Swinging for the Fences, and the Kid from Lonaconing 1920 Season - Class D, Blue Ridge League by Mark C. Zeigler CHAPTER 1 POST-WAR BASEBALL The towns surrounding the northern Blue Ridge mountains has had a taste of professional baseball for several years, before the Great World War (known today as World War I) abruptly curtailed the 1918 season just three weeks into the season, and the effects of the deadly Spanish Influenza, and lack of financial support wiped out professional baseball in the region in 1919. Baseball had been strong focal points for the participating communities that organized teams in the Class D, Blue Ridge League. This was a time when the trolley was the main source of transportation, and the vehicle of choice was a Maxwell. Radio was just in its infant stages, and television was not even heard of for almost another twenty years. By 1920, the 20th and 21st amendments allowed women the right to vote, while Prohibition was in full force throughout the country. The nation’s attitudes were changing, but one constant was baseball. People were reenergized after the war effort had ended, and were looking for new things to do in their spare time. Baseball offered them a few hours of distraction from their daily lives, and chance to support their community by “rooting for their home team.” The remnants of the war, and the Spanish Influenza of latter part of 1918 played a significant influence in lack of interest, and financial support of professional baseball in Blue Ridge League towns of Cumberland, Hagerstown and Frederick, Maryland, Martinsburg, West Virginia, and the Pennsylvania Townships of Chambersburg, Hanover and Gettysburg in 1919. The only opportunity for many former players to play in this area were in the Industrial League towns of Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, Hagerstown, MD, Baltimore, MD, or the Pennsylvania Steel Leagues in Harrisburg, or other towns located near the railroads. Swinging for the Fences, and the Kid from Lonaconing 1920 Season - Class D, Blue Ridge League by Mark C. Zeigler CHAPTER 2 BASEBALL RETURNS TO THE BLUE RIDGE League President James Vincent Jamison, Jr., brought back the idea of returning the Blue Ridge League to its former organization, and scheduled a meeting on February 10, 1920, officials from interested towns to meet in Hagerstown. Representatives from Hagerstown-MD, Frederick-MD, Chambersburg-PA, Martinsburg-WV, Cumberland-MD, Piedmont/Westernport, Gettysburg-PA, Hanover-PA, Waynesboro-PA, and Carlisle-PA were invited to attend. With the backing of several local newspapers, Jamison and the interested town representatives discussed concerns with expenses and travel, and the possibility to reduce the league from six to four clubs. According to newspaper reports at the time, the former BRL towns of Hagerstown, Frederick and Chambersburg seemed clear cut favorites, but there was some concern whether Martinsburg would field a team. In addition, representatives from Waynesboro, PA also expressed a strong interest in joining the league. The Hagerstown club was represented by Richard Hartle, who a number of years previously had managed the Hagerstown team in the old Sunset League, who had taken an active interest in baseball, and was recently elected Team President and General Manager of the new Hagerstown franchise. Hartle replaced the late Colonel Joseph C. Roulette, who led a group to purchase the Hagerstown club from Charles Boyer at the end of 1916. Roulette died in 1919 from a lengthy illness, which came from the effects of the influenza epidemic the previous fall. The Hagerstown Baseball Association also elected George E. Roulette as first vice-president; H. J. Crosson as second vice- president; Thomas P. Smith as third vice-president; Carl S. Lane as treasurer, and Gordon Lugenbeel as secretary. Swinging for the Fences, and the Kid from Lonaconing 1920 Season - Class D, Blue Ridge League by Mark C. Zeigler The Frederick club, which dropped out prior to the 1918 season, reorganized under the guidance of Dr. David Goodell, appointed six men to represent the city at the league organizational meeting, which included Frank K. Schmidt, Guy K. Motter, Michael Passaro, Frank Shapiro, Frank Staub and LeRoy Wachter. Re-establishing the Frederick Baseball Association, they formulated plans to raise money for the ball club, including organizing a series of dances and other forms of entertainment. The Blue Ridge League became a reality, as 26 men, representing five towns participated, declaring that baseball could be made financially possible. Considered one of the most enthusiastic baseball confab ever held in the circuit, the league was accepted almost unanimously by all of the previous representatives of each of the league towns. Representatives from Hagerstown and Frederick, five from Waynesboro, three men represented Chambersburg, including Club President, Clay Henninger, Sr., and two from Martinsburg. Hanover was not represented, as Club President, J. E. Meisenhelder was unable to attend. The Waynesboro club elected George Henderson has team president, and Doc Morrison was elected team president of the Martinsburg club. The revised Blue Ridge League did return with some changes. Like in the old Blue Ridge League, the league kept a six-team format. Hagerstown resumed as the league headquarters, and Frederick and Martinsburg returned to serve as the base clubs of the league. Chambersburg, which had lost its franchise in the middle of the 1917 season, returned to the league, as did another Pennsylvania town, Hanover. Gettysburg, which was an original member of the league, did not have adequate facilities to host a team, and gave way to nearby Waynesboro, which had a ballpark, and was eager to participate in the league. There was some discussion of trying to get a team from Cumberland, or Carlisle, PA, but their representatives bowed out due to travel concerns. Swinging for the Fences, and the Kid from Lonaconing 1920 Season - Class D, Blue Ridge League by Mark C. Zeigler In March of 1920, the league was formalized, and sanctioned by the National Commission for membership into the National Association of Professional Leagues. The Blue Ridge League’s association with professional baseball would continue for ten more years, until the league as it was known, would disband for good after the 1930 season. CHAPTER 3 MOWERY AND LOUDEN NEW MANAGERS Like in previous years, each baseball association, as they were known, was responsible for choosing a manager, and fielding a team, being responsible for payroll, equipment and any expenses relating to their respective club. Each team fielded a 14-man team, with the manager also playing. Because of this most teams only had four pitchers on the roster at one time; they played a 100-game schedule that ran from May 19 through September 10. The six managers selected at the beginning of the season included a couple former Major Leaguers, Mike Mowrey, a former infielder with Brooklyn National League club and a Chambersburg, PA native, took the helm of the Hagerstown club, playing third base. Bill Louden, a former infielder with the New York Giants, and a native of nearby Piedmont, WV, managed the Martinsburg club, and played second base. Karl Kolseth, a former Federal League player, and once a star player in the Blue Ridge League in 1916 for Chambersburg, took the reigns of the Hanover club. George Washington “Buck” Ramsey managed the Frederick club, and served as a pitcher, while veteran Manager William “Country” Morris managed the new Waynesboro club. Eddie Hooper, who managed in the league in 1916 and part of 1917, returned to manage the Chambersburg club. When Louden went to recruit players for his Martinsburg club, he utilized his resources near his hometown of Piedmont, West Virginia, and the surrounding Western Maryland area, near Swinging for the Fences, and the Kid from Lonaconing 1920 Season - Class D, Blue Ridge League by Mark C. Zeigler Cumberland. There he came up with a 20-year old, southpaw hurler from Lonaconing, Maryland, named Robert Moses Groves. Louden also scoured the Baltimore area and found a first baseman named Johnny Neun. Both players later went on to have successful Major League careers, especially Grove, who went on to win 300 games in the Majors and earn enshrinement in Baseball’s Hall of Fame. When the managers had trouble finding players to round out their rosters to start the season, several gave some of the better players from the Industrial League teams an opportunity, and some were the nucleus of a few of the Blue Ridge League teams. Hagerstown, for example, had several former Industrial Leaguers on their roster. Among them were outfielder Tommy Day of Adamstown, Maryland, who was one of the top players in the league, and pitchers Tommy Verecker of Baltimore, Maryland, and Hagerstown native, Wilbur Phillips, who were two of their four mainstays on Hagerstown’s pitching staff. CHAPTER 4 THE RUTH EFFECT By the time the league began play on May 19, a phenomenon had taken place in the Major Leagues, which would drastically effect the direction of how baseball would be perceived by the fans. Thanks to a Maryland born player named George Herman “Babe” Ruth, recently acquired by the New York Yankees, the word “home run” would have a whole different meaning. Ruth, who had established a league record in 1919 with the Boston Red Sox with 29 home runs, was well on his way of breaking another home run mark. Ruth would hit an unimaginable 54 homers, almost doubling his record of the year before. His homers would be called after his name, “Babe Ruth’s”, and Swinging for the Fences, and the Kid from Lonaconing 1920 Season - Class D, Blue Ridge League by Mark C. Zeigler professional baseball, which had been through what we now know as the “Dead Ball” era, was thriving with this new found notion of a slugger of Ruth’s caliber.