Former baseball player from Holden barely remembered today

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By Dwight Williamson

Albert Maxwell Butcher 1910-1957
Albert Maxwell Butcher 1910-1957

Even though I am so tempted to write the truth about what I shall term as the “great Logan County soap opera,” which would be an epic look into what could not be better composed in even a make believe scenario, I shall, for now, remain patient, especially since there are many positive things that younger folks — especially those who aren’t running around with a needle stuck in their arms — should be told.

After many years of writing about how former pro football greats Charlie Cowan and Lionel Taylor should receive local recognition for their tremendous efforts as star players, finally, signs were placed near the entrance to the town of Man, commemorating the two former Buffalo Creek residents. Frankly, it’s a joke that it took so long to acknowledge these two men as former Logan Countians.

There have been great people emerge from Logan County to become hugely successful citizens in one type of endeavor or another. And, although I’ve gone into great detail about most of them before, today I wish to concentrate on one particular person who for many young men, especially during the 1930s and ’40’s, was a true hero for all of West Virginia in the sport played during a time when coal company baseball leagues existed throughout southern West Virginia, and when baseball was considered America’s favorite sport.

Before I mention his name, some folks in the Triadelphia area of Logan County may want to make room for another commemorative sign for a person who played baseball for the Man Hillbillies and several major league baseball teams — and I’d say hardly anybody today even knew that he did so.

Although he was actually born at Holden, in Logan County, Albert Maxwell Butcher, better known as just “Max,” wound up a 10-year major league career and eventually died while making his home near Man. Max — who started his career pitching by winning 15-0 as a 15-year-old for a Mallory Coal Co. baseball team — would later marry Esta Combs, the daughter of a Logan County Court member and Triadelphia area businessman, Grover Combs. Combs would be involved in one of Logan’s most disputed political races ever when he won the race for Logan County sheriff.

To display the pride that was exemplified for Butcher as the first native son of Logan to make good in the major league ranks, his fans in Logan County staged two “Max Butcher Days” at Crosley Field in Cincinnati for their favorite big leaguer. The first was on July 17, 1938, and was sponsored by the Logan County Chamber of Commerce.

Special railway excursions were run to Cincinnati from southern West Virginia and eastern Kentucky for that particular game, clearly showing what a local hero he had become. Those fans surely were elated when Butcher slammed a home run that same day against the Reds, the first for a Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher in six years.

During World War II when he was a player with the Pittsburgh Pirates, another special Max Butcher Day was sponsored by Logan and Huntington fans at Crosley Field in a contest against the Reds. Five hundred dollars in war bonds were presented to Butcher that day during intermission of a doubleheader in Cincinnati.

The road to the major league level, of course, was not an easy one for Butcher. After finishing high school, Max played for the Logan Indians in what was the popular Tri-State semi-pro league, which was composed of teams from West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio. And, according to a Logan Banner account, a scout for the then Philadelphia Athletics spotted the coal field phenomenon and Butcher was signed by the Athletics and sent to play minor league ball with the Atlanta Crackers. He had only been with the team three weeks when he pitched a perfect game against New Orleans.

He was purchased from Atlanta by Baltimore, which was then in the International League, and was sent to Galveston of the Texas League, where he started the 1935 season with 11 straight wins, ending up with 24 victories. That performance won him the Most Valuable Player Award in the league, the first time ever for a pitcher.

Butcher was immediately sold to the Brooklyn Dodgers for what was cited as “a large amount of money” and two players. On May 7, 1938, at age 20, he won his first major league game by defeating Cincinnati, 7-4. Reportedly, the old Smoke House restaurant on Stratton Street of Logan was filled with fans who got the results there by ticker tape. One old timer some years back recalled that “everybody was so happy that even the police celebrated with the drunks.”

Butcher was with the Dodgers for the remainder of the 1938 season and was then sold to Philadelphia, where he remained for two years prior to being traded to Pittsburgh in August 1939 during his worst year in the pros, losing 17 games. However, he bounced back in 1941 with a 17-12 record that included 19 complete games, a feat unheard of in today’s times. In 1944, he compiled a record of 13-11 for the Pirates that included pitching five shutouts. His final appearance in the big leagues was September 11, 1945, with Pittsburgh.

The righthanded starting hurler compiled a career pitching record of 95-106 and finished his playing days with a respectable earned run average of 3.75, which was good in those days when relief pitchers were used very rarely and starters pitched deep into every game.

Butcher was born in 1910 at Holden, the son of John Lee and Victoria (Fillinger) Butcher. His obituary revealed that he had played baseball for both Man and Beckley high schools and that at the time of his death both of his parents were living and resided at Cherry Tree near Logan. Per the obituary, for genealogical reasons, I will list his family survivors: Minnie and Ruth Butcher at the Cherry Tree home; Mrs. Edmund Randolph of Pikeville, Kentucky, and Mrs. H.W. Hutchinson of Bridgeport, West Virginia, and two brothers, Rex at the Cherry Tree residence, and Eldred of Pikeville.

As a longtime Dodgers fan it saddens me that the late Bob Weisner, a Pittsburgh area native and avid baseball fan, who was a legend as a news and sports voice for WVOW radio in Logan, had asked for me to accompany him to Forest Lawn Cemetery at Pecks Mill to visit the burial location of Burgess.

Bob died suddenly before we ever got to make that trek. Therefore, just last week I visited the cemetery where I had unknowingly walked past his Butcher’s gravesite many times, not knowing his first name to be Albert.

I dedicate this writing to Bob Weisner, a man I greatly respected. In so doing, and in conjunction with the expected retirement of Logan County Commissioner Danny Godby, another former major league baseball player who honed his skills in Logan County before climbing the ranks, I would offer this suggestion:

With Godby’s retirement from public office coming at the end of 2024, that leaves plenty of time to find funding to erect a proper entrance on Corridor G at the Boone-Logan county line. It would be nice to have constructed there something honoring the many people, Landau Eugene Murphy, Jack Dempsey, Devil Anse Hatfield, Godby, Willie Akers, etc., who have historically contributed to Logan County in one way or another. By so doing, we would be able to keep certain individuals like Max Butcher from simply disappearing from our proud local history. After all, you likely can admit that Butcher’s history WAS just about forgotten.

For example, here’s what the roadside memorial might read “Welcome to Logan County. Home of …”

Will the real Logan County successful grant writer now please stand up and get busy on this worthwhile project?

Dwight Williamson is a retired magistrate in Logan County. He writes a weekly column for HD Media.

Published with permission.

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1 thought on “Former baseball player from Holden barely remembered today”

  1. Robbie Robison

    Mr Williamson, I am so happy to see this column. I am one of the great nephews of Esta Butcher (grandchild of her sister). Max and Esta had no children. I was born just before Max passed, however my dad Larry and his brother Gerald were like children for Max & Esta. As a youngster myself, our family had many a trip to Man to visit my grandmother and her sisters, including Esta. Great Aunt Esta told me many times that I was the only descendant who showed interest in Max’s career. I was a huge baseball fan during my teen years. Before she passed, she wrote me a letter saying that she would leave all of Max’s memorabilia to me to build a legacy scrapbook in his honor. I did that around age 15-16, and still have all of his items to this day.

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