E-Book Overview
Drawing upon local Williamsport newspapers, extensive oral histories from former players, baseball administrators, boosters and fans and rare photograph collections, this work reconstructs the totality of the professional baseball experience.
E-Book Content
G AT E WAY to the MAJORS Image not available G AT E WAY to the MAJORS Williamsport and Minor League Baseball J P. Q J . a n d L E . H J . The Pennsylvania State University Press University Park, Pennsylvania Disclaimer: Some images in the original version of this book are not available for inclusion in the eBook. A Keystone Book A Keystone Book is so designated to distinguish it from the typical scholarly monograph that a university press publishes. It is a book intended to serve the citizens of Pennsylvania by educating them and others, in an entertaining way, about aspects of the history, culture, society, and environment of the state as part of the Middle Atlantic region. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Quigel, James P., 1954– Gateway to the majors : Williamsport and minor league baseball / James P. Quigel, Jr., Louis E. Hunsinger, Jr. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-271-02098-9 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Minor league baseball—Pennsylvania—Williamsport—History. 2. Minor league baseball—Social aspects—Pennsylvania—Williamsport. I. Hunsinger, Louis E., 1957– . II. Title. GV863.P372 W554 2001 796.357'64'0974851—dc21 00-064973 Copyright 䉷 2001 The Pennsylvania State University All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America Published by The Pennsylvania State University Press, University Park, PA 16802-1003 It is the policy of The Pennsylvania State University Press to use acid-free paper for the first printing of all clothbound books. Publications on uncoated stock satisfy the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992. T W ’ , CONTENTS List of Illustrations ix Acknowledgments xiii Introduction 1 Town Ball to Pro Ball: The City Adopts a Game 1 7 2 Boosters, Promoters, and Promotions 45 3 Bowman Field: Gateway to the Majors 77 4 The New York-Pennsylvania League Era to Wartime Baseball, 1923–1945 97 5 Postwar Boom to Short-Season Bust: Williamsport Baseball in Transition, 1946–1972 117 6 Twilight of the Eastern League 147 7 Welcome Back to the New York–Penn League 159 Note on Sources 169 Appendix 173 Index 177 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. One of Williamsport’s early amateur baseball teams, 1867 The Union Park Fairgrounds, 1890s Williamsport’s Athletic Park, 1905 Williamsport’s Tri-State Championship team, 1905 Sheet music cover for ‘‘The Millionaires March Two-Step,’’ 1908 Opening Day festivities at Athletic Park, 1909 Sheriff Thomas Gray, early 1920s Glenn Killinger, J. Walton Bowman, and J. Roy Clunk, 1930 The Williamsport Grays club directors meeting, March 1933 New York Mets delegation to Williamsport, with Casey Stengel and William ‘‘Bill’’ Pickelner, January 1966 Williamsport’s youth leagues assembled on the diamond with the Williamsport Tigers and the team’s administrative officers, 1947 Spence Abbott and Tommy Richardson welcome the ‘‘Grand Old Man of Baseball,’’ Connie Mack, to Bowman Field, 1941 Tommy Richardson, 1953 The ‘‘Cavalcade of Baseball,’’ celebrating Williamsport’s se