Robert E. Caffrey, to be honored posthumously, was born in Washington in 1899.
He played quarterback for Washington High School and played football and baseball at Kiski School in Saltsburg where one of his football teammates was Harry Stuhldreher, later one of Notre Dame’s famed Four Horsemen.
Caffrey was a star baseball pitcher at Duquesne University, where he played halfback in football and was a starting guard in basketball. Among his baseball teammates were the late Steelers’ owner Art Rooney and his brother Dan.
He left Duquesne to accept a Pirates’ contract but became ill in spring training and was forced to leave camp.
He played for Bridgeport, CT. in the Eastern League where he pitched against New York Yankee Hall of Famer, Lou Gehrig.
Caffrey played in 1926 and 1927 for the Toledo Mud Hens under manager Casey Stengel and pitched against such famed baseball figures as Mel Ott, Bill Terry, Leo Durocher and Pie Traynor.
A chronic injury ended his baseball career in 1929.
Caffrey, who was recently posthumously inducted into the Duquesne Hall of Fame, spent his entire life in Washington. He died in 1972.