Carson Lee Bigbee (1895-1964) is a Notable burial at https://www.cem.va.gov/cems/nchp/willamette.asp.  He was born in Oregon, the youngest of three boys. His parents were teachers and all three children were gifted athletes. Bigbee's comparatively small size and speed on the field earned him the nickname "Skeeter" in high school. Professional baseball teams took notice, but he followed his brothers to the University of Oregon. Skeeter Bigbee joined the professional leagues in 1916 and was picked up by the Pittsburgh Pirates. In the off-season, he worked in the Portland shipyards. He was drafted for military service in World War I, and joined the U.S. Army's Coast Artillery Corps, as a private, in 1918. After the war, he finished his professional baseball career with the Pirates in 1926 and he, and his family, made Portland home for many years. He died October 17, 1964.  https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/carson-bigbee/.
*The preceding content is not intended as a comprehensive biography, but it highlights their significance as a result of military or civilian distinction, lasting achievements, or association with impactful national events. 

Headline says "old time Pirates are fired after revolt."

The Hanover (PA) Evening Sun October 16, 1925, showing Bigbee hit in a run the winning run in the bottom of the 8th inning in the 7th game of the World Series. He would then score the last run. 

Pittsburgh Post Gazette October 16, 1925.

Headlines reads  "Wild Victory Cry at Gazette Square Greet s Bucs' Triumph"

Picture of Bigbee in a baseball uniform with big T on it. he is smilling.

Willamette National Cemetery

For @MLB opening week we honor Carson “Skeeter” Bigbee. From Lebanon, Oregon, Bigbee played 11 years in the majors, all for the Pittsburgh Pirates. In 1921 and 1922, he led the league in singles. He played in one World Series in 1925 against the Washington Senators. 

Before his professional career, Bigbee grew up on the family peppermint farm in Oregon. Along with his brother Lyle and Morris all three played on the 1914 University of Oregon baseball team. While at college, Carson would meet his eventual wife, Grace Bingham. 

In 1917, Bigbee started playing for the Pirates. During the off-season he worked at the Seattle shipyards with kept him from being drafted. This eventually happened after the 1918 season. He served in the Army Coastal Artillery Corps at Fort Stevens, Oregon, near the mouth of the Columbia River. The war ended shortly after and he was released in December. 

In Spring training for the 1919 season, he faced a challenge in breaking into an outfield which featured Casey Stengel and Max Carey, but Bigbee’s speed proved out. He batted .276 with 31 stolen bases. This eventually led to Stengel being traded to the Philadelphia Phillies for Possum Whitted. In 1921, Carson’s brother, Lyle joined the Pirates as a pitcher. 

Sinus problems and tonsillectomy contributed to his decline. By 1925 he was taking off the starting roster.

During the World Series he had only three at-bats, all as a pinch hitter. In the bottom of the 8th inning of game seven, he got his lone hit on a Walter “Big Train” Johnson pitch. It drove in the tying run with two outs. Bigbee then scored the leading run when Kiki Cuyler knocked in two runs off a ground-rule double. Pirates relief pitcher Red Oldham then took care of the top of the Senators batting order, striking out two and recording a lineout to second base. That earned the Pirates their second championships, winning the game 9-7.

The next year he would only play 42 games (of 153 games) and was released after voicing displeasure with Pirates Vice President Fred Clarke encroaching on manager Bill McKechnie’s duties. 

Bigbee’s major league career ended there. Over the next two years he would play for the Seattle Indians, Portland Beavers and Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League. 

In 1943 he divorced Grace and married Dorothy Scott. But in 1947 he reunited with Grace and the remarried.

During World War II he worked in the Portland, Oregon shipyards. In 1948, his former teammate Max Carey invited him to coach the Springfield Sallies of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. They finished in last place. The next year he managed the Muskegon Lassies.

In 1949 he returned to Portland and lived the rest of his life with Grace. 

He died in his sleep in 1964.

Pvt. Carson Bigbee is interred at Willamette National Cemetery. His wife joined him three years later. He was 69. She was 71.

CARSON LEE BIGBEE

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