Born and raised in California, Hershberger attended Fullerton Union High School where he was a baseball standout. He was signed by the New York Yankees and was part of their minor league system for eight years. He was traded after the 1937 season to the Cincinnati Reds, where he found a place on the major league roster as a backup behind Ernie Lombardi. For three seasons, Hershberger played in relief of Lombardi, stepping in if he needed a day off or was injured. After a slump in late July and early August, Hershberger committed suicide on August 3, 1940 in his hotel room; the Reds went on to win the 1940 World Series in his honor.\n', '

Willard Hershberger was born in Lemon Cove, California. His family moved to Fullerton, California, when his father, Claude, got a job working in the city\'s oil fields. He lived in Fullerton with his father, his mother Maude, and his sister Lois. Hershberger attended Fullerton Union High School, where he distinguished himself on both the baseball and football teams, playing alongside Arky Vaughan and future President Richard Nixon. The 1926 baseball team won the California Interscholastic Federation championship, and in 2003, he was named to the school\'s All-Time baseball team.\n', '

Claude, Willard\'s father, was depressed over financial problems, and on November 21, 1928, he fatally shot himself with a shotgun in the family home\'s bathroom; Willard, then 18, discovered the body. Hershberger graduated high school in 1929; the high school yearbook called Hershberger "the boy with the golden toe" due to his status as the football team\'s placekicker and "the greatest little catcher to ever put on the Fullerton uniform." In 1930, scouts Bill Essick of the New York Yankees and Art Griggs of the Pittsburgh Pirates came to Fullerton to watch Vaughan and Hershberger play, respectively. Essick took a detour and Griggs ended up signing Vaughan instead, while Essick signed Hershberger to a contract to play in the Yankees organization.\n', '

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