meyers was born to john meyer and felicite meyer, a cahuilla indian, in riverside, california. at the age of seven, his father died; john meyers continued to live in riverside, and attended riverside high school. meyers was playing baseball in a 1905 summer tournament when ralph glaze, a former pitcher, noticed his talent and convinced dartmouth alumni to provide meyers with cash, railroad tickets, and a doctored high school diploma. meyers had not graduated, but the fake diploma got him into dartmouth. while attending classes and playing baseball, dartmouth discovered that his diploma was forged. not wanting to complete a special program to be reinstated into dartmouth, meyers signed a baseball contract with an independent league.