Edward A. Batchelor
Encyclopedia
Edward Armistead Batchelor, Sr. (September 1883 – July 1968), also known as "Batch" and "E.A.", was an American
sportswriter
and editor for the The Providence Journal
, the Detroit Free Press
, and The Detroit News
. He was one of the charter members of the Baseball Writers Association of America
("BBWAA") upon its founding in October 1908 and held membership card No. 1 in that organization for many years.
in September 1883. His father, Joseph Branch Batchelor Jr, was an officer in the United States Army
. His mother was Mary (Gouge) Batchelor (born October 1858 in Massachusetts); he had and two younger sisters, Winifred (born December 1885 in North Carolina) and Dorothy (born September 1893 in Arizona).As a result of his father's service, Batchelor lived in nine states in the first ten years of his life. He recalled that he lived for a time in Arizona while his father's regiment was assigned "to subdue an unruly group of Apache
s. In the late 1890s, his father was stationed at Fort Slocum
on Long Island
. In April 1898, following the outbreak of the Spanish-American War
, Batchelor's father was promoted to the rank of captain. His father was assigned to the Philippine Islands where he led three companies of the African-American 24th Infantry during 1899 and 1900 in combat operations against Filipino insurgents in the Pangasinan
and Nueva Vizcaya
provinces on Luzon
. For his service and for gallantry in action, Captain Batchelor (Brevet Major) was posthumously awarded two silver stars.
While his father was serving in the Philippines, Batchelor graduated from New Rochelle High School
and enrolled at Brown University
at a salary of $25 per week. He began as a general reporter in Detroit before being assigned to assist the paper's sports editor, Joe S. Jackson
. Batchelor became the paper's sports editor in 1910 when Jackson left Detroit to become the sporting editor of The Washington Post
.
Batchelor covered the Detroit Tigers
from 1907 to 1917 during the years when Ty Cobb
dominated the sport. Batchelor wrote extensively about Cobb, and the two became friends. Well into his 80s, Batchelor insisted that Cobb was the greatest ball player of all time. Interviewed in 1939, Batchelor said, "There never was such a combination of brains and skill. Others might have been able to imagine the plays Cobb made, but only Cobb could execute them." When asked by The Sporting News in 1965 to pick his all-time American League All-Star team, Batchelor emphasized his view that Cobb was the greatest player of all-time: "He was the best two players I ever saw."
In 1916, Cobb became angry over a call during a game in which Batchelor was acting as the official scorer. Batchelor ruled that a line drive to the shortstop by Tris Speaker
was a hit, costing Cobb percentage points in the race for the American League batting championship. Batchelor later recalled that the ball was hit so hard that it nearly turned the shortstop (Donie Bush
) around, but Cobb wrote a six-page letter to Batchelor stating that "if Batchelor didn't value his friendship any more than that -- to aid the opposition -- then he was through talking to him." The two did not speak for two years after the incident.
One of the highlights of Batchelor's career came in 1912 when the Detroit Tigers went on strike to protest the suspension of Cobb. The team was in Philadelphia when the players went on strike, and manager Hughie Jennings
spent the morning visiting Philadelphia's sandlots to recruit replacement players for a 3:00 p.m. game. Batchelor covered the game and called the replacement players "the worst bunch of clowns ever to wear major league uniforms." He opined that the only reason the replacement Tigers scored in the 24-2 defeat was because "the Athletics were laughing so hard they couldn't field."
Batchelor also befriended Babe Ruth
. He covered Ruth when he was a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox
. Batchelor later recalled Ruth's generosity: "Whenever the Babe would come to Detroit, he'd say, 'A little short? How about a hundred bucks? How about fifty?' You'd say, 'No thanks, Babe, I'm okay.' And he'd say, 'Well, how about a box of cigars -- here y'are take a cigar.'"
Batchelor's baseball articles were also published during the 1910s in The Sporting News
.
Batchelor also covered the Michigan Wolverines football
team for the Free Press. After a predominantly Irish Notre Dame football team defeated Michigan 11–3 in November 1909, Batchelor opened his report on the game with a line that gave the Notre Dame their nickname. Batchelor wrote, "Eleven fighting Irishmen wrecked the Yost machine this afternoon. These sons of Erin, individually and collectively representing the University of Notre Dame, not only beat the Michigan team, but they dashed some of Michigan's fondest hopes ..." Notre Dame football historian, John Kryk, later wrote: "With that flowery lead, E.A. Batchelor of the Detroit Free Press popularized a moniker Notre Dame teams would later come to embrace - and aptly summed up the greatest athletic achievement to that point in Notre Dame history." Kryk noted that, according to Notre Dame folklore, Batchelor had overheard a Notre Dame player trying to motivate his teammates at halftime by pleading, "What's the matter with you guys? You're all Irish and you're not fighting worth a lick."
, Batchelor was hired by The Detroit News
and reported on the war from France. Batchelor later described the reason for his decision to take the job with the News: "Somehow, with a war going on, it didn't seem important if the Tigers were in first place or last." Two of Batchelor's articles from France, one reporting on soldiers' efforts to play baseball during lulls in the combat, and another about an Illinois school teacher who taught the French forces to play baseball, were published by The Sporting News
. He returned from Europe in May 1919 as a passenger on the SS Noordam.
Throughout his various advertising jobs, Batchelor was able to keep his membership in the BBWAA active by writing a monthly sports column for the Detroit Athletic Club News. In the 1930s, he also served as the publicity director for the University of Detroit football team. At the time of the 1930 United States Census, Batchelor was living at 69 Moran Road in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan
, with his wife, Frida S. Batchelor (age 45, born in New York), his son, Edward A. Batchelor, Jr. (age 15, born in Michigan), and a servant, Emma Black (age 46, born in Georgia).
In 1939, The Sporting News
published a lengthy feature story on Batchelor's 30 years of covering baseball in Detroit. In July 1958, the Detroit Tigers held a Hall of Fame Day at Briggs Stadium honoring the team's inductees into the Baseball Hall of Fame and also honoring Detroit's two surviving charter members of the BBWAA. Batchelor appeared in person to accept a plaque from Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick
. By 1962, Batchelor was the oldest active member of the BBWAA and held membership card No. 1 with that organization. In 1965, the Tigers celebrated their 10,000th game in the American League
. The team honored Batchelor on the occasion by presenting him with a television set and driving him around the field at Tiger Stadium
in a 1915 Ford Model T along with Davy Jones, a member of the outfield with Ty Cobb and the first player to face Walter Johnson in a major League game..
For many years, Batchelor resided in Grosse Pointe, Michigan
. In his final months, Batchelor lived in a nursing home in Detroit. Sportswriter Joe Falls
remained close to Batchelor in his later years. After Batchelor died, Falls described a visit to Batchelor at the nursing home:
Batchelor was married to Frida Isabella Stirling in 1913. Their son, E.A. Batchelor, Jr., was a sportswriter in Detroit from the 1950s to the 1960s.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
sportswriter
Sports journalism
Sports journalism is a form of journalism that reports on sports topics and events.While the sports department within some newspapers has been mockingly called the toy department, because sports journalists do not concern themselves with the 'serious' topics covered by the news desk, sports...
and editor for the The Providence Journal
The Providence Journal
The Providence Journal, nicknamed the ProJo, is a daily newspaper serving the metropolitan area of Providence, Rhode Island and is the largest newspaper in Rhode Island. The newspaper, first published in 1829 and the oldest continuously-published daily newspaper in the United States, was purchased...
, the Detroit Free Press
Detroit Free Press
The Detroit Free Press is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, USA. The Sunday edition is entitled the Sunday Free Press. It is sometimes informally referred to as the "Freep"...
, and The Detroit News
The Detroit News
The Detroit News is one of the two major newspapers in the U.S. city of Detroit, Michigan. The paper began in 1873, when it rented space in the rival Free Press's building. The News absorbed the Detroit Tribune on February 1, 1919, the Detroit Journal on July 21, 1922, and on November 7, 1960,...
. He was one of the charter members of the Baseball Writers Association of America
Baseball Writers Association of America
The Baseball Writers' Association of America is a professional association for baseball journalists writing for daily newspapers, magazines and qualifying Web sites. The BBWAA was founded on October 14, 1908, to improve working conditions for sportswriters in the early part of the 20th century...
("BBWAA") upon its founding in October 1908 and held membership card No. 1 in that organization for many years.
Early years
Batchelor was born in Raleigh, North CarolinaRaleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...
in September 1883. His father, Joseph Branch Batchelor Jr, was an officer in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
. His mother was Mary (Gouge) Batchelor (born October 1858 in Massachusetts); he had and two younger sisters, Winifred (born December 1885 in North Carolina) and Dorothy (born September 1893 in Arizona).As a result of his father's service, Batchelor lived in nine states in the first ten years of his life. He recalled that he lived for a time in Arizona while his father's regiment was assigned "to subdue an unruly group of Apache
Apache
Apache is the collective term for several culturally related groups of Native Americans in the United States originally from the Southwest United States. These indigenous peoples of North America speak a Southern Athabaskan language, which is related linguistically to the languages of Athabaskan...
s. In the late 1890s, his father was stationed at Fort Slocum
Fort Slocum (New York)
Fort Slocum, New York was a US military base occupying Davids' Island and Hart Island at the western end of Long Island Sound. The fort was named for Major General Henry W...
on Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
. In April 1898, following the outbreak of the Spanish-American War
Spanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
, Batchelor's father was promoted to the rank of captain. His father was assigned to the Philippine Islands where he led three companies of the African-American 24th Infantry during 1899 and 1900 in combat operations against Filipino insurgents in the Pangasinan
Pangasinan
Pangasinan is a province of the Republic of the Philippines. The provincial capital is Lingayen. Pangasinan is located on the west central and peripheral area of the island of Luzon along the Lingayen Gulf, with the total land area being 5,368.82 square kilometers . According to the latest census,...
and Nueva Vizcaya
Nueva Vizcaya
Nueva Vizcaya is a province of the Philippines located in the Cagayan Valley region in Luzon. Its capital is Bayombong. It is bordered by, clockwise from the north, Ifugao, Isabela, Quirino, Aurora, Nueva Ecija, Pangasinan, and Benguet.-History, people and culture:The name was derived from the...
provinces on Luzon
Luzon
Luzon is the largest island in the Philippines. It is located in the northernmost region of the archipelago, and is also the name for one of the three primary island groups in the country centered on the Island of Luzon...
. For his service and for gallantry in action, Captain Batchelor (Brevet Major) was posthumously awarded two silver stars.
While his father was serving in the Philippines, Batchelor graduated from New Rochelle High School
New Rochelle High School
New Rochelle High School is a public high school, comprising grades 9 through 12, in New Rochelle, New York, operated by the City School District of New Rochelle. NRHS serves over 3,300 students; offering more than 240 courses, including honors, research and advanced placement courses.NRHS...
and enrolled at Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
Sportswriter in Providence
Batchelor worked part-time for the Providence Journal while attending Brown. His son later described Batchelor's challenge in reporting while attending college: "It meant conflict with his classes at Brown and the classes lost. At the end of a year, he terminated his formal schooling (it is understood at the request of the faculty) and threw himself into full-time newspaper work." According to another account, Batchelor's father told a fellow Army officer that he wanted his son to be a newspaperman. Batchelor's father died in the Philippines in August 1902. According to the second account, the friend in whom Batchelor's father confided returned to the United States and "rescued Eddie from an auditor's desk and found a spot for him in the sports department of the Providence Journal. Batchelor career in journalism actually began as a general reporter with the Providence Journal, covering local fires, crime, and social events. He eventually was assigned to sports stories and became the paper's sporting editor. Batchelor recalled that his assignment to sports came after the Journals sports writer "went off the deep end," leading Batchelor to say that he credited "booze for any success I had in life."Sportswriter in Detroit
In 1906, Batchelor was hired by the Detroit Free PressDetroit Free Press
The Detroit Free Press is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, USA. The Sunday edition is entitled the Sunday Free Press. It is sometimes informally referred to as the "Freep"...
at a salary of $25 per week. He began as a general reporter in Detroit before being assigned to assist the paper's sports editor, Joe S. Jackson
Joe S. Jackson
Joseph S. "Joe" Jackson was an American sportswriter and editor for the Detroit Free Press, The Washington Post and The Detroit News. He was the founder and first president of the Baseball Writers Association of America, holding the presidency from 1908 to 1919.-Early years:Jackson was born in...
. Batchelor became the paper's sports editor in 1910 when Jackson left Detroit to become the sporting editor of The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
.
Batchelor covered the Detroit Tigers
Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are a Major League Baseball team located in Detroit, Michigan. One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in as part of the Western League. The Tigers have won four World Series championships and have won the American League pennant...
from 1907 to 1917 during the years when Ty Cobb
Ty Cobb
Tyrus Raymond "Ty" Cobb , nicknamed "The Georgia Peach," was an American Major League Baseball outfielder. He was born in Narrows, Georgia...
dominated the sport. Batchelor wrote extensively about Cobb, and the two became friends. Well into his 80s, Batchelor insisted that Cobb was the greatest ball player of all time. Interviewed in 1939, Batchelor said, "There never was such a combination of brains and skill. Others might have been able to imagine the plays Cobb made, but only Cobb could execute them." When asked by The Sporting News in 1965 to pick his all-time American League All-Star team, Batchelor emphasized his view that Cobb was the greatest player of all-time: "He was the best two players I ever saw."
In 1916, Cobb became angry over a call during a game in which Batchelor was acting as the official scorer. Batchelor ruled that a line drive to the shortstop by Tris Speaker
Tris Speaker
Tristram E. Speaker , nicknamed "Spoke" and "The Grey Eagle", was an American baseball player. Considered one of the best offensive and defensive center fielders in the history of Major League Baseball, he compiled a career batting average of .345 , and still holds the record of 792 career doubles...
was a hit, costing Cobb percentage points in the race for the American League batting championship. Batchelor later recalled that the ball was hit so hard that it nearly turned the shortstop (Donie Bush
Donie Bush
Owen Joseph "Donie" Bush , was a Major League Baseball shortstop in the American League for the Detroit Tigers and the Washington Senators...
) around, but Cobb wrote a six-page letter to Batchelor stating that "if Batchelor didn't value his friendship any more than that -- to aid the opposition -- then he was through talking to him." The two did not speak for two years after the incident.
One of the highlights of Batchelor's career came in 1912 when the Detroit Tigers went on strike to protest the suspension of Cobb. The team was in Philadelphia when the players went on strike, and manager Hughie Jennings
Hughie Jennings
Hugh Ambrose Jennings was a Major League Baseball player and manager from 1891 to 1925. Jennings was a leader, both as a batter and as a shortstop, with the Baltimore Orioles teams that won National League championships in 1894, 1895, and 1896. During the three championship seasons, Jennings had...
spent the morning visiting Philadelphia's sandlots to recruit replacement players for a 3:00 p.m. game. Batchelor covered the game and called the replacement players "the worst bunch of clowns ever to wear major league uniforms." He opined that the only reason the replacement Tigers scored in the 24-2 defeat was because "the Athletics were laughing so hard they couldn't field."
Batchelor also befriended Babe Ruth
Babe Ruth
George Herman Ruth, Jr. , best known as "Babe" Ruth and nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", was an American Major League baseball player from 1914–1935...
. He covered Ruth when he was a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...
. Batchelor later recalled Ruth's generosity: "Whenever the Babe would come to Detroit, he'd say, 'A little short? How about a hundred bucks? How about fifty?' You'd say, 'No thanks, Babe, I'm okay.' And he'd say, 'Well, how about a box of cigars -- here y'are take a cigar.'"
Batchelor's baseball articles were also published during the 1910s in The Sporting News
The Sporting News
Sporting News is an American-based sports magazine. It was established in 1886, and it became the dominant American publication covering baseball — so much so that it acquired the nickname "The Bible of Baseball"...
.
Batchelor also covered the Michigan Wolverines football
Michigan Wolverines football
The Michigan Wolverines football program represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Michigan has the most all-time wins and the highest winning percentage in college football history...
team for the Free Press. After a predominantly Irish Notre Dame football team defeated Michigan 11–3 in November 1909, Batchelor opened his report on the game with a line that gave the Notre Dame their nickname. Batchelor wrote, "Eleven fighting Irishmen wrecked the Yost machine this afternoon. These sons of Erin, individually and collectively representing the University of Notre Dame, not only beat the Michigan team, but they dashed some of Michigan's fondest hopes ..." Notre Dame football historian, John Kryk, later wrote: "With that flowery lead, E.A. Batchelor of the Detroit Free Press popularized a moniker Notre Dame teams would later come to embrace - and aptly summed up the greatest athletic achievement to that point in Notre Dame history." Kryk noted that, according to Notre Dame folklore, Batchelor had overheard a Notre Dame player trying to motivate his teammates at halftime by pleading, "What's the matter with you guys? You're all Irish and you're not fighting worth a lick."
War correspondent in Europe
After the United States' entry into World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Batchelor was hired by The Detroit News
The Detroit News
The Detroit News is one of the two major newspapers in the U.S. city of Detroit, Michigan. The paper began in 1873, when it rented space in the rival Free Press's building. The News absorbed the Detroit Tribune on February 1, 1919, the Detroit Journal on July 21, 1922, and on November 7, 1960,...
and reported on the war from France. Batchelor later described the reason for his decision to take the job with the News: "Somehow, with a war going on, it didn't seem important if the Tigers were in first place or last." Two of Batchelor's articles from France, one reporting on soldiers' efforts to play baseball during lulls in the combat, and another about an Illinois school teacher who taught the French forces to play baseball, were published by The Sporting News
The Sporting News
Sporting News is an American-based sports magazine. It was established in 1886, and it became the dominant American publication covering baseball — so much so that it acquired the nickname "The Bible of Baseball"...
. He returned from Europe in May 1919 as a passenger on the SS Noordam.
Later years
After returning from Europe, Batchelor went into the advertising business. And in 1920, he formed his own advertising firm, Batchelor, Mason & Brown. He later worked for the advertising department at Chrysler Corporation. As of the 1920 United States Census, Batchelor was living at 281 Agnes Avenue in Detroit with his wife, Frida Batchelor (age 35, born in New York), their son, Edward A. Batchelor, Jr. (age 4 years, 10 months, born in Michigan), and a servant, Elsie Lonsway (age 24, born in Canada) .Throughout his various advertising jobs, Batchelor was able to keep his membership in the BBWAA active by writing a monthly sports column for the Detroit Athletic Club News. In the 1930s, he also served as the publicity director for the University of Detroit football team. At the time of the 1930 United States Census, Batchelor was living at 69 Moran Road in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan
Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan
Grosse Pointe Farms is a suburban city bordering Detroit located in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It ranks as the 76th highest-income city in America. The population was 9,479 at the 2010 census. It is bordered by Grosse Pointe on the west, Detroit on the north, Grosse Pointe Woods...
, with his wife, Frida S. Batchelor (age 45, born in New York), his son, Edward A. Batchelor, Jr. (age 15, born in Michigan), and a servant, Emma Black (age 46, born in Georgia).
In 1939, The Sporting News
The Sporting News
Sporting News is an American-based sports magazine. It was established in 1886, and it became the dominant American publication covering baseball — so much so that it acquired the nickname "The Bible of Baseball"...
published a lengthy feature story on Batchelor's 30 years of covering baseball in Detroit. In July 1958, the Detroit Tigers held a Hall of Fame Day at Briggs Stadium honoring the team's inductees into the Baseball Hall of Fame and also honoring Detroit's two surviving charter members of the BBWAA. Batchelor appeared in person to accept a plaque from Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick
Ford Frick
Ford Christopher Frick was an American sportswriter and executive who served as president of the National League from to and as the third Commissioner of Major League Baseball from 1951 to . He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1970...
. By 1962, Batchelor was the oldest active member of the BBWAA and held membership card No. 1 with that organization. In 1965, the Tigers celebrated their 10,000th game in the American League
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...
. The team honored Batchelor on the occasion by presenting him with a television set and driving him around the field at Tiger Stadium
Tiger Stadium
Tiger Stadium was a stadium located in the Corktown neighborhood of Detroit, Michigan. It hosted the Detroit Tigers Major League Baseball team from 1912 to 1999, as well as the National Football League's Detroit Lions from 1938 to 1974...
in a 1915 Ford Model T along with Davy Jones, a member of the outfield with Ty Cobb and the first player to face Walter Johnson in a major League game..
For many years, Batchelor resided in Grosse Pointe, Michigan
Grosse Pointe, Michigan
Grosse Pointe is a suburban city bordering Detroit in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city covers just over one square mile, and had a population of 5,421 at the 2010 census. It is bordered on the west by Grosse Pointe Park, on the north by Detroit, on the east by Grosse Pointe...
. In his final months, Batchelor lived in a nursing home in Detroit. Sportswriter Joe Falls
Joe Falls
Joseph Francis Falls was an American journalist. He began his career in his native New York City. At the age of 17 in 1945, he took a job as a copyboy for the Associated Press. After an apprenticeship of eight years, Falls moved to the Detroit bureau of the AP.In Detroit, Falls flourished...
remained close to Batchelor in his later years. After Batchelor died, Falls described a visit to Batchelor at the nursing home:
"Batch couldn't have weighed more than 60 pounds at the end, but his mind was nimble. He'd drift between fantasy and fact. ... But before you could feel pangs of sadness at his deterioration, he'd pull you close to the bed and whisper: 'I think it's great the Lions got MunsonBill MunsonWilliam Alan Munson was a professional American football quarterback who played in 16 NFL seasons from 1964 through 1979 for five different teams. He was 6'2" and weighed 203 lbs. He was best known for his years as a starter for the Detroit Lions in the mid-1970s...
from the Rams. They couldn't win with PlumMilt PlumMilton Ross Plum was an American football quarterback who played for the Cleveland Browns , Detroit Lions , Los Angeles Rams and New York Giants of the National Football League.-Career:...
and Munson has the poise to be a good quarterback. Pour me a drink' Batch went out the way he would have wanted, with his lifelong friend and companion, Jack DanielsJack Daniel'sJack Daniel's is a brand of sour mash Tennessee whiskey that is among the world's best-selling liquors. It is known for its square bottles and black label. As of November, 2007, one blogger was claiming that it was the best-selling whiskey in the world. It is produced in Lynchburg, Tennessee by...
, at his side. He couldn't eat at the end, and water repulsed him, so they let him sip his favorite liquid."
Batchelor was married to Frida Isabella Stirling in 1913. Their son, E.A. Batchelor, Jr., was a sportswriter in Detroit from the 1950s to the 1960s.
Selected articles by Batchelor
- Fair Treatment of Deposed Player-Manager: Manager Connie Mack, of the Athletics, Believes That in Suit Cases the Player's Value Is So Impaired as to Be Sold or Traded (Connie MackConnie MackConnie Mack may refer to:* Connie Mack I , Hall of Fame baseball manager, player, owner* Connie Mack III , U.S. Representative , U.S. Senator from Florida * Connie Mack IV , U.S...
), Sporting Life, July 18, 1914, page 25 - A Mutual Contract: A Suggestion By a Detroit Lawyer Which Would Entail a Secret Understanding Instead of the Indispensable Reserve Rule, of the National Agreement, However, Sporting Life, January 23, 1915, page 11
- Major Leagues Alibi Spring Batting Slumps, Sporting Life, April 8, 1916, page 11
- Lochmoor Club's New Golf Course Close Approach to Ideal in Links, The American Golfer, September 1919