Robert Wayne Kahle -- Professional Baseball Player

 

Robert  *Bob” Wayne Kahle was born on November 23, 1915 in Newcastle, Indiana, the son of Edward Joseph Kahle and Clara Scharff Kahle.  His father was a native of Cincinnati and worked for 23 years with the Holthouse Furniture Company.  On February 15, 1941, Bob married Evelyn Beatrice Riley, in the Maywood Catholic Church in Maywood, California.  Evelyn was the daughter of William Roy Riley and Laura Waller Riley.  William Roy was the grandson of Thomas and Peachie Bridges Hixon.  Bob and Evelyn became the parents of three sons, Ronald Howard, James William and Robert Allan, who were all born in Los Angeles, California.

Bob was an outstanding baseball player in high school. After high school, he was given a tryout with the American Association Baseball League. He was sent to the lower minors, where he played for three years before being assigned to the Indianapolis Indians. In 1937, he played well enough to be noticed by the Boston Bees. He spent nine months with the Bees in late 1937 and 1938 but rarely played, not seeing any action his first year, and then being limited to three pinch-hitting appearances and five as a pinch-runner the next season. He was apparently bothered by a sore arm at the time. He was optioned to the Hartford Laurels of the Eastern Baseball League, but he couldn't swing the bat properly and asked to be put on the voluntarily retired list for the remainder of the season in order to regain his health. 

At the end of spring training in 1939, Boston sold Kahle to the Newark Bears, the top farm club of the New York Yankees.   He was in Newark for a month, but failed to make a good enough impression to stick, and this time the Bees sold him to the Hollywood Stars of the Pacific Coast League for $7,500. There, he was installed as the regular third baseman. He would become a star in the PCL, being named team MVP in 1940. The Philadelphia Athletics team wanted to purchase him after the 1940 season, but the price asked by Hollywood Stars - $ 15,000 - was deemed too steep. In 1941, Kahle had a 29-game hitting streak for the Stars.

In 1942, he left his professional baseball career and enlisted in the US Navy, Bob never saw any action in World War II, but was stationed at various naval bases on the Pacific coast where he played on the local baseball service teams.  In 1946, he returned to the Hollywood Stars, but was soon traded to the Portland Beavers where he was their third baseman for the remainder of 1946. In 1947, he was sent down to the Southern Association League to play for the Little Rock Travelers. He retired from baseball at the end of the season and returned to Hollywood, California where he worked as a set painter in the Burbank Studios for the next 33 years. He did keep a connection with baseball, becoming the founding organizer the Little League in the Westchester section of Los Angeles. 

Bob died on December 16, 1988 at the age of 73 in Los Angeles.  He was buried in the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.  His wife, Evelyn, died on October 15, 2006 in Los Angeles and was buried beside him.

Tombstone of Robert Wayne Kahle

LINEAGE:  (Robert Wayne Kahle was the husband of Evelyn Beatrice Riley.  Evelyn was the daughter of William Roy and Laura Waller Riley, granddaughter of William Sylvester and Mary Hixon Riley and great-granddaughter of Thomas W. and Peachie Elizabeth Bridges Hixon. Peachie was the first child of Orren Dates and Mary Elizabeth Hixon Bridges.  Orren was the first child of William and Mary Thomas Bridges. William was the fourth child of Drury and Charity Cohoon Bridges.  Mary Thomas was the fifth child of James and Mary Standley Thomas.)