Today is the birthday of the late former major league catcher, Willard Hershberger. He was born in 1910.

He is a little known figure in the annals of baseball history, but holds the distinction of being the only major leaguer ever to have committed suicide during a season.

He broke into the majors with the Reds in 1938 as a backup catcher to Hall of Famer Ernie Lombardi. He hit over .340 in 60+ games in 1939, and had 2 at bats with a hit in the World Series that year. In 1939 he filled in for Lombardi, who injured a finger in July. The league leading Reds blew a lead against the NY Giants on July 31, and Hershberger had overheard whispers that had Lombardi been playing, they would have won.

On August 2, the Reds lost to the Boston Braves, after which Hershberger approached manager Bill McKechnie because he felt responsible for that loss. His manager had told him that it was nonsense. The following morning, Hershberger slit his wrists and throat in his Boston hotel room. He had been hitting .309 and playing well defensively.

The Reds went on and won the World Series in seven games against the Tigers with reserve catcher, Jimmie Wilson, catching six of the seven games.Hershberger's uniform number "5" was temporarily retired by the Reds the following year. Decades later it was permanently retired for another Reds' catcher, Johnny Bench.