On June 24, 1946, a horrific bus accident occurred in Washington state involving the Spokane Indians, an independent minor-league baseball team in the Class-B Western International League. Nine players of the fifteen players onboard died from their injuries. To this day, it remains the deadliest accident in the history of American professional sports.

Who Were the Spokane Indians?

The Indians roster included several World War II veterans and bright prospects. Many had competed on military ball teams during the war and held their own against major-league competition. Two members of the team, Ben Geraghty and Chris Hartje, had previously big-league experience. Another, third baseman Jack Lohrke, would go on to play seven seasons in the majors with the Giants and Phillies. Vic Picetti, considered to be among the most talented prospect on the West Coast, may have possessed the highest ceiling of them all.

Two months into the season, the Indians stood in the thick of the pennant race. Several players, including Lorhke, Freddie Martinez, and George Risk, stood amongst the circuit’s leading hitters. On June 22, the team gathered in the outfield at Ferris Field in Spokane for a team photo.

Baseball’s Darkest Night

On the late morning of June 24, the sixteen members of the team boarded a bus for a road trip across the state to Bremerton. In the late afternoon, the bus reached Ellensburg, where the team stopped for dinner at Webster’s Cafe. While they ate, a police officer walked in and informed Lohrke that the front office had an urgent message. He called back to Spokane and learned that the San Diego Padres had summoned him to the Pacific Coast League. Lohrke said goodbye to his teammates and hitchhiked back to Spokane. The rest of the team carried on their journey.

An hour later, the bus reached Snoqualmie Pass in the Cascade mountains. Just west of the pass, an oncoming vehicle caused the bus to swerve. The bus driver lost control. Suddenly, the coach broke through a wire guard rail and careened 300 feet down a steep embankment. Mel Cole, Bob James, Chris Hartje, George Lyden, Bob Kinnaman, Freddie Martinez, Bob Paterson, Vic Picetti, and George Risk all died from their injuries. Remarkably, six players—Pete Barisoff, Ben Geraghty, Gus Hallbourg, Irv Konopka, Levi McCormack, Dick Powers—survived the crash. Two others, Milt Cadinha and Joe Faria, had driven separately, thus avoiding the catastrophe.

Jack Lohrke

After Lohrke reported to San Diego, he performed extremely well. That winter, the New York Giants selected him in the minor-league draft. Later, he played seven seasons in the majors and several more in the Pacific Coast League. Shortly after the accident, he earned the nickname “Lucky.” Obviously, it was a fitting moniker. However, narrowly missing the bus crash was not Lohrke’s first close call with mortality. Lohrke served in the Army during World War II and fought in the Battle of the Bulge. Upon returning stateside, a higher ranking officer bumped him off an airplane that later crashed near Kansas City, killing everyone onboard. Lucky Lohrke truly lived a remarkable life.

Ben Geraghty

Former Brooklyn Dodgers infielder Ben Geraghty survived the Indians bus accident and went on to have a distinguished minor-league managerial career. Henry Aaron called him the “best manager I ever played for and perhaps the greatest manager who ever lived.” Geraghty dreamed of managing in the big leagues, but the trauma he carried from the bus proved too much to bear. He turned to alcohol to cope with the post-traumatic stress of surviving the Spokane incident. Sadly, Geraghty died at the age of 50 due to complications from his drinking.

Vic Picetti

At age 16, San Francisco native Vic Picetti received lucrative contract offers from several big-league teams. He ultimately signed with the Pacific Coast League’s Oakland Oaks so he could finish high school and play for his idol, Dolph Camilli. In the spring of ’46, Picetti trained under the Oaks’ new manager, Casey Stengel. Scouts and sportswriter all agreed that the young phenom was destined for greatness.

Season of Shattered Dreams

I first learned of the Spokane Indians bus accident in 2021 while researching a player on the Bremerton Bluejackets. I became curious about who these men were and why I had never heard of the crash despite my lifelong love of baseball and interest in the game’s history. After researching the players and the events surrounding the accident, I decided to tell their story. The result was my second book, Season of Shattered Dreams: Postwar Baseball, the Spokane Indians, and a Tragic Bus Crash That Changed Everything. Published in 2024 by Rowman and Littlefield (now Bloomsbury), the book was named a finalist for the CASEY Award finalist for Best Baseball of the Year.

In memory