AKA, Deerfoot Needham
No, we did not have another child. Thomas Joseph Needham was born in Steubenville, Ohio on Thursday, April 17, 1879.
He was 24 years old when he broke into the Big Leagues on May 12, 1904 with the Boston Beaneaters.Here are his career stats. His nickname was, evidently, ”Deerfoot” which leads one to conclude he was fleet afoot, which is not a bad thing if one is a backup catcher, especially in the early 1900’s.
His final game, with the Chicago Cubs, was July 18, 1914.
He died in Steubenville OH on December 13, 1926.
Thomas Needham played for the Cubs from 1909 until 1914, which is one of the reasons I bought his baseball card on EBay. The fact that he was hitting .118 when the Cubs released him is one of the reasons I could even afford the card.
Still, we share a common surname. And for that reason alone, I’m very happy to be in possession of this baseball card.
(The idea for the vanity search, and, frankly, for the purchase of the Thomas Needham baseball card, was from Scalzi.)