University of Nebraska at Omaha DigitalCommons@UNO Student Work 6-1-1964 The history of professional baseball in Omaha John Harrison Freeland University of Nebraska at Omaha Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/studentwork Recommended Citation Freeland, John Harrison, "The history of professional baseball in Omaha" (1964). Student Work. 854. https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/studentwork/854 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@UNO. It has been accepted for inclusion in Student Work by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@UNO. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE HISTORY OF PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL IN OMAHA A Thesis Presented to the Department of History of the Faculty of the College of Graduate Studies University of Omaha In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts by John Harrison Freeland June 1964 UMI Number: EP73294 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI EP73294 Published by ProQuest LLC (2015). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 Accepted for the faculty of the College of Graduate Studies of the University of Omaha, In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts. Chairman Graduate Committee \ NajP&Nmr[e_ - ^ :-------------- > jDepartment \ i ^ —A. v>. TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION ........................... 1 The Infant Years of Baseball II. THE FORMULATIVE YEARS: 1879 TO 1900 . 7 The First Professional Nine Omaha Joins the Western League Player,, Franchise and Lawsuit Problems III. THE ROURKE YEARS: 1900 TO 1 9 2 1 .. 44 Keith and Rourke Go Separate Ways Baseball War in Omaha Rourke Rebuilds Vinton Street Ball Park Pennant Winners and Contenders World War I Thwarts Baseball Rourke Calls It Quits IV. BURCH AND THE DEPRESSION YEARS: 1921 TO 1936 87 Living High During the 20's Hints of Financial Problems The Depression Bankruptcy and the Friendly Receiver A Woman,/Buys the Club The Omaha "Orphans" A Fire Ends It All THE POST WAR YEARS: 1946 TO 1954 .... 135 Omaha Rejoins the Western League St. Louis Cardinals Back Omaha Ball Park Controversy Back Home In Omaha Pennant Winners In 1950 and 1951 Fans Want Better Baseball VI. OMAHA BUILDS A STADIUM: 1944 TO 1948 . 186 An Idea is Born Omaha Citizens Back Stadium Plan Inflation and Shortages A Political Football A Playing Site is Ready VII. THE TRIPLE A YEARS: 1955 TO 1962 . 204 Omaha Bids for Triple A Baseball Denver, Omaha or Both? Omaha's Finest Hour The Ticket "Blitz" Baseball in the Late 50's St. Louis and Omaha Go Separate Ways The Ninth Inning VIII. CONCLUSION ............................. 283 IX. BIBLIOGRAPHY..................... 295 v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS For assistance in preparing this work, the author wishes to thank Dr. Roy Robbins for his constructive criticism, guidance and patience. A well-deserved thank you to Miss Margaret Croghan, an Omaha businesswoman, and to Captain John "Dynamo" Dennison, an ex-Omaha policeman, both sports enthusiasts, for opening many doors for per­ sonal interviews. Appreciation for saving many hours of research to Mr. Fredrick Ware, editor of the Omaha World Herald, for allowing me to use the newspaper files. Finally, I would like to thank my wife, Mary Ann, for her typing, her encouragement, counseling and continuous prodding. 1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION This thesis deals with professional hasehall in the city of Omaha from the day of its inception in 1879* until the "demise" of the sport in Omaha in 1 9 6 2 . The reason for the study is two-fold in scope. Nothing has been written in the field of professional hasehall in Omaha,, and many people do not realize the colorful history of Omaha in professional hasehall. Because of the ahove reasons this undertaking was commenced. Although this study covers many years It is limited in range because of a time limit and a lack of complete records. The investigation has been concentrated on the major and most Important events in the period of professional hasehall in Omaha. The scrutiny begins with a general look at the broad scope of hasehall in the United States when the game only vaguely resembled what is today known as hase­ hall. It canvasses the first professional team; the general movement west of the sport with Omaha finally acquiring a professional hasehall team; Omahars partici­ pation in one of the first minor leagues in the United 2 States,, the league which eventually became the American league; the baseball war involving the American Associa­ tion and. the Western League; the World War I years; the depression years; Omaha under the St. Louis Cardinals and the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Western League and the American Association; the building of a stadium; and a general summary of the entire study. The game of baseball stems from the English game of Rounders and was known under this name until 1834., when a Boston firm copied the Rounders rules and printed them in a book called The Book of Sports., by Robert Carver, who changed the heading from "Rounders” to "Base" or "Goal Ball." However, the possible first recording of an American baseball game came in the journal of George Ewing., a Revolutionary Soldier, who claimed to have played "base" at Valley Eorge, on April J 3 1778.1 By the l820’s and 1830’s baseball was still a very informal game without much organization; soon many 2 organized teams began to replace the informal teams. The first known baseball team to organize was the New York Knickerbockers Base Ball Club, in 1845.^ Other ■^Harold Seymour, Baseball: The Early Years, (New York: Oxford University Press, I960), pp. W, 5^ ^Ibid., p . 14. ^Ibid., p . 15. 3 organized teams were formed in the New York area^ and hy 1854 New York had four firmly established hasehall teams.^ At first, attempts were made to keep hasehall an exclusive pastime of the upper class, hut because of its popularity it began to spread among people of all walks of life. 6 By the 1850's hasehall interest was gradually making a westward movement and by 1857j people were watching teams in Cleveland daily, and in the Minnesota 7 territory a lot was rented for a game.1 In the early 1850's , hasehall began to take on its present form. It was becoming a favorite pastime of the young people of the land, played without gloves or suits and played any place there was space, usually in cow pastures. A community of any size would try to field a team to represent them. The game probably received its greatest impetus when, in 1858, the National Association of Baseball Players was organized to develop a definite Q code of rules. V b i d ., p. 1 8 . Ibid., p. 22. Ibid., pp. 23, 24. Ibid., p . 26. Q Arthur Charles Cole, The Irrepressible Conflict (Vol. VII of A History of American Life, eds. Arthur M. Schlesinger and Dixon Ryan Fox; 12 Vols., New York: The Macmillan Company 1934), p. 192. 4 When the hostilities commenced between the north and the south at Fort Sumter, baseball interest declined but did not disappear entirely. The War probably did more for the game becoming a national sport than anything else., for the game was played in training camps,, behind the lines and even in prison camps. It was while serving in the army that "the boys from the Mississippi Valley and the border states learned the niceties of the sport at which New Englanders and New Yorkers were becoming adept." The intersectional movement of the armies gave baseball a national scope and Introduced it to such young men as Albert G. Spalding,^ of Rockford,, Illinois, who was told of the game by returning soldiers.^ According to Albert G. Spalding in his book, American National Game, the war did more to add vigor to the games during the late l8 6 0 Ts than anything else, and promptly established baseball as the national pastime, with hundreds of baseball clubs formed In cities and towns ^Played baseball for the Boston club in 1871; one of the greatest organizers In professional baseball. Founder of the Spalding Sporting Goods Company. SEE: Dumas Malone (ed.), Dictionary of American Biography (New York: Charles Scribner’s Son, 1 9 5 8 ) Vol. IX, pp. 420, 421. ■^Seymour, op. cit., p. 4l. 5 throughout the United States."1"1 Though there had been many midwestern teams before i860., the big expansion came in the midwest after the Civil War through the efforts of men like Spalding. 12 By 1867* there were nine baseball teams in Des Moines and the same year the Iowa State Baseball Association was formed. Also, other teams were formed in Minnesota and Kansas. IS^ It was also during the decade of the Civil War that baseball began to change from a sport of leisure and amusement to a sport that had a tinge of professionalism. As towns became more and more anxious to have winning teams, they soon began to search for the best players available, and as early as i860 began to pay players.1^- By 1869* the National Association of Baseball Players, which was governed by amateurs, was weakened by their in­ ability to cope with gambling, and the paying of players.