Cincinnati Reds History: Willard Hershberger Commits Suicide

Some games have a way with staying with players for the rest of their lives. For Cincinnati Reds catcher Willard Hershberger, one regular season game was enough for him to commit suicide.

Every baseball player, regardless of the level they played at, has that one game that haunts their memories. One pitch, one swing, one misplay in the field – all those moments that may have cost a team a victory will stay with a person in life. Obviously, the higher the level, the more those games matter, and the more that in the postseason.

While we all remember how much his failure in the postseason haunted Donnie Moore in the years that followed the Angels collapse in 1986, he was not the only player to commit suicide because of his demons from the game. In fact, it was on this day in 1940 that Cincinnati Reds catcher Willard Hershberger committed suicide, killing himself due to a 5-4 loss in ten innings on July 31.

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The backup to perennial All Star and future Hall of Fame catcher Ernie Lombardi, Hershberger was given a chance to prove himself to be an every day player due to Lombardi’s injury. He performed well, continuing to hit for a high average and provided solid defense. However, he still had his doubts, which were magnified when he blamed himself for that loss on July 31st, feeling that he called the wrong pitches that day.

He played again on August 2nd, a chance to get his mind off of that previous outing behind the dish. However, in the Reds 4-3 loss in 12 innings, Hershberger was 0-5 with a walk and a strikeout. That following morning, still blaming himself for that loss three days before, despite manager Bill McKechnie telling him that it wasn’t his fault, Hershberger slit his throat, slicing his jugular vein in the Copley Hotel in Boston where the Reds were staying.

Depression, which was not understood at the time, ran in Hershberger’s family. A little over a decade before, his father killed himself by shooting himself with a shotgun that Willard had set down a few minutes before. Still haunted by that moment, Hershberger was ill equipped to handle being in the spotlight, magnifying his failures mentally.

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The only player to have their career end by committing suicide during the season, Willard Hershberger missed out on the Cincinnati Reds winning the World Series that season, proving that the one game was not that big of a deal. Yet, even one seemingly meaningless regular season game can leave a lasting impact on a player.