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Jim Asbell

American baseball player

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
People and ideasInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 27, 2026
Entity authorityQ6193445
Source-derived summary

James Marion Asbell (June 22, 1914 – July 6, 1967), nicknamed "Big Train", was an American outfielder in Major League Baseball for the Chicago Cubs. His career was a brief one, consisting of a single season, the Cubs' World Series year of 1938.

After a college career that included stints at both Tulane and Rice, Asbell signed with the New York Giants. After some time in the minors, the Cubs took Asbell in the 1937 Rule 5 draft. He made his major league debut with the Cubs on May 8, 1938. With the Cubs, Asbell appeared in just 17 games, playing only ten in the field. He committed no errors as a defender, but his offense was subpar, as he batted just .182 (6 for 33) with 2 doubles, 3 RBI, and no stolen bases. He played his last game as a Cub, and as a major leaguer, on October 2, 1938. He made no appearances with the club in the World Series.

Asbell died on July 6, 1967, in San Mateo, California.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Jim Asbell” as american baseball player. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Asbell, American and baseball.

Editorial reviewA useful biographical orientation record, particularly for establishing names, roles and a first chronology. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1914, 1967, 1938, 1937—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1914-06-22. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Asbell, American and baseball providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Jim Asbell”, the useful work is to connect “american baseball player” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 27, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6193445. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1914, 1967, 1938 and 1937.

Critical limits

A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
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Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Jim Asbell”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Jim Asbell primary sources, Jim Asbell archive and Asbell research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Jim Asbell” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.