Born August 13, 1899, Thomas Whistler Gheen made a name for himself pitching for the amateur team in his hometown of Lincolnton, North Carolina in 1919 and 1920. The Charlotte Observer said Gheen was:
“(B)elieved by many to be the best pitching prospect in the Carolinas.”
He was called “Submarine” Gheen, for what The Charlotte News called his “Far-famed underhand delivery.”
Tom Gheen, 1919
Late in the 1920 season, Gheen was signed by the Charleston Palmettos of the South Atlantic League. Gheen appeared in six games and posted a 2-4 record with a 2.06 ERA for the last-place (54-71) Palmettos.
He began the 1921 season in Lincolnton but was signed by the Charlotte Hornets after he pitched a perfect game against the Loray Mills team in Gastonia, North Carolina. He struck out 21 batters. The Charlotte Observer said:
“Not a Loray man reached first. Persons who saw the game say it was the most remarkable bit of hurling ever seen in Gaston County.”
In June, The Observer said he was:
“(F)ast developing into one of the best twirlers on the staff.”
Despite his promise, Gheen seemed to be troubled. When he was playing amateur ball for Lincolnton, The Observer noted after he had been used as a pinch hitter:
“Most of Gheen’s hitting is done in the clubhouse.”
The High Point Enterprise said of Gheen:
“The blond-haired boxman never had a serious thought in his life and is dizzy as a southpaw off the field.”
With a 5-9 record and 3.22 ERA in late July, Gheen jumped the team. According to The Durham Morning Herald:
“His excuse was that the fans razzed him to excess. He declared that the razzing so affected his pitching it was impossible to win.”
The Charlotte Observer suggested he jumped for another reason:
“(He) quit the club following rumors circulated by gamblers that he had ‘thrown’ a ball game.”
The Morning Herald called him a “Wonderful pitcher,” and said he was “almost unbeatable when his underhanded ball in breaking properly.”
Charlotte catcher Pat Carroll came to Gheen’s defense, telling The Observer that the other catchers on the club did not encourage the pitcher to use his submarine delivery often enough:
“They can’t hit that ball to save their lives. I ordered it every time Gheen got in the hole and it was pitiful to see the batter try to connect. It didn’t help them a bit to know what was coming. They couldn’t hit the ball; that’s all there was to it.”
The Hornets, according to The Charlotte News granted the “recalcitrant hurler” his wish and sold the “erratic heaver” to the Winston-Salem Twins of the Piedmont League.
Gheen (5 top right) with the Winston-Salem Twins, 1921
Gheen was 11-3 in 15 games for the 62-58 Twins, and big things were expected of him in 1922.
He rose to the occasion on Opening Day, April 26.
The Observer buried the lede:
“Submarine Gheen made himself famous in the opening game of the Piedmont League season…his opponents being the Greensboro Patriots, who were defeated 5 to 0.
“Only 27 men faced the Twin moundsman who did not yield a hit nor issue a free pass.”
It was his only victory for Winston-Salem. Less than a month after his perfect game Gheen was suspended indefinitely by manager Charles Clancy for “insubordination.”
Gheen was reinstated 10 days later but was sold to the Houston Buffaloes of the Texas League less than a week later. He was 1-5 for the Twins.
Gheen was plagued by wildness in Texas, posting a 6-11 record with a 4.06 ERA.
He was traded to Galveston Sandcrabs at the end of the Texas League season but was sold the following spring to the Rocky Mount Tar Heels in the Virginia League. The 1923 season appears to have been controversy free for Gheen; he was 13-11 with a 3.43 ERA.
Back in the Piedmont League in 1924, Gheen was on his way to a 14-10 season for the High Point Pointers, when, on September 12, he made headlines off the field after he killed a man.
Gheen was riding in a car with friends near New Bern, North Carolina when they came upon a man lying in the road. The High Point Enterprise said, the car, driven by Gheen’s friend:
“(S)werved to avoid hitting a negro lying prone across the road. The driver of the car…backed up to see what was the trouble.
“As the car was being backed up one of the party yelled, ‘look out, he’s got a gun.’ Gheen, riding in the front seat, reached in the side pocket of the car and secured a revolver. As the Negro came running alongside the car, revolver in hand, Gheen yelled, ‘Throw up your hands.’ This the Negro refused to do and Gheen fired three shots penetrating the upper part of the Negro’s body. He died almost instantly.”
Gheen and his friends were cleared of any wrongdoing the following day.
The paper did not identify the dead man and said:
“He was said to have been a desperate character and to have had a police record.”
Gheen played two more seasons of professional baseball; he was 9-8 for the Columbia Comers in the South Atlantic League in 1925.
He joined the Jacksonville Tars of the Southeastern League in 1926—he won eight of his first 10 decisions with the club but was also arrested for the alleged assault of a woman when playing the Albany (GA) Nuts. He appears to have avoided prosecution 
but went 3-6 the rest of the season and his career as a professional ballplayer was over at age 28.
The following year, while back in his hometown of Lincolnton, “Submarine” Gheen, was killed when the Ford Touring car he was driving turned over on July 3. The man who was considered the “best pitching prospect in the Carolinas” six years earlier died at the age of 29 on July 4, 1927.
Baseball History Daily 