Billy Earle

Born in Philadelphia, Earle began his Major League career with the Cincinnati Red Stockings in 1889, and split his playing time between catcher and right field. In 53 total games played that season, his career high, he hit .269, scored 37 runs, stole 26 bases, and hit four home runs in 169 at bats. He played sparingly for the Pittsburgh Pirates during the 1892 and 1893 seasons. For 1894 season, he began playing with the Louisville Colonels, and batted .354 in 21 games. Although he hit well, and had a .954 fielding percentage, he was released in July. He sign with the Brooklyn Grooms shortly thereafter, and did equally as well. In 14 games, for them he batted .340, and had a .930 fielding percentage. In total that season, he batted .348 in 35 games between the two teams, but he never played another Major League season. ==Personality==

In December 1890, Earle had studied hypnosis, reportedly to mesmerize a lady who had previously showed no interest in him. According to Bill Stern in his book ''Bill Stern's Favorite Baseball Stories'', players recalled that Earle had a pair of piercing eyes, and gave anyone who he looked at a creepy, helpless feeling. He, Earle, and another teammate, John Ake, were in a boat when a wave created by a passing-by steamer capsized the boat. Barnes and Earle was able to swim to shore, but Ake drowned when he attempted to swim ashore himself. Barnes relates that he would never forget the look in Earles' eyes when he was watching Ake. Earle was good enough as a player, that no matter much he travelled around, he was able to catch on with some team. Superstition more than anything else, finally kept Earle from continuing his professional playing career. ==Post-career==

After his playing days ended, he became a part-owner, and managed an independent team in Clarksville, Tennessee. On his 1895 team was future Major League player and manager, Kid Elberfeld, with whom he joined the Dallas Navigators of the Texas Southern League for the 1896 season. Before the season began, he and Elberfeld had a lengthy salary dispute with the team, and it was not settled in their favor, so after Elberfeld was injured in May, both men jumped their contracts with Dallas. Earle, shortly thereafter, joined the Princeton University as a coach. In 1902, he became manager of the Cuban Fe Club on a cooperative basis, meaning that it was not a paid position. He was barred from playing for any of the clubs in the Cuban league due to their rule of not allowing any professional United States players from joining the league. It was noted that during this period that he was nearly penniless from losing at poker games. Earle died at the age of 78 in Omaha, Nebraska, and is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Cemetery. ==References==