Elliott is another hidden gem
In researching Fayette County鈥檚 glorious baseball past, I have uncovered another hidden gem. Eugene Birminghouse Elliott was born Feb. 8, 1889, in Fayette City, Pennsylvania.
I was unable to find much information on Elliott鈥檚 youth, the trail heated up when he started playing minor league baseball. Elliott first turns up in minor league statistics playing for the McKeesport Tubers of the Ohio Pennsylvania League in 1908, he was 19 years old at the time.
Appearing in 24 games in 1908 Elliott batted .259. The 5-foot-7 150-pounder, in 114 games, hit .283 in 1909 and batted .290 in 95 games in 1910.
In April of 1910, an interesting story concerning Elliott appeared in the New Castle News.
It was reported that Elliott was heir to between $50,000 to $75,000, which was big money back in those days. His grandfather, Joseph Elliot, of Jefferson Township near Brownsville had died. Gene was playing a game in Johnstown and was called home.
Joseph Elliott is said to have been one of the richest men in Fayette County at the time and was worth over a million dollars. He owned a thousand acres of as good land as there is in Western Pennsylvania and all underlaid with bituminous coal except one hundred and thirty two acres. He was a shrewd, energetic, successful businessman, one of the real businessmen of the county.
The inheritance, along with his three brothers, made Gene one of the richest players in the Ohio-Pennsylvania League.
Gene鈥檚 brother, Buck, played 12 seasons in the minor leagues and batted .305 in his career. Another brother, Heise Elliott, also played in the minor leagues.
Gene made it to the major leagues with New York Highlanders in 1911. The Highlanders later became the New York Yankees.
Manager Hal Chase of the Highlanders gave a glowing report about Elliott to the newspapers in spring training.
During the spring, Chase had predicted that the 22-year old third baseman would be an immediate star.
鈥淓lliott is as fast as a flash,鈥� Chase said in mid-March. 鈥淗e is also full of the stuff which makes a big league ballplayer shine. He can pound the ball. I think he鈥檚 a finished ballplayer right now.鈥�
A few days later Chase reiterated his assessment.
鈥淚 believe that Elliott is a finished big league player right now and the best that I have seen hatched out of the minors鈥� There is no doubt in my mind that he will deliver the goods.鈥�
Elliott played in only five games for the Highlanders in 1911. He managed one hit in 13 at bats, a double, he had one RBI. He never played in the major leagues again.
He was out of baseball for awhile, but returned to the minor leagues with the Bradenton Growers of the Florida State League in 1919 at the age of 30, he hit .298 in 57 plate appearances.
In 1920, playing 100 games, Elliott hit .325 for Bradenton. He moved to the Florida State League Orlando Tigers in 1921 and batted .285 in 113 games. Playing in 112 games for Orlando in 1922 he batted .329 with four home runs.
In 1923, Elliott returned to Bradenton and played in 109 games hitting .294 with five home runs. He played in 100 games in 1924 and batted .289. His final minor league season in 1926 at Bradenton he hit .264 in 104 games. Elliott managed Bradenton in 1924 and 1926.
In 10 minor league seasons, Elliott compiled a batting average of .294.
Elliott resided in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania in his later years and worked as a carpenter. He married his wife, Kathryn, in 1911. She passed away in in 1955. They had two sons, Eugene and Donald. Elliott died on January 5, 1976 in Huntingdon at the age of 86.
George Von Benko鈥檚 鈥淢emory Lane鈥� column appears in the Monday editions of the 缅北禁地. He also hosts a sports talk show on WMBS-AM radio from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.