RetroSimba

Kenneth Morris seemed to have good luck on his side the evening of June 26, 1947.

Morris, 21, had a date with a female friend, and two reserved-seat tickets to that night’s game between the Reds and Cardinals at Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis.

The Thursday night game was a coveted event because the pitching matchup was Ewell Blackwell for the Reds against Harry Brecheen. Blackwell (11-2) had won his last nine decisions. In his two most recent starts, he followed a no-hitter against the Braves with a two-hit shutout of the Dodgers. Brecheen (9-3) had won four in a row for the reigning World Series champions.

A crowd of 25,691, big for a weeknight, gathered to see whether the Cardinals could beat the most dominant pitcher in the National League.

Wounded knee

Morris, of East Carondelet, Ill., was seated with Helen Czech, of East St. Louis, Ill., in Row 6, Section X, of the grandstand, “a short distance toward the outfield from third base,” the St. Louis Star-Times reported.

About 10 p.m. they heard a noise, like a pop, but thought nothing of it. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, they believed it was an exploding firecracker.

A man seated nearby, identified by the Post-Dispatch as J.A. Widup, said he saw a puff of what appeared to be smoke or dust following the sharp noise.

Morris said he felt a sting in his right knee, but didn’t know he was wounded until Widup told him there was a spot of blood on his trouser leg.

According to the Belleville (Ill.) Daily Advocate, Morris said he thought perhaps he’d been cut by a piece of glass from a shattered bottle. He went to a first-aid station at the ballpark and was treated by the nurse on duty, Margaret Watson, for what was described as a puncture wound. After patching up Morris, the nurse advised him to see a doctor, the Post-Dispatch reported.

Still unaware of how he suffered the knee wound, Morris, an inspector for Lewin Metals Corporation, remained at the game with Helen Czech, and saw the Reds prevail, 6-3. Boxscore

Ballpark mystery

The next morning, Morris’ right knee was swollen and painful. He went to see Dr. Thomas Stines of East St. Louis. The physician sent him to St. Mary’s Hospital for X-rays. That’s when Morris learned he’d been shot.

The X-rays revealed a .32-caliber bullet lodged between two bones in the knee, the Post-Dispatch reported. An operation was scheduled to remove the bullet.

The Post-Dispatch described the case as “the mysterious wounding of Kenneth Morris.”

According to International News Service, “Detectives were baffled as to who could have shot him _ and how it could have gone unnoticed by other spectators.”

Detective Lt. John Sinclair told the Star-Times, “There are no clues as to who shot him.”

The case apparently went unsolved.

Kenneth Morris eventually married Helen Czech, and they had three sons. The family resided in Arkansas, where Kenneth Morris worked as an analyst for Alcoa in its gallium lab. Gallium is a metal, similar to aluminum, and often used in electronics. According to an obituary in the Belleville News-Democrat, he was retired when he died at 67 in July 1993 at Benton, Ark.