Van de Vanter, Billy [09]

William Van de Vanter, better known as Billy Van, was born in Kansas City, Missouri in 1882; he died in Delta, Utah in 1942. He built this dummy baseball team that actually worked. It was built of metal and was life-sized. He had a pitcher, catcher, first, second, third basemen and a short stop. Behind them was a painting with spectators seated in a grandstand. The players could hit and catch the ball. When the whole thing was completed, Mr. Van tried them out and the batter sent a ball through his plate glass window...