|
 Ralph
was born
in the coal mining town of Gillespie, Illinois, he crossed the Mississippi
to St. Louis at an early age.
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Personal Information |
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Class of 1986 |
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Born: February 6, 1904 - Gillespie, IL |
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Died: March 6, 1975 - St. Louis, MO |
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Position:
Midfielder |
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Int'l
Caps: 3 |
Int'l
Goals: 0 |
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He
worked at Laclede Gas Company and in 1926 and played center forward for
the St. Louis Vesper Buicks, but was soon released and signed by the Ben
Millers club, where he was converted into a half back with great
success. He played left half for
Ben Millers in the 1926 U.S. Open Cup final against Bethlehem Steel and
for the St. Louis All-Stars against the touring Vienna Hakoah team in
that same year. In 1927 he played
left half for the St. Louis All-Stars against the touring National team
of Montevideo. His ability won
him a place on the U.S. team to compete in the first World Cup to be held
in Montevideo, Uruguay in 1930 and he played center half in all three
games that the U.S. played. However, early in the semi-final against Argentina he suffered a
serious knee injury, but played on in great pain at outside right until
half time when he retired. Later it was learned that he had seriously
wrenched in knee. As no substitutes
were allowed in those days the U.S. played the second half with ten
men.
U.S. National Team
Statistics |
