My Father Loved Baseball

My Father loved baseball. During the early 1930’s on Sunday afternoon during the baseball season, we would watch the Pimlico All-Stars play a double header. We would walk north on Hamlin Avenue, cross Rogers Avenue to the playing field which was at the eastern end of the property where Pimlico Middle School is now located. There were a few rickety stands. We would sit on the outfield grass just outside the foul line. There was no charge to watch but a hat was passed around for donations to defray expenses. We stayed until dinner time. My father never engaged in any sport; he thought it a waste of time. Whenever he found me playing, his expression was, “Nor mit dem ball. (Only with the ball.)” You must remember that this was the time of the Great Depression and William had a wife, three children and sundry assorted relatives to support. There was no time for ball.


I discovered the Baltimore Orioles in 1937 at age 12. They played in the Triple AAA International League. At that time, minor league teams were owned outright or had working agreements with major league teams. The Orioles were independently owned by the Dunn family and had a working agreement with the New York Giants of the National League. The Giants would option players to the Orioles for the season and were, in turn, allowed to choose two players at the end of the season. The League was dominated by the Newark Bears who were the farm club of and owned outright by, who else, the New York Yankees! 1937 was a year when the Yankee line-up read Gehrig, DiMaggio, Dickey, and a dozen equally exceptional players. Major league quality players could be and were kept in the minors indefinitely. The Bears had two catchers, Willard Hershberger and Buddy Rosar who could play on any major league team. They could not displace Bill Dickey, so the Yankees kept them in Newark and Newark won the pennant by 40 games each year. It’s no wonder we hated the Yankees!


In 1937, the Orioles were in last place on the Fourth of July. They were coached by Guy Sturdy with Les Power on first, (I don’t remember the second baseman), Mickey Witek at shortstop and Smokey Joe Martin on third. Smokey Joe always lost his cap when he ran the bases. The outfield was patrolled by George Puchinello, Ab Wright and Woody Abernathy. The catcher was Bucky Crouse and two pitchers were Bill Lohrman and Hy Vandenberg. On July Fourth, Guy Sturdy was fired as manager and Bucky Crouse took over. Play improved and the team finished in fourth place, enough to qualify for the playoffs. In the first round, the Orioles played the Bears, best of seven games. I wish that I could report that the Orioles beat the Bears. The Bears won the seventh game by a run and the O’s were eliminated. But it made me a fan for life.


Oriole Park was on Greenmount Avenue just above North Avenue. Games were played in the afternoon. I went to Baltimore Polytechnic High School on North Avenue and after school let out at 2:30. we would walk to Oriole Park. Sometimes a gatekeeper would let us in because it was already the seventh or eight inning. This was still the depression and we had no money for tickets. I graduated Poly in February, 1941, just ten months before Pearl Harbor. Oriole Park burned down in 1944, the year the Orioles finally beat the Newark Bears and won the Little World Series.