Art Shires
Toronto Daily Star, March 20 1931
Art Shires (1906-1967) nicknamed himself "Arthur the Great Shires" in self-promotion. He was actually fairly great in 1931 with Milwaukee, batting .385, winning the league's batting title, and earning himself a contract with the Boston Braves in 1932. He had previously played with the Chicago White Sox and Washington Senators from 1928 to 1930.
Shires seems to have had something of a short fuse. In 1928, when playing in Shreveport, Louisiana, he threw a baseball at a fan and killed him; he was sued for $25,411 by the man's widow, but they eventually settled. In 1929, he punched his manager, Lena Blackburne, and was suspended. In the 1929 offseason, he went into the boxing ring and won a fight that was claimed to have been fixed.
After his baseball career ended, Shires was charged with murder after beating a man to death in a fight after the two had been drinking together. The charge was later reduced to aggravated assault.
Created October 15, 2025.