On August 3, 1940 — During a road trip in Boston, Reds backup catcher Willard Hershberger is found dead in his room after he commits suicide by slashing his throat in Boston’s Copley Plaza Hotel. Having talked with his fragile player for hours after the game, Cincinnati skipper Bill McKechnie thought he had consoled the worn out backstop, who was distraught about leaving runners on base in every at bat with his 0-for-5 performance at the plate and for calling wrong pitches in the July 31, 5 – 4, 10-inning loss to New York. Hershberger’s father also committed suicide, in 1928.