Free Press Article 8-22-07

The Free Press - August 22, 2007
“Catching the fever, baseball fever that is”
By Sandy Vasko

To many people, summer means baseball and I am one of them. At this writing the Cubs are in first place (stop laughing) and all is right with my world. But baseball is more than the major leagues. Baseball is played by millions of people in over 100 countries. Young or old, rich or poor, it doesn’t matter. So let’s look at the history of “base ball” in our little corner of the world.

The game itself evolved from several other games from around the world, principally the game of “rounders” and cricket from Great Britain. But a similar game was played in Russia in the 14th century. The first organized teams appeared on the East Coast in the 1830’s and by the time of the Civil War, it had spread across the country.

The early rules said that a runner could be called out by being hit with the ball. As you can imagine, that resulted in balls being bounced off heads, arguments, and general ill will. That was changed in 1857. Other differences include no strike zone. To call a strike, the “striker,” now known as the batter, had to actually swing at the ball. And of course, this meant no balls either. A striker had to actually hit the ball to get to first base.

The earliest account of baseball in Wilmington was from October of 1867. We read in the Wilmington Independent, “The base ball fever has broke out here at last. We escaped it for a long time, but are at last victims. Last Thursday morning the first nine of the Kankakee Base Ball Club stopped here on their way home from Morris, where they had attended a tournament, and challenged our first nine. The match was played on the grounds on the west side of the river. The game was played in 1 hour and 45 min. The score was Kankakee 59, Wilmington 16. Each team made 27 outs.”

Soon all the towns in the area had a team, sometimes several. The names of these teams were fascinating. In Wilmington in the 1860’s and 70’s there was the Tempests, the Independents, the Elliptics, the Wilmingtons, the Comets, the Emeralds, the Juniors, the Athletics, and the Nationals. They played the Grove City Club from Kankakee, the Comets, Young Tigers, Deadbeats and Hearts of Oak from Braidwood, the Pony Club from Dwight, the Hickory’s from Elwood, and the Juniors from Momence.

The popularity of baseball continued to increase, and by the end of the 19th century there were many professional teams touring the country. These were what we would call semi-pro teams. Included on these teams were two men from Wilmington, who would go on to play regular major league ball. They were Burton Keeley and George Cutshaw.

We first encounter their names in a local game in September of 1904, “A hotly contested game of baseball will be played Sunday next on the west side grounds between the Elwood and Bonfield nines. The batteries are Cutshaw and Gunning for Elwood and Keeley and Bowers for Bonfield.”

By 1907 the Chicago American wrote, “Bert Keeley, the clever little twirler for the Gunthers Hall Club, has just signed a contract to stay with the popular North Side team for another season. Bert is considered one of the greatest pitchers who is not connected with the professional leagues. Bert is probably as light a man as ever played regularly in the pitcher’s box. He weighs only about 130 pounds, but has speed and curves as strong as any of them. He often plays in other positions, both on the infield and outfield, and is considered a natural ball player.” The following year Bert was acquired by the Washington Senators of the American League. He only played for them until May of 1909.

Cutshaw broke in to the Majors in 1912 with the Brooklyn Dodgers and went on to play with the Robins, Pirates, and Tigers, ending his career in 1923. Over his career he averaged a .265 batting average with an on-base percentage of .305.

If you are interested in baseball as it was played in the 19th century you have only to go up to Lockport where vintage baseball is still being played. Since 1981 museums and historic sites around the country have been playing this brand of ball on diamonds everywhere. The Lockport Sleepers are a program of the Gaylord Building Historic Site administered by the Canal Corridor Association. They play at Dellwood Park and Kranks (fans) are given a brochure to follow the rules. Mark Harmon, umpire (boo!) explains plays as they go along. For more information and a schedule log on to http://www.canalcor.org/gaylord/Sleepers/index.html.

This site was developed by Canal Corridor Association, manager of the Gaylord Building, with generous financial support from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Interpretation and Education Fund of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.