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Jun 19, 2023

Cottage Grove Sentinel

By: By Gerald Santana for The Sentinel Updated: 3 days ago / Posted Aug 25, 2023 COTTAGE GROVE, Ore – “Heroes get remembered but legends never die, follow your heart kid, and you'll never go wrong.”

By: By Gerald Santana for The Sentinel

Updated: 3 days ago / Posted Aug 25, 2023

COTTAGE GROVE, Ore – “Heroes get remembered but legends never die, follow your heart kid, and you'll never go wrong.” said the spirit of Babe Ruth in the 1993 film, “The Sandlot”, the quirky coming of age, baseball comedy.

Our legend remembered today, is of an athlete who pitched against the real Babe Ruth and threw spitballs at Ty Cobb. Not only that, but the twirler was also part of a World Series team in 1913. He quit baseball a half dozen times to then, reincarnate as an actor and cameraman for Buster Keaton in the 1920's. He seemingly disappeared into sales for cardboard shipping boxes, becoming an inventor in the 1930’s, and later, retiring in Dorena, Ore. as a resident who helped raise the existing barns at the Western Oregon Exposition fairgrounds in 1956.

His name was Byron Houck. Unfortunately, Houck's legendary story has been somewhat obscured for many years. In his obituary in 1969, near Santa Cruz, Calif., he’s remembered as a member of the 1913 championship team, but curiously, not much else. With the help of the University of Oregon newspaper archive, the Library of Congress digital collections, and the Cottage Grove Sentinel archives, a richer, local story can be told today about another one of Cottage Grove’s true unsung heroes.Part One: Houck’s First Innings

Byron Simon Houck was born in Prosper, Minn., 131 years ago this week on August 28, 1891. His family moved to Portland, Ore., where he is remembered growing up and pitching in sandlots and fields, when the game used strategy and speed, instead of power hitting. He was a prominent athlete at Washington High School, where his earliest mentions in newspapers began in 1909. By 1910, Houck had assisted the Washington team in winning two high school interscholastic championships. He was a member of the co-ed Owl Club at Washington. The club's purpose was to advertise the merits of the University of Oregon and to attract students to Oregon. Its membership grew from 8 to 28 students in 1911, where the club wisely recruited Byron into the UO’s varsity pitching staff as well; he was considered the year's most promising pitcher for the Duck’s. Even with a sore arm, his first game was a shut-out against Whitman College, allowing only two hits in six innings.

Houck’s first picture in a newspaper ran in the May 13, 1911 edition of the Oregon Emerald, where they called the freshman pitcher with a poetic name an excellent performer who earned his place on the varsity squad and also pitched with the Portland Inter-City League, the Gresham Giants.Johnny Tauscher, a fan of Houck’s since his time at Washington, is credited with connecting Houck to the Spokane Indians owner, Joe Cohn of the Northwestern League, by writing him a glowing letter recommending the twirler.

Houck initially declined the deal with the Indians, stating his interest was in finishing at the University, but was persuaded a month later to sign. The Spokane Indians owner, Cohn, was also a scout for Connie Mack of the Philadelphia Athletics of the major leagues. Mack is the longest-serving manager in baseball and arguably, all professional sports history, spending 50 years directing the A’s into seemingly countless wins, losses, and total of games managed, with 7,755.

In spring 1912, it was Cohn that recommended Mack acquire Houck for the Philadelphia A’s. The team was heavily chiseled into a competitive ball club by Mack that would take the National League’s pennant that year, though not the World Series. Houck was fast-tracked to the majors and signed with the A’s, finishing the year 8-8. He was a tower on the mound, standing six feet tall, weighing 180 lbs., Houck was known to throw a hard fastball. He was an up-and-coming favorite of Mack’s, the only purchase the legendary manager made that year.“You've got to keep your eyes open all the time up there,” said Houck in his earliest quote from The Sunday Oregonian, discussing his experience in the majors, “Once you let up the batters commence on you, and the bench is soon your resting place.”

Houck faced many early professional baseball legends including Napoleon Lajoie of the Cleveland Naps, who Byron found to be his worst enemy, easily finding Houck’s curveball more frequently than any other player. And Ty Cobb, who’s legacy includes him as one of baseball’s top three greatest players of all time, also faced Houck, where he could not discover one weakness in Cobb. Cobb still holds baseball’s highest career batting average (.366), among his many hitting records.

However, Houck’s batting average of .065 at the end of the 1912 season, was the lowest in baseball. With two paltry hits in 31 times at bat, he was still seen as an emerging hurler on the mound for the A’s. Connie Mack increased his salary, and asked Houck to report for spring training in San Antonio. “I guess I made good all right. Connie Mack, the greatest leader in the world, offered me a better contract for 1913, which certainly shows that he thinks I did not fail as a major.” said Houck, in Nov. 1912, despite having a sore arm all year.

With Houck’s earnings, he invested $475 on a property in Portland’s Mt. Tabor neighborhood, where some properties reach millions of dollars today. As his stardom grew with the A’s in 1913, Houck was featured on a special set of baseball cards that were included in packs of Fatima cigarettes. Byron was talked about and featured in national newspapers, and in Sept. 1913, he married Kittye Barnard Issacs, sister of vaudeville star Sophye Barnard, who was married to another rising vaudevillian star Lou Anger.

By October 1913, the Philadelphia Athletics were chasing after a victory against the New York Giants, where they took pennant and finally, the World Series. Byron played through his second season with a better record of 14-6, however, he walked 122 batters in 175 innings, and beaned six batters. Houck was benched through the World Series and a reputation as a slow, and wild pitcher began. He would often take over a minute between pitches, during the dead-ball era, which was slowly phasing out for the live-ball era that we see.

In January 1914, Houck sold his Mt. Tabor property to his mother and came into the A’s season as a reliable pitcher with a sore arm though, with questionable control. Byron pressed forward optimistically with a desire to learn. “I feel in great shape,” admitted Houck, “I think I’m going to have a great year. I feel stronger than ever before, and I have several months to reflect on the art of pitching.”

But much to his surprise, in May 1914, Houck was suddenly released by Connie Mack to his minor league Baltimore club in the International League. Houck refused to report to Baltimore, stating that if he could not pitch in the big leagues, he could not pitch at all, briefly quitting baseball for the first time in his career.

Understanding the difficulties staging a comeback from the minors, Houck quickly decided to sign with the Brooklyn Tip-Tops of the newly formed, outlaw Federal League the following month in June 1914. The Tip-Tops manager noted that Houck’s wildness “could be cured”. But later, Houck admitted that he did not have a good year with Brooklyn, blaming his sore arm in an October 1914 article. He took the winter with his wife in Portland and hoped to be in better condition the following spring.Upon their return, an eye-opening article was printed only once in The Morning Oregonian in Nov. 1914. Byron exposed cheating and corruptions in baseball, mainly over tip-offs to batters made by managers, specifically Connie Mack, by signaling batters in how the ball would be pitched to them by shouting out coded phrases and remarks such as “Bust this one,” for a curve or “That’s the boy,” for a fast one.Byron revealed, “We knew every ball [Giant’s pitcher, Jeff] Tesereau was serving up to us in the [1913] World Series,” added Houck. This was the A's third series title in four years. Philadelphia also won in 1910 and 1911, but Houck realized that Mack chose to win or lose games, and strategically used the players as pawns in trading wars by intentionally allowing some athletes to fail and others to be victorious. Thereby, sending his choice of cast-off’s to the minors or reducing their salaries for “errors’, all of which were conducted by Mack on the playing field.

Nearly every ball pitched was tipped off, according to Houck. He suggested that the Athletics were great batters because every pitch served to them were tipped off by Mack. Houck also revealed that manufacturers were coming around the clubhouse and slipping each player a few shirts, hats, etc., for the privilege of using their names in sponsorships. He also alleged that Mack took the heart out of the team by releasing the pitching staff that year and replacing them with new pitchers, instead of renewing their contracts. The revelations were alarming and as a consequence for following his heart, Houck was officially blacklisted by the major leagues. His meteoric rise from a young high school star to a Major League Baseball starting pitcher was now stalled; his future in baseball left in limbo.Houck Not Wanted

Part 2 of this series looks at Byron Houck’s return to baseball and his transition into the world of filmmaking through his connections with Houck’s brother-in-law, Lou Anger. It was Anger who brought Houck into a Hollywood movie circle that involved two of the biggest silent film comedy stars of the time, Roscoe “Fatty" Arbuckle and Buster Keaton.