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An Ernie Nevers Mystery
In his three seasons as a pitcher for the St. Louis Browns, Ernie Nevers did nothing to distinguish himself as a player of great accomplishment. His MLB career record for that period locked down at 6 wins, 12 losses, with an ERA of 4.64. Oh, sure enough, Nevers gave up two of Babe Rurh's record-setting 60 home runs in 1927, but you have the feeling that the Bambino would have picked up the slack off some other pitcher, had Ernie Nevers never come along.
As most people know, Ernie Nevers is best remembered as one of the great football players of the early 20th century, a football player on the same level as the great Jim Thorpe. Pop Warner, his equally legendary football coach at Stanford, described Ernie Nevers as "the football player without a fault." The NFL wasn't anything close to what it is now back in the 1920s and early 1930s, but Nevers made his mark there too. After playing for Stanford in the 1925 Rose Bowl (The Indians, not Cardinal, lost to Notre Dame, 27-10, in that one!), Nevers went on to play a couple of NFL seasons for the Duluth Eskimos and later, after his Browns baseball days, he served as a playing fullback/coach for the Chicago Cardinals from 1929-1931.
All that being said, here's the mystery. - When Ernie Nevers died on May 3, 1976, an article in the Duluth Herald reported that Nevers was survived by his wife, Margery, and one daughter. There was no mention of a reported son named Gordy Nevers, who played minor league baseball in the Kansas City Athletics system, or of a grandson named Tom Nevers, a first round draft choice of the Houston Astros in 1990. Tom Nevers played for 13 years years as a minor leaguer before he retired after the 2002 season.
I cannot quote to you any linking sources on the son and the grandson, If I could link these two generations to Ernie Nevers, in fact, it wouldn't be a mystery. I've just heard things about them over the years and I was reminded of them when I came across a Wikepedia article today that places the fact of their actual relationship to the great Ernie Nevers in question.
Plain and simple: Does anyone out there know the truth? Are Gordy and Tom Nevers the son and grandson of Ernie Nevers? I don't really care to contact either to ask them such a question.
If you know anything, please leave a post on this thread.
Thanks.
Bill McCurdy
As most people know, Ernie Nevers is best remembered as one of the great football players of the early 20th century, a football player on the same level as the great Jim Thorpe. Pop Warner, his equally legendary football coach at Stanford, described Ernie Nevers as "the football player without a fault." The NFL wasn't anything close to what it is now back in the 1920s and early 1930s, but Nevers made his mark there too. After playing for Stanford in the 1925 Rose Bowl (The Indians, not Cardinal, lost to Notre Dame, 27-10, in that one!), Nevers went on to play a couple of NFL seasons for the Duluth Eskimos and later, after his Browns baseball days, he served as a playing fullback/coach for the Chicago Cardinals from 1929-1931.
All that being said, here's the mystery. - When Ernie Nevers died on May 3, 1976, an article in the Duluth Herald reported that Nevers was survived by his wife, Margery, and one daughter. There was no mention of a reported son named Gordy Nevers, who played minor league baseball in the Kansas City Athletics system, or of a grandson named Tom Nevers, a first round draft choice of the Houston Astros in 1990. Tom Nevers played for 13 years years as a minor leaguer before he retired after the 2002 season.
I cannot quote to you any linking sources on the son and the grandson, If I could link these two generations to Ernie Nevers, in fact, it wouldn't be a mystery. I've just heard things about them over the years and I was reminded of them when I came across a Wikepedia article today that places the fact of their actual relationship to the great Ernie Nevers in question.
Plain and simple: Does anyone out there know the truth? Are Gordy and Tom Nevers the son and grandson of Ernie Nevers? I don't really care to contact either to ask them such a question.
If you know anything, please leave a post on this thread.
Thanks.
Bill McCurdy
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