Like many baseball fans, I have always enjoyed creating themed team rosters based on the names or nicknames of major league players, e.g., the All-Bird Team: Robin Roberts, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Starling Marte, &c., or The All-Body Parts Team: Ed Armbrister, Gregg Legg, Paul Assenmacher, Ryan Langerhans, Shin-Soo Choo, et al.
But it was only a few years ago that it dawned on me that I could combine this mental exercise with my love of illustrating.
So: in honor of the season, here’s the first member of my All-Fall, All-Halloween Team: catcher Howard Maple, who appeared in 44 games for the Washington Senators in 1932.
Perhaps befitting the multi-hued aspect of his name, Maple is one of the few MLB players who also played professional football. He played 8 games for the Chicago Cardinals — now the Arizona Cardinals — in 1930.
He had a stellar career as a college athlete at Oregon State, both on the baseball team and as the football team’s starting quarterback. Maple was named an All-American in 1928, and is a member of the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame, Oregon State’s Athletics Hall of Fame, and — in his hometown — the Greater Peoria (Illinois) Sports Hall of Fame.
After retiring from professional sports, Maple became a successful businessman in Oregon, eventually becoming the manager of the Oregon State Fair during the late 1950s.
Look for more members of the All-Fall/All-Halloween Team, posted here every day between now and Saturday, October 31, 2026!
A side note: I’ve been creating these in a steady process over the last few years, mainly during October, as my version of Inktober, I guess.
And I found that working on them was very therapeutic — easing my anxiety, and eventual sadness, as I watched my team in the postseason.
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