Lonny Frey-- The end of an era... 1910-2009

[Jay R. Neill]

It's rare in history that you can see the page turn or hear the door close, but that was the case when former baseball player Lonny Frey passed away last week of natural causes at the age of 99 years old. Lonny was a major league second baseman and shortstop from 1933 to 1948, while missing 1944 and 1945 to military service. He was the second-oldest living major league ballplayer and the oldest living New York Yankee. His accomplishments were many and his career was long. He played for the Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Yankees and New York Giants making his the last living person to play for all 3 New York teams.

Lonny was a 3X All-Star and won the World Series with the 1940 Cincinnati Reds and the 1947 New York Yankees. With Lonny's passing Eddie Joost is the only living member of the 1940 Cincinnati Reds team and Bob Feller is the only living member of the 1939 All-Star team.

Lonny's response in 1997 to my questions and his strong signature led me to collect the signatures of every member of the '40 Reds team. He was always willing to sign, answer questions and often included pictures of his own. He kept the letters that fans sent and kept track of how often people would write to him in case they were writing for the wrong reasons. He told me in 2005 that he still "follows baseball daily" and "I've tried to find a ball player that could make our league back then, but each and every one has a glaring weakness somewhere in their game and only a few show some hustle at times."

I received my last autograph from him just 2-weeks ago and no note was enclosed so I assumed that he wasn't doing well. It would be one of his last signatures ever. I was very saddened to hear of Lonny’s passing. Now is the time to reminisce over the signature that you have or to go out and get one. Collectors lost a great friend and more importantly the world lost a great person with the passing of Mr. Frey.

[Josh Board]

Interesting. I always love reading about someone that I knew nothing about. Thanks for taking the time to share this great story.