Grant Schopp
Grant Schopp (born November 9, 1877 in Dickinson County, Kansas; died August 3, 1950 in Abilene, Kansas) was a left-handed pitcher for the 1909 Birmingham Barons.
Schopp, the son of Jacob and Mary Osburn Schopp at their homestead in the Willowdale community. The family moved to Abilene when he was 3 years old and he attended city schools. He was attending a business college in Lawrence, Kansas when he volunteered with Company L of the 20th Kansas Volunteers for service in the Spanish-American War.
He got his start in 1903 with the Leavenworth of the Missouri Valley League and McCook of the Central Nebraska League. He debuted in 1904 with the Ottumwa Snappers, pennant winners of the Iowa League. He married the former Claribel "Clara" Schreiner of Abilene, Kansas that June and remained with Ottumwa through the 1906 season. His son, Kermit, was born in 1905.
In 1907 he moved south and played 19 games for the Augusta Tourists of the South Atlantic League before moving into the Southern Association as a pitcher for the Atlanta Crackers. In 1908, as the team's strongest lefty, Schopp was briefly assigned to the Nashville Volunteers to help them hold down the pennant contending Memphis Turtles. He handed them two losses, allowing Atlanta to claim the prize, and returned a hero.
In 1909 Schopp donned a Barons uniform for 22 games, winning five and losing 17. He finished his career in 1910 with the Abilene Reds of the Central Kansas league. In his three seasons in the Southern Association, Schopp pitched 54 games with a 22-30 overall record.
After hanging up his mitt, Schopp worked as an auto salesman and as a hearse driver for several undertakers in the Abilene area.
Schopp died in 1950 and is buried at Abilene Cemetery.
References
- "Wins A Bride" (June 28, 1904) Abilene Daily Chronicle
- "How Grant Schopp Lost $100 (September 4, 1908) The News and Courier
External links
- Grant Schopp at baseball-reference.com
- Grant Schopp at Findagrave.com