Aloysius Jerome Egan died last week. In the death of Wish Egan baseball lost one of its most fabulously successful scouts and this reporter lost one of the closest friends he had in the sport. It is no accident that the Detroit Tigers have been prime pennant contenders ever since they were organized. But no one man contributed more than Wish Egan.

Wish typified the Tigers. He was big, hearty, friendly, loyal, wise and generous with genuine class sticking out all over him. He was more than just another shrewd scout. He was an ambassador, white-haired, benign and dignified, intensely proud of the team he represented. His own personality reflected the personality of the ball club which knowing baseball men will tell you comes pretty close to the top. If Wish wasn't the best in his profession, he also came pretty close to the top.

Perhaps it isn't even necessary to reel off the list of names of big leaguers he discovered. But here's just a sample, anyway - Hal Newhouser, Dixxy Trout, Hoot Evers, Johnny Groth, Art Houtteman, Ted Gray, Johnny Lipon, Pat Mullin, Barney McCosky, Roy Cullenbine and Dick Wakefield. The lone mistake in that entire list was Wakefield, the baffling young $52,000 bonus beauty who has the potentialaties but has yet to live up to them.

The Wakefield case is, in many respects, the most striking illustration of the Egan method. The first time Wish saw the boy, Dick was a catcher on the Michigan freshman nine. Wish fell in love with Dick's batting style but instantly perceived that he wasn't suited to catching. So he suggested that the youngster become an outfield.

His investigation of the boy was thorough. He learned that Wakefield had no bad habits, an important factor in determining the future of any young athlete. He checked on his family background. This was particularly favorable because Howard Wakefield, the father, had once caught for the Cleveland Indians. Everything added up properly and Owner Walter Briggs gave Wish a blank check for the purchase.

Sixteen clubs were after young Dick. The Tigers, thanks to the persuasive Mr. Egan received the privilege of matching the best offer.. So they got him.

When the deal was completed, Mrs. Wakefield, Dick's mother, let Wish in on a secret. "Just before my husband died," she told him, "he gave you the inside track, Mr. Egan. He said to me, " Wish Egan will be after our boy. He'll make you an offer and if it is the equal of any other I want you to take it because Wish is one of the finest men I know and our boy will be in good hands."

Wakefield was a .355 hitter for Detroit until he went off to war. But the spark had disappeared when he returned and he never was a star again. It broke Wish's heart because he always remained close to every boy he brought up, a wise counselor and father confessor.

When the Tigers finally surrender on Wakefield and let him go to the Yankees a year ago, I received a touching letter from Wish at the Yankee Camp in St. Petersburg. "I'd appreciate it," he wrote, "if you'd browse around and let me know off the record what chance Dick has of making the Yankees. I still love the boy in spite of his faults."

That was Wish Egan for you. Wakefield was gone from Detroit but Wish's loyalties never wavered. He still was tremendously interested in the personable youngster and Wakefield's affection for the genial WIsh was just as lasting.

Newhouser was only 15 years when Egan first spotted the boy pitching sandlot ball. It was Wish who taught the fireballing left-hander how to throw a curve and it was Wish who signed him to a Detroit contract the first moment he became eligible, which was virtually the split second he'd finished pitching American Legion ball. Has was a hot-tempered kid in those days, and it was only the soothing syrup Wish poured into his ears which kept him from quitting in a blind rage on many an occassion.

It's a strange thing in as impersonal a business as baseball that Wish never lost the personal touch. No visit to Detroit ever was complete without visiting the expansive Mr. Egan. That went for baseball writers and baseball players because he was one of the most deeply loved men in the game. He was a wonderful person and Detroit never can find anyone to replace him. The Tiger-hunting talent scout was in a class by himself.

Obituary