Sam Agnew, Seals' Greatest Catcher, Laid To Rest Here

The man whom sportswriters called "the best and most popular
cathcer ever to play baseball for the San Francisco Seals" 
died at 6:10 Thursday everning, July 19 at the Sonoma Valley,
District Hospital. He was Sam Agnew of Boyes Hot Springs,
known in baseball circles throughout the land, and possessor
of hundreds of friends in his beloved Valley of the Moon.

Sam, 63, succumed to a stroke, brought on by a serious heart
condition from which he had suffered for several years. Last
year he had been in the hospital for many months, but since
February had been enjoying life with his devoted wife, Dorothy,
at their Fetters Avenue hillside home.

In addition to his wife, a well known employee of Bacigalupi's
Plaza Market, the grand old athelete is survived by two brothers,
Troy Agnew of Georgia and Marshall Agnew of Vallejo; and two
sisters, Mrs. Alma Parks of Missouri and Mrs. Lilly Christopher
of Los Angeles.

Private funeral services were held Saturday at 11 a.m. from the
Chapel of Bates and Evans, with Rev. Bailey Lipsky officiating.
Inurnment followed at the Chapel of the Chimes.

Pallbearers included his old teammate and fellow catcher of the 
Seals, Archie Yelle of Woodland; and friends Albert Oerding,
Howard Warner and Gilbert Williams, all of Boyes Springs. Others
at the services were Eddie Milligan, president of Sacramento
Baseball Club and Mrs. Milligan, and Yelle's son, Archie, Jr.

Sam Agnew came to the Seals in 1920 after serving three years
with the St. Louis Browns, three with the Boston Red Sox and
one with the Washington Senators.

At old Recreation Park, he combined with Yelle, another famed
backstop, to write a dramatic chapter in San Francisco baseball
history in an era that produced such outstanding players as
Willie Kamme, Babe Pinelli, Paul Warner, Gus Shur, Smead Jolley,
Jimmy Caveney, Earl Averill and Jimmy O'Connell. 

A husky 200 pounder, Sam caught the shots of present Seals'
manager Lefty O'Doul, Ernie Shore, Pat Shea, Ed Pfeffer, Dutch
Ruether, Marv Moudy, Bob Geary, Walter Mails and many others.
He played with the Seals for eight years, 1920-1928.

Then he retired to Boyes Hot Springs where the Seals then held
spring camp, and opened a service station. Of his 63 years, 26
of them were spent in baseball, and even at the time of his
death, he was interested in an Augusta, Georgia, team with his
brother Troy.

Samuel Lester Agnew, April 12, 1887 - July 19, 1951

William Philip Pipkin