Roy Largent

Roy Issac Largent

• School University of Texas

• Born September 28, 1879 in Collin County, TX USA
• Died September 26, 1943 in McKinney, TX, USA

Biographical Information

The husband-and wife team of Roy Largent and Bessie Largent formed one of the greatest duo of scouts in baseball history, together signing over 150 players for the Chicago White Sox from 1925 to 1943, with some 25 making it to the major leagues. Among their finds were future Hall of Famer Luke Appling and successful players like Smead Jolley, Carl Reynolds or Monty Stratton.

Largent had played baseball at the University of Texas and later taught and coached baseball at McKinney High School. It was also in McKinney, TX that he met Bessie Hamilton, who became his partner in life and at work. Area scouts, knowing that he had a strong baseball background, began to ask him for advice on local players. One of these was Lou Comiskey, from the family who owed the White Sox, and he was impressed enough with the report Roy provided that he hired him as a full-time scout in 1925. Roy was partially hearing impaired, so his wife Bessie acted as his ears and handled a lot of his professional communications, first as a secretary, and then as a co-scout.

In 1937, Honus Wagner, High Commissioner of the National Baseball Congress, selected Roy to serve as the White Sox representative on the organization's Board of Directors (each major league team was represented by a scout). The following year, Wagner chose Bessie to be the organization's Chairman of the Board, tasked with choosing an annual All-American semi-pro team.

Related Sites

• Roy and Bessie Largent at the SABR Bio Project