Beyond this point there is a lot of information about a ballplayer named Billy Sullivan Jr. Billy Sullivan Jr. was the son of the famous Chicago White Sox catcher, Billy Sullivan Sr. The references throughout this web section pertain to Billy Sullivan Jr., the son.(photos of Billy appear below)
Billy began his Major League career in 1931 and played 12 seasons through 1947 for seven different teams. Billy did not play in the Majors in 1934 or during the war years of 1943-1946. His primary position was catcher, playing 414 games of his 745 total games at that position, but he also played 1st, 2nd, and 3rd base as well.
The only year he played in Cincinnati was 1935. For the Reds he never played a single game at the catcher's position, he and Hank Erickson being backup to Ernie Lombardi, the Reds' starting catcher. During Billy's tenure with the Reds he played 40 games at 1st, 6 games at 2nd, and 15 games at 3rd. His lifetime fielding percentage was .971 and his lifetime batting average was .289.
Before we go any further however, it is important to see how these wonderful artifacts, of a bygone era, were almost lost forever. .... In the words of Eric Bowyer:
"They had an advertised estate sale. I went at eight o'clock and I asked about the shed out back, which was locked. I bought a bunch of furniture and art. I came back at around noon to ask the name of the artist who painted the artwork (It was Billy's daughter Jill). They were getting ready to close the sale and I asked about the shed, which I had seen in the morning. They had found the key during the late morning and the guy told me I could go take a look. He said it was just full of old files. When I went back there a few people were looking through things, but it was so musty that nobody stayed long. There were lots of building construction and real estate files from the 50's and 60's. I wanted these files because of my interest in Sarasota architecture of the 1950's. The fellow wanted to close up so I asked him how much he wanted for the papers and files, and he said you can have them for twenty dollars, and he said it was all going to be bulldozed in a few months. He gave me the key and said to just put it under the brick by the door when I was finished loading up what I wanted. I guess the garbage collector had refused to take any more loads of trash from the house and I could see some of the old steamer trunks had been removed at some earlier time, and probably disposed of. I had to make a couple trips back and forth, just dumping the files into garbage bags and loading them into the trunk of my car. I began sorting through the papers in my courtyard outside and then I started to find Baseball related papers and photos. See Photo. I gave a large collection of Sarasota related papers to the local historical society, as the Billy Sullivan Archives, and I eventually was contacted by Billy's family, after the sale made the news. I sent them a large box of the personal family related items I found, such as birth certificates, Old family photos, love letters etc. Billy did not throw anything away. I wondered why the family didn't bother to look more closely through these papers, but as his daughter said later, 'That was Dad's office and business files, and who would have thought that these things would be there.' she then said that Baseball was business to Billy, and that's probably why they were there.
I collect a lot of things, but I do not really collect Baseball things, but I suspected they had value. I had to work very hard organizing and sorting the salvagable things from the mess, and I thought it would be best to put everything up for auction, and archive it for myself, so it could get it all out to the real collectors. In the last few years I have continued to find interesting Baseball related items, and I still have quite a lot of non-Baseball related Billy Sullivan documents. He was a fascinating guy.
These are photos of the unfolding discovery of the Billy Sullivan Files. After my initial find I was able to take photos of the discovery. You can see how interesting it was, but you can't imagine the mold and mildew smell. I think I damaged my respitory system. I had to sort through the debris outside on my courtyard.
The house and sheds were bulldozed about three months later and all of this would have been lost. Most people at the sale took a peak into the shed, took a wiff of air, and went running. I had to fight off snakes, bugs, and rodents to save these things. I was not much of a Baseball fan, but I love history, and I just suspected there was something of value to be saved. I learned so much about the innocence of early baseball, and I am glad you are able to share it on your site."
