Professional baseball is rife with legends and ciphers that
have popped up over the years. Although most of them may not reach the level of
a
Sidd Finch,
there have been many whose stories have vacillated between the humorous and the
tragic. Bugs Raymond was an outstanding pitcher who fits into both categories;
whose escapades that became legendary even as he battled alcoholism and wound
up murdered at the age of 30.
Born Arthur Lawrence Raymond in 1882 Chicago, little is
known about his early life. His nickname of Bugs
came from “bug house,” which
was slang of the time for an insane asylum, and was an apt description of his
frequent over the top behavior. He developed a drinking problem at an early age
but was still able to also develop into a top-notch pitcher.
The right-hander joined the Waterloo Microbes of the Iowa
League of Professional Baseball Clubs in 1904 and won 19 games. That was more
than enough to garner the attention of the major leagues, and he was acquired
by
Ed
Barrow of the Detroit Tigers before the season ended. With the team in the
second division, the 22-year-old was given an opportunity to see what he could
do. He appeared in five games, posting a 3.07 ERA in 14.2 innings. His only
decision was a loss, and his drinking likely led to his offseason sale to
Atlanta in the Sally League.
Raymond pitched in the minor leagues over the next three
years, enjoying mounting success on the back of a highly-regarded spitball. In
1907, while with the Charleston Sea Gulls, he won an eye-popping 35 games of
the 51 in which he appeared, logging 335 innings. Despite his continued wild
behavior (his unconscious body was
allegedly once seen being transported
in a wheelbarrow pushed by his manager), his results were so astounding that
his contract was purchased by the St. Louis Cardinals.
Finally sticking in the majors, Raymond continued to pitch extremely
well for someone who also battled a severe alcohol problem. He was 15-25 in
1908 for the Cardinals but had a 2.03 ERA and 145 strikeouts, which was good
for fourth in the National League.
Traded that offseason to the New York Giants for future Hall
of Famer
Roger
Bresnahan, Raymond continued his cycle of success and struggle with his new
team. He won 18 games in 1909 but continued to be completely unreliable because
of his behavior and drinking. Not surprisingly, he was frequently at odds with
manager John McGraw (
no
saint himself).
In July, 1910, the pitcher’s behavior got so bad that McGraw
gave him a train ticket and sent him home,
saying,
“I’m through with Raymond. I tried everything to tame him, and he kept getting
worse. He put the club to a big expense, and when we kept him sober he couldn’t
pitch. Many persons have advised me that he could pitch better ball, or at
least would pitch no worse, if he were kept in pickle, but the New York team
isn’t going to stand for that sort of work. If we cannot win with sober men we
will lose rather than to exploit such a character as a leading light of the
game.”
McGraw continued, “No manager would have gone so far with
Raymond as I did. Therefore, I’m not going to trade him. Probably nobody wants
him. But if he isn’t of any use to me he isn’t worth anything to anybody else,
and this game is better off without him. He’s pitched his last game for me!”
As it turned out, Raymond hadn’t quite pitched his last game
for Mugsy and was brought back the following year upon his promised best
behavior. Unfortunately, he was unable to turn over a new leaf and soon earned
a permanent ticket off the team midway through the 1911 season. He never
appeared in the major leagues again. Even when he had been able to pitch his
stamina wasn’t the same as other pitchers on the staff, sometimes necessitating
relievers to finish his games. As one writer
wrote,
“Bugs was a great starter but a poor finisher. He seldom finished anything but
a drink.”
For his major league career, Raymond was a combined 45-57
with a 2.49 ERA in 136 games (95 starts). He also tossed nine shutouts and was
thought of well enough that he even
earned a
Hall of Fame vote on the second annual ballot in 1937.
Sadly, Raymond’s life spiraled even more deeply out of
control following his departure from the Giants. When he was sober enough,
which wasn’t often, he found work pitching in semi-pro games. It all came to a
sudden end on September 7, 1912 in Chicago when his lifeless body was
found
in a dingy hotel. Sadly, he left behind his wife and a child.
It was originally believed that he had succumbed to a
combination of heart trouble and a heat wave that had plagued that area of the
country. However, a subsequent autopsy revealed something altogether different.
Raymond had a fractured skull and had suffered a cerebral hemorrhage.
The following week, 23 year-old Fred Cigranz was
arrested
in connection to his death and promptly confessed. He indicated he had been at
a baseball game and had been struck by a piece of flower pot that Raymond, a
spectator, had thrown at him. It later
came
out that an unknown person had first thrown the shard at Raymond, who
thought he was retaliating in kind. Although the Cigranz and Raymond had known
each other for years, the enraged younger man attacked the down-on-his-luck
pitcher, including kicking him in the head. He was hospitalized for several
days but eventually released, obviously not receiving the treatment he needed.
Frank Raymond, his brother, ultimately tipped off police as to the sequence of
events.
Cigranz lamented to police during his confession that “I’ve
known him for 15 years and I would not have hurt him bad for anything.” Frank
also
told
police that the flower pot incident was not his brother’s only recent dust up.
Just days prior, the two had been involved in a fight where Bugs was hit over
the head with a stick by one of their opponents. Although Cigranz took the
blame for the death, what ultimately killed the doomed pitcher in this age of
limited science is anyone’s guess.
It was also revealed that Raymond’s wife had left him
sometime earlier. No doubt, their troubles were caused by his drinking but were
also exacerbated by the death of a young daughter the previous year from
influenza. Since leaving the Giants he had not landed on his feet. His occasional
amateur games garnered him $10 a pop. He had also wired McGraw to see if he
could get his old skipper’s sympathy one last time but the only reply he
received was a telegram simply saying, “I have enough troubles.”
The number of stories and legends related to Raymond are
many. While some may simply be anecdotal, others are based in fact. Here are
some of the most memorable:
-While pitching a
game
with the Cardinals, he was trounced by the Pittsburgh Pirates and didn’t even
bother to change from his uniform after being removed. He walked straight out
of Exposition Park in Pittsburgh “in his baseball togs, stopping at every wet
goods emporium on the way.” At one of the bars, he slammed his glove on the
counter, ordered a beer and announced, “This is on the house! You know me, old
pal. I’m Bugs Raymond, the pitcher.” He reportedly eventually made his way back
to his team’s hotel but was in such an inebriated state and had so angered his
manager,
John
McCloskey, that he suffered a bad beating at the hands of his skipper.
-This allegedly played out in a similar fashion with McGraw.
In 1909, in was
reported
that Raymond was beset upon by his manager following some bad behavior on a
road trip. McGraw told reporters, “Raymond got a little ‘strong’ on the train
and needed correction. I did not want to fine him, so I administered a little
chastisement.” When next seen, Raymond was sporting a split lip and presumably
acting a little tamer.
-While with the Cardinals in 1907, he was struck by a car
that was initially
reported
had killed him. Always seeming to have brushes with injury and near death, he
also
nearly
lost a finger once when attempting to stop an electric fan with his bare hand.
-Raymond was
notorious
for his love of bananas, and even occasionally took some out to the mound with
him and ate between batters (likely just in the minors and semi-pro games).
Although he may have enjoyed consuming the fruit, the main reason he liked them
so much was that he used the sticky material inside the peel to make his ball
move—even leading that pitch to be named his “banana ball.”
-While pitching in the Sally League, Raymond went missing
from his team one day during the pennant drive. He was found at a local circus
but no entreaties could get him to budge. As he
explained,
“The circus only comes to town once a year and there is a ball game every day.
I just can’t miss the circus.” He was sold shortly thereafter.
-In 1909, Raymond
bet
his fellow rotation mate
Christy
Mathewson $50 that he would end up with more wins on the season. Raymond
did win 18 games but wagering against Mathewson, the best pitcher on the planet
at the time, was just not a smart idea, as he handily took the money by ringing
up 25 victories of his own.
-Foreshadowing his tragic death, Raymond was struck by a
Les Backman
pitch during a
1909
game that knocked him unconscious. His teammates carried him to the bench
and laid him out. Fortunately, he eventually came to and was no worse for the
wear.
-In late summer of 1910, Raymond nearly lost his life in a
train
accident while traveling to Litchfield, Connecticut to pitch for a local
team. His train smashed into several freight cars just outside of the station. Out
of three people injured, his were the most serious, as he suffered a broken
pitching arm and cut and bruised leg. Luckily, he was healed enough to pitch
the following year.
-Raymond’s drinking problem was so well known that a
newspaper once ran an
article
with the headline “Bugs Raymond Refuses Drink.” It detailed the pitcher’s
attempts to be “cured” of his alcoholism by enrolling at a sanitarium and
getting injections of drugs designed to curb his urges. All that led to was a
temporary lapse and a new cigarette habit, which he picked up while trying to
figure out how to while away his newfound time.
-In the winter following the 1910 season, Raymond made
headlines
by signing on to wrestle professionally in Chicago.
-In April, 1911, a fire broke out at the Giants home of the Polo
Grounds. Somehow, Raymond was one of the first on the scene and was later
reported
to have said, “’When I was warming up yesterday, I had a premonition of this
happening. There go the bats,’ sighed Raymond, as the players’ bench caught
fire.”
-Hall-of-Fame pitcher
Rube Waddell
is notorious for being one of baseball’s all-time bad boys. Even he couldn’t
believe the exploits of Raymond. When
asked
by one reporter, he took his fellow hurler to task, stating, “It’s a shame that
fellow doesn’t take better care of himself. He would be a wonder if he would
just keep in condition and pay strict attention to business.”
-Bill Byron, who umpired in the National League during
Raymond’s career, contributed to the legend with a story that was published in
a
1927
newspaper account. He asserted that following a game, Raymond asked him to
go to dinner. He only agreed to the usually frowned-upon fraternization because
the pitcher told him he simply wanted to stay out of trouble so he would be fit
to pitch in the next day’s scheduled doubleheader. Byron agreed, and while they
didn’t have drinks, the evening led to Raymond astride a whirling merry-go-round
horse and breaking the thumb on his throwing hand after attempting to grab a
brass ring that would have won him a free ride.
-
Rumor
has it that Raymond once bet legendary writer Grantland Rice he could eat an
entire turkey, drink a full bottle of Scotch, walk two miles to the ballpark
and then pitch a shutout. Naturally, Raymond not only won, but entertained the
scribe on their hike to the field by throwing rocks at birds stupid enough to
get within striking distance.
-The Giants also employed detectives or “keepers” to follow
Raymond around in an attempt to keep him on the straight and narrow. One time,
the pitcher and his tail disappeared for several days and were only found after
McGraw employed a different detective agency, who tracked the pair down to a
local saloon where they were going head to head in a drinking contest.
-Another way the Giants attempted to slow Raymond’s journey
down the bottle was by parsing out his paycheck. Legend has it that also
backfired one day when McGraw gave him a ball and told him to go out to the
bullpen and warm up. Later, the player was nowhere to be found. It was only
after the game that he was located, still dressed in his uniform, at a tavern
with a bunch of recently drained beer steins that had been purchased from the
proceeds of the ball he had sold to a fan in the stands.
Raymond truly was one of baseball’s all-time great
characters. While a lot of his behavior as a player was humorous, its
connection to drinking made it tragic in hindsight. Nevertheless, he
contributed greatly to the rich tapestry of the history of the game and should
always be remembered.
