(than I expected to find in Streamwood, IL)
From 2018 until about a month ago, I lived in Streamwood, Illinois. It’s about 35 miles from Chicago, with Elgin to the West and Schaumburg to the East.
Coming from Chicago on I-90 West, I’d exit to Barrington Road heading South, and getting home, I’d cut across Old Church Road to get to Schaumburg Road, which led to my street. The Old Church for which the street is named is the Immanuel United Church of Christ. Originally built in 1853; a new building arrived in 1868, and behind it is a small cemetery, where many of the original German settlers of Hanover Township (The village of Streamwood didn’t exist until 1957) are buried; many of the gravestones are old enough that the names are no longer legible.
The “Old Church” which inspired “Old Church Road”
It’s one of those cemeteries you pass and never imagine anyone remotely famous would be there until I was messing around with the SABR Graves Map and saw a marker in the vicinity of my house.
It turns out former Major League lefty Les Bartholomew is buried there. Bartholomew made it to the bigs for nine games; six for the Pirates in 1928 and three more for the White Sox in 1932.
Shout out to the SABR Graves map for making this possible
Bartholomew was born in Madison, Wisconsin in 1903 to Hyle and Augusta (Stiegman) Bartholomew. The family moved to Barrington (a little north of Streamwood) in 1912. The big lefty pitched for Burlington (Iowa) of the Mississippi Valley League in 1926, then for Columbia (South Carolina) of the Sally League the following season and he debuted for the Pirates April 11, 1928 before finishing the year with Dallas (Texas League). In 1929-30, Bartholomew pitched for Omaha (Western League).
Les Bartholomew, Columbia (SC) Comers (South Atlantic League), 1927
Bartholomew dealt with a sore arm in 1931, but still managed to strike out 17 in a game for Reedsburg in a 3-2 win over Baraboo in a Wisconsin American Legion game on June 14th. The Baraboo News Republic notes he was property of the Yankees at the time.
His next – and last – taste of big league action came in a 3-game cameo for the White Sox in 1932. He popped up on Midwest mounds through the mid-1930s. The Dayton Herald made mention of “The Husky Portsider” for the Middle Atlantic League Dayton Ducks in 1934, but it didn’t go well. Bartholomew made appearances for an Elgin (IL) team in 1935; curiously the Chicago Tribune referred to him as “Les Bartholomew, former Pittsburgh Pirate pitcher” despite having played for the White Sox only a few years prior. There were whispers of Bartholomew possibly joining the Racine Belles (Wisconsin State League) in 1936 but I was unable to determine whether he made the team.
Pittsburgh Pirates, 1928
In all, Bartholomew made nine major league appearances; his team lost all nine as he posted a 6.75 ERA in 28 innings. He recorded seven career strikeouts, and no fewer than three were of future Hall of Famers – Mel Ott, Jim Bottomley & Hack Wilson.
According to his 1972 obituary in the Barrington Courier Review, he had been self employed as a metal polisher, and was survived by wife Esther and a son, Richard. He lived in Barrington at the time.
It’s too bad I wasn’t able to discover Les Bartholomew until my last month in Streamwood, but it was enjoyable getting to learn a little bit about a former big leaguer who lived nearby.
The Hardball Voyager 