Hal Cisgen
| Date and Place of Birth: | August 20, 1920 Lorain, OH |
| Date and Place of Death: | July 11, 1944 Periers, France |
| Baseball Experience: | Minor League |
| Position: | Pitcher |
| Rank: | First Lieutenant |
| Military Unit: | 22nd Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division US Army |
| Area Served: | European Theater of Operations |
Ordway Cisgen was a 6-foot-6, hard-throwing lefthander who seemed destined for a crack at the major leagues.
Ordway H. “Hal” Cisgen was the son of Harold and Lillian Cisgen, and
was born in Lorain, Ohio, about 30 miles west of Cleveland. His father
was originally from Rochester, New York and had moved to Lorain in 1913
as a conductor on the B&O that ran through Willard and Akron.
Ordway attended Garfield Elementary School, Hawthorne Junior High
School, and was a graduate of Lorain High School, where he starred in
basketball and baseball.
“I knew Ordway ever since I was a child because we grew up in the same
neighborhood,” recalled Alex Olejko, a childhood friend and former mayor
of Lorain. “Ordway was always mildmannered. He was a good kid, an
excellent student, and a great ball player.”
During his high school years, the left-hander played with coach Mike
Telatnik's Lorain Elks, a premiere team of 15- and 16-year-olds that won
three city Class D League championships (1936-1937-1938). It was a
strong league that produced a number of professional players including
Joe Kruppa and Ray Mize.
Following high school graduation in 1939, Cisgen signed a professional
contract with the New York Yankees organization and joined the Butler
Yankees of the Class D Penn State Association in 1940. Early in the
season, he moved to the Easton Yankees of the Class D Eastern Shore
League and made a couple of appearances before being sidelined with an
appendicitis in June. After making a full recovery, Cisgen joined the
Ashland Colonels of the Class D Mountain State League in August. As the
tallest pitcher in the league at 6-foot-6, Cisgen had a 6–4 won-loss
record in 12 starts with 70 strikeouts in 78 innings.
Cisgen was with the Amsterdam Rugmakers of the Class C Canadian-American
league for spring training in 1941, but was back with the Easton Yankees at the start
of the season. After
eight ineffective outings, he joined the Fremont Green Sox of the Class
D Ohio State League, where he quickly developed into a useful starter.
On August 19, he beat the Lima Pandas, 3–1, allowing just four hits, and
helped the Green Sox clinch the Ohio State League pennant with a 4–2 win
over the Fostoria Red Birds on September 1. Cisgen finished with a 9–6
record for Fremont and struck out 114 batters in 119 innings. On
September 5, in a post-season exhibition game for the Green Sox, Cisgen
hurled 15 innings in beating the Negro American League Birmingham Black
Barons, 6–4.
On October 28, 1941, it was announced that Cisgen had been drafted in
the annual Class B draft by the Cedar Rapids Raiders, the Cleveland
Indians’ entry in the Three-I League. Cedar Rapids assigned him to the
Wausau Timberjacks of the Class D Northern League but by mid–May he was
with the Charleston Senators of the Class C Mid-Atlantic League. On May
27, he defeated the Canton Terriers, 5-3, and the Charleston Daily Mail
described him as "supreme in the clutch."
The Daily Mail went on to say, "Cisgen, a loose left-hander, went over
with local fans. His deliberate actions gave Canton base runners large
leads and they pilferred four sacks that had him in hot water. However,
the giant angled his tricky curve across to whiff seven while serving
only one free ticket."
Cisgen had six wins and six losses in 13 appearances for the Senators
with a 2.35 ERA.
In July, he was on the move again joining the Utica Braves of the Class
C Canadian-American League, and making an auspicious debut by beating
the league-leading Amsterdam Rugmakers, 5–2, striking out 11. Cisgen
made nine appearances for the Braves and was 5–3 with an excellent 2.32
ERA.
On September 4, 1942, Cisgen entered military service with the Army. He
initially served at Camp Perry — a prisoner-of-war camp on the shores of
Lake Erie in northern Ohio — where he pitched for the post team. He went
on to earn a commission as a second lieutenant and was with the 22nd
Infantry Regiment of the 4th Infantry "Ivy" Division when it arrived in
England in early 1944. The division landed at Utah Beach on D-Day, and
relieved the isolated 82nd Airborne Division at Sainte-Mère-Église. The
division then cleared the Cotentin Peninsula and took part in the
capture of Cherbourg on June 25.
In July 1944, the division was involved in fighting near Périers. The
22nd Infantry Regiment launched an attack against German defenses at
9:00 A.M. on July 11, and met with heavy resistance, during which First
Lieutenant Cisgen was killed.
“I had the chance to see Ordway once [before going overseas] when he
came back to Lorain in uniform to visit his family,” said Olejko. “Soon
after that, we heard the devastating news of his death. I can clearly
remember how broken up his family was at this untimely loss. Ordway
Cisgen was always a gentleman and a superior athlete. I am proud to have
known him and to have had the opportunity to play against such a great
man.”
Cisgen is buried at the Elmwood Cemetery in Lorain, Ohio.
In February 1998, Cisgen was among 11 athletes inducted into the Lorain
Sports Hall of Fame.
|
Year |
Team |
League |
Class |
G |
IP |
ER |
BB |
SO |
W |
L |
ERA |
| 1940 | Butler | Penn State Assoc. | D | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1940 | Easton | Eastern Shore | D | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1940 | Ashland | Mountain State | D | 13 | 78 | 38 | 58 | 70 | 6 | 4 | 4.38 |
| 1941 | Easton | Eastern Shore | D | 8 | 37 | - | 31 | 29 | 0 | 3 | - |
| 1941 |
Freemont |
Ohio State |
D | 19 | 119 | - | 57 | 114 | 9 | 6 | - |
| 1942 |
Wausau |
Northern |
C | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1942 | Charleston | Mid-Atlantic | C | 13 | 88 | 23 | 47 | 65 | 6 | 6 | 2.35 |
| 1942 | Utica | Canadian-American | C | 9 | 62 | 16 | 48 | 52 | 5 | 3 | 2.32 |
Hal Cisgen's grave at Elmwood Cemetery in Lorain, Ohio
Thanks to Astrid van Erp for help with photos for this biography
Date Added: January 27, 2012 Updated August 2, 2017
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