William Franklin "Birdie" Cree (Sunbury, PA)
William Franklin "Birdie" Cree (October 23, 1882 – November 8, 1942)
Biography
- Name: William Franklin "Birdie" Cree
- Birth: Oct. 23, 1882 Khedive, Greene Co., PA
- Death: Nov. 8, 1942 Sunbury, PA (and is buried there)
Early life and family
Born in Khedive, PA, nine miles east of Waynesburg on October 23, 1882, William F. Cree attended grammar school in his home town. In 1901, he entered the Southwestern State Normal School in California, Pennsylvania and played both baseball and football. "I was a little fellow, but everybody was in athletics at State Normal School, including the coaches," Cree recalled. "I was a shortstop and third baseman on the diamond and quarterback in football." Two years later after graduating, he turned to teaching 8th grade in the California public school for a year until he received an athletic scholarship to Penn State for his gridiron abilities. Pop Golden was the football coach at state. Just a few days before entering State, Cree suffered a recurrence of an old shoulder injury from his normal school days and as a result, he never went out for football. As Cree explained "I went to Penn State in the fall of 1904 to play football, but I never did. You see, that summer I had played baseball at Washington, PA, and while sliding head first into second base one afternoon I dislocated my right collarbone. Three days after I went out for football at Penn State I again dislocated the same collarbone and had to quit the grid."
In his first baseball game played at Penn State, he hit a home run, a triple, a double and a single. Bill Yoder, a classmate at Penn State and a spectator jumped up and yelled "He's a bird--that's what he is!" The name stuck and eventually became 'Birdie' perhaps also because he was so small.
Cree graduated from Penn State in 1908 with a bachelor of science degree. He returned during the winters of 1909 and 1910 to gain a masters of science degree.
He married Mary Edna Keefer of Sunbury and they had a son, John Franklin, born August 21, 1916 in Sunbury.
Major League Career
Birdie played with the Sunbury town team under the name of Burde during the summer of 1904 and all of 1905. The next season he performed for Burlington, VT in the so-called "High Hat" or Millionaires League. The Tri-State League was flourishing at that time and Jim Sebring, an outfielder with the Williamsport club, was baseball coach at Penn State in 1907. He was persuaded to come to Williamsport as Bill Burde, shortstop of the championship Williamsport club. Cree batted .297 in 90 games and the Athletics bought him and left him with Williamsport. Before the 1908 season, Manager Connie Mack shipped another shortstop, Eddie Foster, to Williamsport on option. That move persuaded a problem to Manager Harry Wolverton of Williamsport. As he said "If you stat at shortstop, I don't know what will become of you, how would you like to play in the outfield? If you make the switch I'll guarantee you'll be in the big leagues before the season is over. Take my tip and give it a whirl."
Cree took the advice and before the 1908 season was over he was with the New York Highlanders. The Detroit Tigers had acquired Cree from the Athletics, but traded him and Jack Warhop, a pitcher with Williamsport, to the Highlanders in exchange for George Moriarity. Except for part of the 1914 campaign when he was with Baltimore, he played with the Highlanders until he retired from the game in 1915. Birdie made his major league debut in center field for the Highlanders in Detroit, September 10, 1908. New York won 6 to 5 and Cree collected one hit in three at bats, scored a run and handled four chances flawlessly. Warhop and Rub Manning who also had come up from the Tri-State League, divided the pitching for New York. Shibe Park in Philadelphia was opened in 1909 and Birdie was the first right-handed batter to drive a home run over its walls on June 24, 1909 against Philadelphia pitcher Cy Morgan. Cree in 1941 said "I drove that ball over the right field wall and into Matt Kilroy's saloon on the corner of 20th Street and Lehigh Avenue. I still have the ball." Cree recalled how Ty Cobb homered against the Highlanders in the first inning at New York July 25, 1910, and Harry Walter, Highlander outfielder, got one hand on the ball and suffered a broken finger. Detroit won 1-0 so it was Cobb's clout that settled matters. The "Peerless Leader" Frank Chance in a day he was leading the New York club out of a slump disapprovingly remarked about a play by Birdie Cree, "Somebody told me you were a ball player," and Cree replied "somebody told me you were a manger."
Frank Chance was manager at New York in 1913 and the Highlanders trained in Bermuda that spring. "I was overweight and patrolling the outfield in a rubber shirt, a sweat shirt and a sweater," Cree explained. "I guess I must have been about as broad as I was long. The grass in the outfield was up to my knees. All you could see from the bench was my head and shoulders. Somebody hit a fly my way, and I went after it, but before I had gone 10 feet I was tangled up in the bullrushes. The ball fell safe." After the inning was over, Chance was sitting on the bench, but didn't say anything. After a minute or two he looked over and rasped "Birdie, why in hell don't you lay down out there! You'd cover more ground than you do standing up." Cree didn't have an answer for that one.
Cree's banner year was 1911 when he blasted opposing pitchers with a .348 average in 137 contests. He was tied in 6th place with Chris Speaker for most valuable player. The next season he batted .332, but was in only 50 games due to sickness and a broken wrist. His lifetime record showed 744 major league games, 2,603 at bats, 345 runs, 761 hits of which 117 were doubles, 62 triples, 11 home runs and 132 stolen bases. His lifetime batting average was .292 and he had 1,212 putouts, 78 assists and 64 errors with a fielding average of .952. Cree was 5 feet 6 inches, short in stature but with broad shoulders and was one of the smallest players in the American League.
Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference
Cree explaining his early retirement said, "I was slipping. I couldn't go and get them like I used to. I was taking on weight and I had no intentions of going down to the bush leagues. I had a college education and I wanted to start in business." The First National Bank of Sunbury had a vacancy for a mail clerk and he took the position. The salary was a lot lower than he had earned in the majors, but he said he didn't mind beginning at the bottom. From the role of mail clerk he advanced into the bookkeeping department, then through the teller's cage to the loan department and finally to cashier.
On February 7, 1916, the Yanks' Harry Sparrow announced that Birdie Cree had been unconditionally released. Cree requested release even though his $6,000-a-year contract still had another season to go.
Banking career
In October 1916, Frank Stroh, bookkeeper of the First National Bank of Sunbury took a position with the North Branch Title and Trust Co. His place was filled by William C. Hill and W.F. Cree, who had been with the milling firm of Blank and Gottshall for some months, took Mr. Hill's place.
In June 1931, W.F. "Birdie" Cree, former New York American League outfielder, was elected cashier. Cree was a graduate of State College where he starred in baseball. He had been trust officer and assistant cashier and succeeded the late D.E. Bloom.
Later life and death
William F. Cree, 60, cashier of The First National Bank of Sunbury and former major league outfielder with the old New York Highlanders, predecessors of the present Yankees, died late Saturday, November 8, 1942, in Mary M. Packer Hospital at Sunbury. The funeral was held at the family residence and burial was in Pomfret Manor Cemetery, Sunbury. He was survived by his widow, one son, a brother and two sisters. He was a mason and an outstanding golfer.
Bank Officer Summary
During his banking career, W. F. Cree was involved with the following banks:
- First National Bank, Sunbury, PA (Charter 1237): Cashier 1931-1935
Sources
- William Franklin Cree on Findagrave.com.
- Birdie Cree on Wikipedia.
- Banks & Bankers Historical Database (1782-1935), https://spmc.org/bank-note-history-project
- St. Louis Post-Dispatch, St. Louis, MO, Mon., Feb. 7, 1916.
- Mount Carmel Item, Mount Carmel, PA, Tue., Oct. 3, 1916.
- Shamokin News-Dispatch, Shamokin, PA, Thu., June 25, 1931.
- The Daily Item, Sunbury, PA, Mon., Oct. 27, 1941.
- Mount Carmel Item, Mount Carmel, PA, Mon., Nov. 9, 1942.