Jesse Lee Petty (November 23, 1894 – October 23, 1971), known as "the Silver Fox", was an American professional baseball

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

in the major leagues from 1921 to 1930, for the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

Brooklyn Robins The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1883 as the Brooklyn Grays. In 1884, it became a member of the American Association as the Brooklyn Atlantics before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brookl ...

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

, and

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

. He managed in the minor leagues in 1935 and 1936 for the

Knoxville Smokies The Knoxville Smokies are a Minor League Baseball team based in Knoxville, Tennessee. The team, which plays in the Southern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. The team was based in Kodak, Tennessee, a Knoxville suburb, fr ...

of the

Southern Association The Southern Association (SA) was a higher-level minor league in American organized baseball from 1901 through 1961. For most of its existence, the Southern Association was two steps below the Major Leagues; it was graded Class B (1902-19 ...

and the

Hopkinsville Hoppers The Hopkinsville Hoppers were a baseball team based in Hopkinsville, Kentucky between 1904 and 1954. The team initially played as the "Browns" in 1904, before adopting the "Hoppers" moniker. Hopkinsville teams played as exclusively as members o ...

of the

Kentucky–Illinois–Tennessee League The Kentucky–Illinois–Tennessee League (or ''KITTY League'') was a Class D level minor league baseball circuit that went through six different periods of play between 1903 and 1955. The League hosted teams in 29 cities from the states of Ill ...

. The passenger list of the ship "Dante Alighier", July 18, 1918 shows he came from Olney, TX. This list is for the Army enlisted for Company "I", 143rd Infantry, 36th Division. Jesse was a Private. His family lived in the Loving, Jean, Olney, TX area. His Father was Stephen Petty and his GrandFather was also Stephen Petty. His Father was a Brother to Jeptha, Joseph, Sylvanus, and Jesse Petty. All four of these Brothers served in the Confederate Army. But Stephen did not. He was too young. Joseph and Sylvanus Petty died at Camp Douglas Confederate P.O.W. camp in 1862. Their names are on the metal plaques surrounding Confederate Mound in Oak Woods Cemetery, Chicago, Illinois. Jess was born in "Indian Territory", Chickasaw Nation, before Oklahoma became a U.S state. He began his baseball career in 1915 with the San Antonio Broncos. Then Cleveland drafted him in late 1915. He was drafted into the Army in 1918, then in 1919 he was back playing minor league baseball again. He pitched left handed. In 1920 he began playing for the Indianapolis Indians, a minor league team. He was called up to the majors by Cleveland in 1921 but only played 9 games, then it was back to Indianapolis until 1925. He had a very good year for Indianapolis in 1924, winning 29 and losing 9, with an ERA of 2.83. Then he was called up to the majors by the Brooklyn Robins (Dodgers) in 1925. He played 4 seasons for the Robins (Dodgers) https://ripbaseball.com/2019/04/20/grave-story-jesse-petty/

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1894 births 1971 deaths Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from Oklahoma Brooklyn Robins players Chicago Cubs players Pittsburgh Pirates players Cleveland Indians players Minor league baseball managers San Antonio Bronchos players New Orleans Pelicans (baseball) players Waco Navigators players Milwaukee Brewers (minor league) players Indianapolis Indians players Newark Bears (International League) players Los Angeles Angels (minor league) players Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players Chattanooga Lookouts players Burials at Fort Snelling National Cemetery 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-baseball-pitcher-1890s-stub