I visited his grave at Calvary Cemetery on Miles Ave. and East 100th Street, I was surprised that there was no mention of Delahanty being a baseball player on the tombstone.
In fact, there was no first name. No date of birth and death on the main tombstone.
Nothing but one word: DELAHANTY.
Underneath it reads: May they rest in peace.
There are four small stones near the big DELAHANTY. The man known as Big Ed Delahanty is under a stone reading: BROTHER EDWARD J. 1867-1903.
Next to him is this stone: SISTER FLORENCE E. 1880-1897.
History tells us that this is indeed his grave, and that is one of the few details that we can know for sure about his death.
THE BODY WAS "MANGLED"
The Plain Dealer's Jo Ellen Corrigan did some excellent research looking up stories from the time surrounding the death and burial of Delahanty in July of 1903.
We know that the funeral for the Cleveland native was held at Immaculate Conception Church. And we know that The Plain Dealer reported that "Mgr. Thorpe said the requiem high mass over the body ... all the members of the deceased family were present at the funeral services."
It also was reported that "the casket was not opened at the church."
That's because Delahanty's body "was taken from the river at the lower Niagara gorge ... Delahanty's body was mangled. One leg was torn off, presumably by the propeller of the Maid of the Mist, near whose landing the body was found." That was according to the New York Times.
When Delahanty boarded a train in Detroit bound for New York, The Plain Dealer reported that Delahanty was with the Washington team after it played a game in Detroit. He boarded the train for New York, "He had considerable money and over $1,500 in jewelry and diamonds in his possession," according to The Plain Dealer.
But when his body was found, there was no money, no diamonds. In fact, he was nearly naked, wearing only a tie, socks and shoes.
That body was discovered about 20 miles down river from where it was believed that Delahanty either jumped, fell or was pushed off the International Bridge between Fort Erie, Ontario and Buffalo, N.Y.
THE SAD LAST DAYS
Here's what we know about the last days of Delahanty, starting when he played his last game in Cleveland. That was on June 25, 1903. He was batting .333 with 1 HR and 21 RBI.
But this was down from the .376 that Delahanty batted for Washington in 1902. In fact, Delahanty was reportedly drinking heavily and planning to leave the Washington team to play for a team in New York. During this era, players jumped leagues and teams. Delahanty did it several times in his career, sometimes convincing other players to join him.
Mike Sowell wrote an excellent book about Delahanty and baseball in this era called JULY 3, 1903. Sowell is the author of one of my all-time favorite baseball books -- THE PITCH THAT KILLED. It's the story of the death of Tribe shortstop Ray Chapman and the 1920 Cleveland Indians.
Sowell has a lot of theories on what possibly happened to Delahanty, but he really doesn't know exactly what killed the 6-foot-1, 180-pound star of his era.
Back to what we do know. Delahanty was 35 years old, planning one last move to grab more money. He had drinking problems. He liked to gamble, especially on the horses. And he reportedly bet on the wrong horse ... too often. He had major money issues.
Or as The Plain Dealer reported: "The past winter he spent in New Orleans and is said to have lost money heavily on the races."
After his Washington team left Cleveland and headed to Detroit to play, Delahanty was too drunk and/or injured to take the field. He also was planning to leave the Washington team and jump to play for New York. Remember, this is the middle of the season.
According to The Plain Dealer, his mother (Mrs. James Delahanty) traveled to Detroit to help her son. There were rumors that she had been trying to talk him about his drinking.
He never played with Washington in that Detroit series. Before he boarded the train to New York, he "had taken out an accident policy made payable to his little daughter and he wrote a letter in which he expressed the hope that the train would run off the track or that something worse would happen to him," according to The Plain Dealer.
THE FINAL TRAIN RIDE
Delahanty was on a train called Michigan Central No. 6. and Delahanty was drinking.
The New York Times reported: "Delahanty had five drinks of whiskey says Conductor Cole, and he became so obstreperous that he had to put him off the train at Bridgeburg at the Canadian end of the bridge. Cole said Delahanty had an open razor and was terrifying others in the sleeper."
The New York Times kept spelling his name as "Delehanty," which was incorrect.
The Times also recorded that "Cole did not deliver (Delahanty) to a constable, as the Canadian Police say he should have done. He simply put him off the train."
The Times added that Delahanty "started to walk across the bridge, which is against the rules. The night watchman attempted to stop him, but Delahanty pushed the man to one side. The draw bridge had been opened for a boat, and the player plunged into the dark waters of the Niagara."
Well, that's one version.
THE NIGHT WATCHMAN
The night watchman's name was Sam Kingston. The Plain Dealer reported, "There were angry words between the two men, but it's not known if blows were exchanged."
Sowell's book said there were reports of someone following Delahanty, possibly to try and rob him. Remember, he had all that cash and jewels on the train -- and it was never recovered. His bag was left on the train, but not the valuables.
John Saccoman of the Society of Baseball Research wrote: "Big Ed walked out onto the 3,600 foot long bridge and was standing still at its edge, staring down into the water, when he was accosted by night watchman Sam Kingston, on the lookout for smugglers.
"A scuffle ensued, with Kingston dragging Delahanty back to the middle of the wide bridge, but Kingston then fell down and Delahanty got away. Moments later, according to Kingston -- who claimed it was too dark to see what happened -- Del either jumped or drunkenly stumbled off the edge of the bridge, falling 25 feet into the 40-foot-deep Niagara River. His naked body (except for tie, shoes and socks) was found 20 miles downstream at the base of Horseshoe Falls -- the Canadian portion of Niagara Falls -- seven days later."
The Plain Dealer reported that Delahanty's wife was "very bitter toward the watchman whom she claims used excessive force in the struggle with Ed which is supposed to have ended in his death."
In the end, we don't know much about the demise of Delahanty.
The Plain Dealer reported that Hall of Fame manager John McGraw was one of Delahanty's pall bearers, and "there were ball players from clubs all over the country represented."
The headline of the story read: GRAVE COVERED WITH FLOWERS.
But today, even his tombstone is cloaked in mystery.
