Death Row All Stars Read online

1

  1

  Bailey, CF

  3

  0

  0

  0

  2

  0

  Schalk, LF

  2

  1

  0

  0

  0

  0

  Wallace, 2B

  3

  1

  1

  3

  0

  0

  Daley, RF

  3

  0

  0

  0

  0

  0

  Gunning, C

  4

  0

  0

  13

  2

  1

  O’Melia, SS

  3

  1

  2

  1

  1

  3

  Magor, P

  3

  0

  2

  0

  3

  0

  Totals

  29

  4

  6

  24

  9

  5

  Otto Gramm was traveling from Laramie and Cheyenne back to Rawlins when the Death Row All Stars played their third official game against the Juniors. Gramm was on the board of directors for the Laramie-­Hahns Peak Railroad and needed to attend to business. High-­grade iron ore had been found on Muddy Mountain that interfered with the laying of the railroad track.9 Gramm was preoccupied not only with the idea that the line would need to be rerouted, but also with trying to capitalize on the rich find. Gold was instantly found at the location, and Gramm was anxious to determine whether more of the substance might still be there along with the iron ore. He learned of the All Star win through the Rawlins Republican newspaper.10 Given the popularity of the team and comments made by Warden Alston in the August 4, 1911, edition of the Carbon County Journal about the “general demand to see his fast team play,” Gramm anticipated that more games would be scheduled.

  Gramm’s wife had plans for him to escort her to their sheep ranch outside Laramie for an extended stay. The couple would not return to Rawlins until August 20, and at that time Gramm intended to meet with prison guard D. O. Johnson and Warden Alston. Gramm was convinced that prison officials were benefitting monetarily from the inmate baseball team. Just as Governor Carey insisted the public be made aware of the “true records” of Gramm’s prison management and emoluments, and “who, if any were his partners,” Gramm demanded the same of Warden Alston’s administration.

  During the summer of 1911, as the All Stars were proving their mettle on the field, Governor Carey was spending a great deal of time on issues relating to the state prison and the convicts housed there. In addition to dealing with critics who believed Felix Alston was the wrong man for the job of warden, Carey recommended the pardon of fifteen prisoners, including a woman named Annie Bruce, and he responded to a letter pleading for the life of Joseph Seng.11 Anna Seng, Joseph’s forty-­nine-­year-­old mother, had written Governor Carey to try to spare her son from being put to death.12

  “Esteemed and Dear Sir,” Anna’s letter began.

  Your Honor will graciously allow the almost despairing mother of Joseph Seng now preparing for death, in jail at Rawlins, to intercede most humbly for his pardon. I was always hoping that a new trial might at least change the awful sentence. I do not want to criticize justice done in the case. Only I beg Your Honor to spare the life of my son, who had certainly received a good education at home.

  I cannot express in words what I have suffered since I got the awful news, not being able to lend, my dear son, any financial aid in his trial. I am afraid even to tell my hard working husband anything of this case, as the sad news might kill him and deprive the large family of its only support.

  I shall ever be grateful to you for any act of benign clemency. I am sure also that my unfortunate son will prove himself deeply grateful for such an act and turn a new leaf.

  Hoping and praying that my humble prayer will meet with your mind’s acceptance. I remain, Mrs. Anthony Seng. Yours gratefully forever.13

  After careful consideration Governor Carey penned an answer to the desperate mother.

  “Dear Madam, I have your letter of the 9th instant. Before I received your letter I had acquainted myself somewhat with the facts in the trial and conviction of Joseph Seng. You are his mother, and I have no doubt you are greatly distressed. He murdered his victim and gave him no chance whatever for his life. I will look into the matter further, but, to be entirely honest with you, at this time I do not see any excuse whatever for execution clemency in his case.”14

  Joseph’s spiritual advisor and confidant, Rev. Peter Masson from the Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Allentown, Pennsylvania, also wrote Governor Carey about the condemned man. “Esteemed and kind Sir,” the letter began. “Kindly allow me to intercede for an almost despairing mother. She has a son, Joseph Seng, in jail in Rawlins. If it should be possible to commute his sentence, I most humbly ask you to have pity on the poor mother and her large family. Very respectfully and gratefully, Peter Masson.”15

  Governor Carey’s response, dated July 15, 1911, was thoughtful and to the point. “Dear Sir, I have your letter making an appeal for Joseph Seng. I have given this matter some consideration and find there are not extenuating circumstances in this case. In cold blood he took the life of his victim and did not ever give him a chance to defend himself. I am sorry for his people, but he who breaks the law must suffer the penalty. Very truly yours, Governor J. Carey.”

  Life at the penitentiary for Seng was more than just waiting for the next baseball game. At an early age he’d worked in a drugstore, helping the pharmacist shelve medicine and keep inventory, and in prison he discovered that he had an aptitude for medicine.16 According to Dr. Griffith Maghee, who was the newly appointed surgeon for the state prison, Seng could “perceive relationships and connections among symptoms and a patient to determine his condition.” Maghee was so impressed with Seng’s skill that he made him his assistant. Seng’s job entailed helping to take a patient’s vital signs and administering basic first aid. The ten-­bed medical unit at the prison contained only the most rudimentary medicine, bandages, and splints. Inmates suffering from serious illnesses were sent to a hospital off-­site. A massive glass window at one end of the dispensary faced the gallows. The grim view no doubt helped injured or sick patients on to a speedy recovery. Dr. Maghee recognized potential in Seng and encouraged his natural aptitude in medicine. He gave Seng the opportunity to learn all he could about working in a dispensary. Outside the rudimentary task of maintaining the inventory of the bandages, headache tablets, and other basic healthcare supplies, Seng also helped monitor inmates who needed regular care. Regardless of his interest in the field, and the many hours spent working with the prison physician, nothing stood in the w
ay of baseball practice.17

  By the end of the summer in 1911, many penitentiary inmates suspected that Seng had lost any legal appeal to sustain his life. Many prisoners also believed that the only thing standing in the way of the immediate execution of the star ballplayer was his success on the baseball field. The brutal Lorenzo Paseo, who was originally scheduled to be hanged in August 1910 for the murder of a man named Charles Cole, had received a commutation of sentence to life in prison and was fighting for a complete dismissal of the conviction based on his idea that he did not get a fair trial and that the evidence was insufficient. Paseo resented being treated like a criminal by prison officials.18 And he resented Joseph Seng.

  One of the many reasons Paseo disliked Seng so much was the fact that Seng enjoyed a certain respect from the guards and prison employees like Dr. Maghee. Paseo’s resentment of other prisoners often manifested itself in violence. He had spent time in solitary for challenging W. H. “Cap” Brine, the chief cell house guard, and for stabbing a fellow inmate. In the summer of 1911, Dr. Maghee and his inmate assistant had helped tend to the seriously injured victim’s deep wounds before he was hurried away to the hospital at Rock Springs.19 Seng’s presence at the scene further enraged Paseo, whom most inmates referred to as a madman. As he was being hauled away to the dungeon, Paseo issued a warning to Seng “to watch himself” or he’d make sure Seng “never played another baseball game again.”20 According to the February 13, 1912, edition of the Laramie Republican, the “feeling among the prisoners against Lorenzo Paseo was very strong, and officials feared that if Paseo was released from solitary the inmates would kill him.” 21

  Paseo was also behind an escape plot at the prison. “The Mexican proposed that we make a break . . .” one of the Wyoming State Penitentiary inmates recalled in a biennial report compiled by the State Board of Charities and Reform in 1911. “He proposed that we arm ourselves with knives,” the inmate continued, “and when the Warden came around we would capture him and threaten to inflict diverse forms of butchery upon his person with wicked looking broom knives.” The plan was thwarted by an experienced guard.22

  Not all of the guards were as dedicated to maintaining order at the prison. Several of the guards employed there had been incarcerated at one time and had once worked for Otto Gramm, yet Warden Alston had kept them on, much to the dismay of the prisoners. Dissatisfied convicts decided to make plans to escape the prison and the dishonest guards. In addition, Paseo went to great extremes to try to discredit Seng with the warden and the team.23 Determined to take advantage of the disharmony among the warden, guards, and inmates, Paseo saw his chance to make more trouble for Seng one evening when a prisoner named Black tried to break out.24

  Black was discovered missing one night after dinner in late August 1911. Guards were sent to look for him and to pressure other inmates about what they might know of his disappearance. Black, who had been recovering from a head injury, was last seen in his cell. When guards searched the cell, all that was found were blankets on the bunk shaped to look like a body lying under them. A loaf of bread with bandages tied around it was used for the head. Paseo accused Seng of stealing the bread and giving it to Black. Seng vehemently denied the claim.25

  A thorough search of the facility was ordered and a prisoner known as Lindsey was called in to help. Lindsey was one of the penitentiary’s human ferrets. After two days Lindsey found Black. The man had been hiding in the combustion chamber of one of the boilers.26

  As the summer wore on, Seng made a point to avoid Paseo and those inmates under his influence. He concentrated on preparing for the next baseball game (scheduled for August 27, 1911), his work with Dr. Maghee, and his hoped-­for stay of execution. More than four months had passed since a jury had heard evidence against him in the slaying death of William Lloyd.

  Seng’s scheduled execution date, August 22, 1911, had come and gone, and he remained alive to consider the events that had led to his incarceration and to wonder how he could prolong his life. Fellow teammates such as H. A. Pendergraft felt the conditions at the prison were so bad that inmates would rather die than go on. “There is no night school at the penitentiary, no school of any kind apart from the school conducted by the Laramie Broom Company,” he wrote in an open letter that would appear in the April 25, 1912, edition of the Laramie Republican.

  The same mode of punishment for the infraction of the prison rules is in vogue as under the old administration. Prisoners are without sufficient oil in their lamps to last during the hours in which they are confined to their cells, and, consequently, are compelled to lose what short time is theirs by right to read or instruct themselves in other ways. It has been claimed that the heating plant has been practically renewed. Perhaps it has. If one new stack and a few minor pipe fittings constitute the renewing of a heating plant, then, certainly, the heating plant of the Wyoming state prison has been renewed.

  As to the hours of labor at the prison, they have been increased, also a greater demand for production from shop operators is required than was formerly under the old administration. Several prisoners work on Sundays as well as week days. They are not compelled to do so, of course, but a good prison record is not to be jeopardized, and as a matter of policy these men forfeit their Sunday and holiday nights to the call of the system.

  To be placed on a broom machine is in many cases regarded as a form of punishment, for it is very well understood among the prisoners who operate broom tying machines that their chances of being released on parole or in any other manner until the expiration of their time, are reduced to the minimum.

  When Seng stepped onto the ball field and took his position around the diamond, nothing in the way he played led spectators to think his mind was on anything other than the game. George Saban worked the team hard during their practice session at the penitentiary before the next game as Warden Alston and a clutch of guards stood near the home plate backstop watching the activity.

  After the August 15 murder of the prison guard W. F. Carrick, less than two weeks before the Death Row All Stars were to meet the Wyoming Supply Company Juniors again, security was at a heightened state. The extra scrutiny resulted in a few fumbles by the players, but it was nothing they couldn’t overcome with a powerful throw or fast running. Occasionally the warden would call Saban over to him to discuss something. Saban would return to his post each time and dispatch the ball harder and bark at the team to try harder—nothing less would be tolerated.27

  On August 21, 1911, Gramm returned to Rawlins after a brief stay at his sheep ranch outside of Laramie, and prison guard D. O. Johnson finally gave Gramm an estimate of how much money had changed hands as a result of the All Stars’ latest win. He reiterated what George Saban had told him regarding Warden Alston’s part in the betting and wagering on the All Stars. Gramm’s antagonism and resentment was further inflamed by the news.28

  Gramm continued to suspect that the improprieties extended to the governor’s office. He again reached out to Senator Warren, who needed Gramm’s support for his reelection campaign. Gramm’s goals were to have Senator Warren end the tenures of both Warden Alston and Governor Carey—and to end the careers of the members of Alston’s All Stars. He hoped the outcome of Senator Warren’s actions would result in his position at the prison being fully restored by the winter of 1911.29

  The last game the Death Row All Stars played against the Wyoming Supply Company Juniors was held on August 27, 1911. The citizenry of Rawlins and surrounding towns poured into Overland Park and found a seat in the stands to watch the matchup. Lovers of the national pastime were not disappointed with the meeting. The Juniors had a reputation for being an efficient ball club. They had played several games with opponents from Rock Springs and Laramie and had arrived on the other side victorious. They had not been so lucky when coming up against the penitentiary team. Wyoming Supply Company owner (and Juniors sponsor) Daniel C. Kinnaman had begun his association with the state prison in
the early 1900s. The building supplier provided the institution with material needed for various construction jobs. When Warden Alston assembled his baseball squad, Kinnaman couldn’t resist accepting a challenge that his team compete against the inmates.30

  Apart from the three losses Alston’s All Stars had handed the Juniors, Kinnaman’s boys had lost only one other game since they began playing in May 1911. In mid-­July 1911 the Laramie Juniors beat the Rawlins-­based team 9 to 5. According to the July 28, 1911, edition of the Carbon County Journal “costly errors on the part of the Wyoming Supply Company Jrs. is what cost the game, allowing the Laramie men to score on most of their errors.” The article mentioned that the game wasn’t very well attended and that “the boys failed to get money enough to pay the team’s extra expenses.” “They are a classy bunch of ball players and deserve your support,” the report concluded.

  On August 31, 1911, the Rawlins Republican newspaper noted that the good-­size crowd that had turned out to watch the Juniors and the Death Row All Stars was excited and “there was much enthusiastic rooting for both sides.” The article doesn’t elaborate on what specific player was the most valuable All Star; it merely mentions that “there are a few classy players among the prisoners and that they all understand the game.” “The Juniors did not play up to their usual standard,” the report continues, “and in consequence the prisoners captured the game by the score of 15 to 10.”

  After their win against the Juniors, the Death Row All Stars were escorted back to prison to await notification of the next practice or game. The inmates surrendered their gloves, bats, balls, and uniforms, and since no matches were pending, they were left to only imagine time on the baseball field. Talk at the penitentiary centered on the possibility of prisoners attending school and not playing baseball. The warden was considering a plan to have the educated convicts teach inmates who had never had the advantage of school. Local politicians thought a school in the prison would be of great benefit to the inmates and society at large. Dr. Maghee committed to teach the basic fundamentals of medicine and hoped that Seng would take advantage of the class should the idea be approved by the Wyoming State Board of Charities and Reform.31