After attending the historic baseball national championship on September 20 and 21, we thought we would share the information we found while researching “local boys who made good”.

We are presenting these men in chronological order, beginning with Alva “Al” Burris. Five of these men are presented here and the four most recent will be presented in our net blog post.

AL BURRIS, PITCHER

Alva “Al” Burton Burris, born in Warwick, Maryland on January 28, 1874, was a pitcher in Major League Baseball, playing one game for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1894. He also served as a coach and athletic director at Washington College.
He started attending Washington College in 1892 and played on the baseball team there. By his junior year in 1894, he had become the college’s athletic director and coach of the baseball team.  Burris also played in Major League Baseball, appearing in one game for the Philadelphia Phillies as a pitcher. He gave up 10 earned runs in five innings against the Baltimore Orioles, but he also had two hits and ended his MLB career with a batting average of .500.
Burris was inducted into the Eastern Shore Baseball Hall of Fame in 2010.

 

VIC WILLIS, PITCHER

Victor Gazaway Willis was born on April 12, 1876, in Cecil County, Maryland. He moved to Newark, Delaware, as a young boy, where he attended school. He attended high school at Newark Academy and played both on the high school baseball team and in semi-pro baseball leagues throughout Delaware. Prior to joining the major leagues, Willis played football and baseball for the University of Delaware, then known as Delaware College, despite never attending the college. This was due to their low enrollment at the time, which allowed them to add local talent to fill out their roster.
Willis began his professional baseball career in 1895 with the Harrisburg Senators of the Pennsylvania State League.   After the team ceased operations in June, he moved to the Lynchburg Hill Climbers of the Virginia State League. The following year, he was promoted to the Syracuse Stars of the Eastern League.
Willis played for the Boston Beaneaters from 1898 – 1905, the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1906 – 1909, and the St. Louis Cardinals in 1910. In 1909, while playing for Pittsburgh, his team won the 1909 World Series.
Career highlights include winning the World Series in 1909, being the MLB ERA leader in 1899, being the MLB strikeout leader in 1902, and pitching a no-hitter on August 7, 1899.
After retiring from baseball, Willis purchased and operated the Washington House (the future Stone Balloon), a hotel in Newark, Delaware. Willis died in 1947 and is interred in St. John Cemetery in Newark.  In 1977 he was inducted into the Delaware Sports Hall of Fame.
The National Baseball Hall of Fame inducted him in 1995.

 

RED OLDHAM, PITCHER

John Cyrus Oldham was born in Zion, Maryland in 1893. Oldham was a left-handed pitcher who was drafted by the Detroit Tigers on July 31, 1914. He played five years with the Detroit Tigers (1914–1915, 1920–1922) and two years with the Pittsburgh Pirates (1925–1926).
Oldham made his debut for the Tigers at age 21 in August 1914 and pitched in nine games for the 1914 team—seven as a starter. He had a record of 2–4 with a 3.38 ERA (Adjusted ERA+ of 83) in 45.3 innings pitched.
He pitched the final inning of the 1925 World Series for the Pirates, striking out Goose Goslin to end the game and the series. Boston Red Sox owner Joseph Lannin bought the Providence Grays and Melrose Park from the Tigers for $75‚000. Detroit got to pick one player from the Providence roster and they selected Oldham‚ overlooking Carl Mays.

 

JIM KEESEY, FIRST BASEMAN & PINCH HITTER

James Ward Keesey (1902 – 1951) was an American professional baseball player. He played in 5 games for the Major League Baseball Philadelphia Athletics during the 1925 season and 11 games during the 1930 season. He was born in Perryville, Maryland, and died in Boise, Idaho, at the age of 48.

HARRY ANDERSON, OUTFIELDER

Harry Walter Anderson (1931 –1998), nicknamed “Harry the Horse,” was an American professional baseball outfielder and first baseman, who played in the MLB for the Philadelphia Phillies and Cincinnati Reds.

The native of North East, Maryland, was a towering presence, standing 6 feet 3 inches tall and weighing 205 pounds. He batted left-handed and threw right-handed.
Anderson attended West Nottingham Academy then West Chester University and was signed in 1953 by the Philadelphia Phillies. Anderson played 484 career games from 1957 to 1961, with the Phillies and Reds. Anderson’s first two years in the Major Leagues were his finest. Playing as the Phils’ regular left fielder with occasional appearances as a first baseman, Anderson finished in the Top 25 in voting for the National League Most Valuable Player Award in both 1957 and 1958.
Overall, Anderson recorded 419 career hits in 1,586 at bats with 199 runs, 82 doubles, 16 triples, 60 home runs, 242 RBI and 159 walks in the Major Leagues.
In 1992, Anderson was inducted into the Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame.