- Wish Egan
Aloysius Jerome "Wish" Egan (June 16, 1881 - April 13, 1951) was a
Major League Baseball player and scout.Playing career
Born in
Evart, Michigan , Egan played three seasons as a pitcher for theDetroit Tigers (1902) andSt. Louis Cardinals (1905-1906). He started 3 games for the Tigers in September 1902. Despite pitching 2 complete games with a 2.86 earned run average, Wish was 0-2 for the Tigers. In 1905, Wish was 6-15 as a starter for the Cardinals (including 19 complete games) before an arm injury ended his playing career.Legendary Scout for the Detroit Tigers:1910-1951
Wish joined the Tigers organization as a scout (and occasionally as a coach) in 1910 and remained with the club for over 40 years until his death in 1951. His discoveries as a scout included
Hal Newhouser ,Dizzy Trout ,Jim Bunning ,Roy Cullenbine ,Hoot Evers ,Dick Wakefield ,Johnny Lipon ,Stubby Overmire ,Art Houtteman , andBarney McCosky . And it was at his urging that the Tigers tradedBarney McCosky forGeorge Kell in 1946. Egan reportedly started scoutingHal Newhouser when Newhouser was playing Legion ball at age 15.In addition to his player discoveries, Wish Egan is also credited with having chosen the Tigers' spring training location in
Lakeland, Florida . An article fromThe Sporting News in 1933 included an interview with Egan about the new training location. The article credited Egan as "the Tiger scout, who selected the site." The article also noted: "Egan made many contacts in Lakeland and found the city happy over the prospect of once more being the host to a big league club. It has not had such an opportunity since the Cleveland Indians decided to move from there several years ago and is looking forward eagerly to renewing the experience." [http://motownsports.com/forums/showthread.php?t=47335] The relationship between the Tigers and Lakeland is now the longest relationship in baseball between a team and its spring training home.External links
* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/e/eganwi01.shtml Baseball-Reference.com]
* [http://www.baseballlibrary.com/ballplayers/player.php?name=Wish_Egan_1881 BaseballLibrary.com]
* [http://motownsports.com/forums/showthread.php?t=47335 Motownsports.com Tribute page on Wish Egan]
* [http://paperofrecord.com/paper_view.asp?PaperId=834&RecordId=160&PageId=770&iDateSearchId= The Sporting News Obituary]
* [http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&time=&date=&ttype=&q=schoenherr+st+%26+state+fair+st+e,+detroit,mi&sll=42.44452,-82.987783&sspn=0.011052,0.026994&ie=UTF8&ll=42.442208,-82.98538&spn=0.011053,0.019956&z=16&iwloc=addr&om=1 Wish Egan Playfield location]
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