Ray Spencer

The symbolism on this gravestone suggests George Raymond Spencer’s career – professional minor league baseball player, one of the best ever from Carroll County. Ray played during an era when baseball far exceeded football in popularity. His untimely death occurred as a result an Illinois train wreck while he was traveling with the Dayton, Ohio, Vets team. He earned his nickname “Deerfoot” as a joke because he was not swift on his feet

although a powerful left-handed hitter. Had he been a better runner, he might have reached the majors. A reporter for the Dayton Daily News wrote, “It has been said of Spencer that he could hit a ball harder than any player the league ever knew….”

When he died, Ray was playing in the Central League which apparently included teams

in the Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio area, but for several years before he had played with a

New Orleans team. His wife and little daughter visited him there in 1913.

The wreck on 23 August 1917 did not kill Ray immediately, but he died of his injuries

in a Champaign, Illinois, hospital September 13. An article praising Spencer and his

prowess as a hitter appeared in the September 14 Dayton Daily News under the title

“League Loses Best Hitter And Most Popular Player In Death Of Ray Spencer.”