Minneapolis Star Tribune
August 31, 1913
Jesse Beebe
Identity not confirmed
Born: December 22, 1883
Died: March 17, 1957
Goto Baseball Reference for Jesse Beebe 		p Majors:
No
St. Louis
Position: p
Only game: May 13, 1913
# of games: 1		 Beebe auditioned with Indianapolis in the spring, and then made one start with St. Louis in Covington, KY on May 13, 1913.


Beebe started one game for St. Louis, on May 13, 1913 in Covington. He lasted into the fifth inning, when he walked four of the first five hitters. He was replaced by Fred Arbeiter. The game articles did not identify who Beebe was or where he came from. However, the St. Louis Times previously reported on May 9 that "Beebe, now with the Omaha club, will be picked up at Indianapolis" (pg. 16). Benton Beebe pitched for Omaha in May, 1913, before being released to Springfield, Illinois. However, he pitched four innings for Omaha against Denver in Denver on May 12, 1913; he could not have been in Indianapolis to pitch for St. Louis the next day. Meanwhile, the St. Louis Star reported the Terriers signed Fred Beebe, who pitched for the Cardinals from 1906-1909 (May 9, 1913, pg. 10), but he was playing for Buffalo in the International League at the time.

The Indianapolis club tried out a pitcher named Beebe in camp prior to the start of the season. Indianapolis trained in Charleroi, PA, prior to the season, and the newspaper there discussed the club and its members. "Beebe made a wonderful record in Michigan last year where he pitched for Marquette. He won 18 games and lost 3. He is a right hander" (Charleroi Mail, April 19, 1913, pg. 1). The same paper later reported that he came to Indianapolis from the Western Canada League in 1911 "where he made a wonderful record" (April 29, 1913, pg. 1). Beebe never appeared in a game with Indianapolis, although he was in a team photo published in the Indianapolis Star on May 7, 1913.

On May 31, 1913, the Alexandria Times-Tribune promoted the imminent appearance of John L. Beebe, of the Indianapolis Federal League team, as starting for the Alexandria (IN) club the next day in their game against Richmond.

In July 1913, a pitcher named Beebe started appearing in box scores playing for a club in Austin, Minnesota. On August 31, 1913, Beebe threw a no hitter for Austin, facing only 28 batters; one batter reached with two outs in the ninth on an error (Minneapolis Star Tribune, September 1, 1913). On September 10, 1913, the Mower County Transcript (Lansing, MN) reported that pitcher J.L. Beebe left Austin for Detroit. The following winter, Duluth signed pitcher J.L. Beebe, from Rochester, Michigan (Grand Forks Herald, February 9, 1914), but there is no record he ever played for Duluth. Instead, Beebe returned to Austin in 1914, pitching in 20 games, winning 15 with a reported four no-hitters before he left the club in early August (Mower County Transcript, August 12, 1914). From there, the Aidrian (MI) Daily Telegram reported that "Beebe, who is a new acquisition with Hartsel's Orphans, having pitched independent ball in Minnesota and other western states before coming here, looked like a right fine pitcher" (August 22, 1914). Hartsel was Topsy Hartsel, manager of the Toledo club, and Jesse Beebe was the pitcher for Toledo that year, posting an 0 - 7 record for the Mud Hens.

Pitcher Jesse L. Beebe, from Detroit, Michigan, is first identified in the Detroit Free Press on July 11, 1908 after returning to Detroit from pitching for New Castle in the O & P. League. In 1911, he signed with the Keokuk Indians. His resume at the time indicated that he played with the touring Cheyenne Indian team and then Battle Creek in 1910 (Keokuk Daily Gate City, April 10, 1911). He was released before the season started (Keokuk Daily Gate, April 23, 1911).

A pitcher named Beebe then shows up pitching in the Washington State League for Chehalis and South Bend later in the summer of 1911. If this is Jesse Beebe, that could be the experience in the west mentioned in the various reports.

It seems likely that Beebe, the pitcher with Indianapolis in the spring of 1913 was Jesse L. Beebe, from Detroit, Michigan. It is reasonable to assume that this was the same pitcher who pitched for St. Louis on May 13 in Covington. Dusty Miller, who joined St. Louis on May 10 also tried out with Indianapolis that spring, as did Jack Reis. There was a photo of Jesse Beebe published in the Minneapolis Star Tribune while he was with Austin in 1913, and Beebe with Indianapolis was pictured in a team photo in the Indianapolis Star in May.

Who was pitcher Jesse L. Beebe?

There was a Jesse Louis Beebe, born on December 22, 1883 in Oakland, Michigan. When he registered for the draft for World War I, he was living in Detroit working for Ford Motor Company. He died in March, 1957 in Rochester, Michigan and is buried in the Mount Avon Cemetary. If this is the pitcher, he would have been 29 in 1913 when he made his one start with St. Louis.


Pictured with Indianapolis
Indianapolis Star
May 7, 1913
Pictured with Austin (MN)
Minneapolis Star Tribune
August 13, 1913