Central Illinois has had many major league baseball players in history. Let’s look at them from the 12 counties that we have selected to become Central Illinois. (Logan, McLean, DeWitt, Woodford, Fulton, Peoria, Mason, Tazewell, Cass, Morgan, Menard, Sangamon).
Central Illinois Born Major Leaguers
Timothy Green Hendryx was born on January 31, 1891, in LeRoy, Illinois to William and Nancy Neeley Hendryx. He was the fourth of six children as Alva, Sarah and Cecil were older than Tim and Ettie and Louis came later. His father was a stonecutter and later on, his family moved to Mississippi.
Nothing has been reported about his days as a youth. However, beginning in 1911(age 20) he began to play professional baseball for the Yazoo City Zoos in the Cotton State League. He was primarily a third baseman but had the ability to fill in at other spots on the diamond. Late in the season he was spotted and signed by Cleveland scout Bob Gilks to finish the season with the Cleveland Naps. At this time of his career, he was 5’9″ and 170 lbs and was right-handed. He made his debut on September 4th as a pinch runner. He played in 4 games and had 2 hits in 7 at-bats along with one sacrifice hit.
He played sparingly in Cleveland the next year and spent most of the time suiting up for the New Orleans Pelicans where he also had several injuries. In 1913, he went to Birmingham and played in the outfield with “Shoeless” Joe Jackson and Jack Graney. He did well and hit .286 in 1914. His contract was purchased on August 15, 1915, by the New York Yankees where he played in 13 late-season games, hitting .200.
He bounced around from there for many seasons with no real baseball distinction. He also continued to have marital issues and history shows he had four wives in his lifetime. After baseball, he worked as a taxicab driver for Checker Cab and also was a painting contractor.
He died on August 14, 1957, in Corpus Christi, TX.
For More Biographies of Central Illinois Born Major Leaguers click HERE