Tiffin and Seneca County's Baseball History

Early Day Sports Subsidized by Industry

Tiffin has always had a reputation for being a red hot baseball town and its long diamond history traces back all most to the decade after Abner Doubleday played the first game of "rounders" on the plains of New York State.

Baseball continued to gain in popularity and by 1909, the sport was truly the national pastime. Not only were there numerous organized teams here after the turn of the century, but many challenge games were played between the likes of the Fostoria and Tiffin lawyers, barbers, and grocers, ect. More often than not, these bitterly contested matches developed in to near riots.

Even a family picnic was not complete without a baseball game and usually attracted good-sized crowds. Recreation and travel, of course, were limited in those days, so going to a baseball game, either as a spectator or a player, provided an afternoons entertainment.

Among the most remembered players competing on such organized teams in the 1900 to 1920 period were Jack Hagerty, the Stag bowling alley proprietor who was elected to the Toledo bowling Hall of Fame prior to his death; Charles D'Arcy; Cy Barger; Fred "Kid" Koehle; Bill Hessberger; Harry Alrich; Joe Decker and Clyde Snook. These men played on such teams as the Glasshouse, Hagerty's Colts, Brunswicks, Grays and Businessmen in addition to the South Side Athletics.

Won Radio Fame
Also seeing action in the city diamonds during this era were Bill Adams, a Heidelberg college pitcher who later gained fame as "Uncle Bill" on the radio program "Let's Pretend"; Comedian Joe E. Brown and an outfielder by the name of Osborne who later played with the Philadelphia Nationals.

Another early pitching standout was Paul Maloy, of Maloye DeRan Brass foundry , who was a spitball specialist and played briefly with the Boston Red Sox. Paul, who is Tiffin's only living former big leaguer, was dropped by the American League club when the Red Sox obtained a young pitcher by the name of George Herman "Babe" Ruth from the Baltimore Orioles.

Also starring on Tiffin teams during this period were Marty Becker, who later starred with the New York Giants; Bert Blue, a catcher who made the big leagues with the Philadelphia Athletics; and Wilford "Web" Kuhn, who enjoyed a long career in the professional Michigan-Ontario and Mississippi leagues.

Most games were played on Heidelberg college's Armstrong field Maple Grove on Route 18 just west of Tiffin, and Riverview park (State Hospital) in these early days but in the 1920's , the old twilight circuit, along with most of the other city baseball organizations, moved to Rhodes field located just northeast of the Glasshouse. They continued to play there until League Park (now the Calvert boosters field) was built and dedicated in 1936.

Roster Grows
In the period from 1920 to 1935, however, many more names were being added to Tiffin's diamond hall of fame, including men like Chuck Willey, R. U. Huffman, Charles LeCrone, Charles Starrett, Doc Smiley, Vinton Dysinger, Hal Smith, Ervin Frueh, Bob Strausbaugh, Ted Kerns, Bill Ehinger, Merle Bond, Ed Gassner, Harry Seitz, Clayton Decker, Howard Bowersox, Ed "Pepper" Burns, Alva Burns, A. A. Kramer, Jess Williams, Henry Rohrbach, Leonard Hafling, Harry Rhodes, Orton Omwake, Paul D'Arcy, Albert Herig, Hank Rairick, William Shertzer and Dalton Clady.

No major leaguers developed from this group, but individuals such as Huffman, LeCrone, the Burns brothers, and Williams continued their baseball interests . Huffman, of course, still operates the Tiffin Elks team in the Ohio State semi-pro league and serves as director of the Class A (high school) circuit among his many other activities; LeCrone formerly operated the Stag recreation bowling alleys and pool parlor and now scouts for the Cleveland Indians; Williams was a sports editor here and is now personnel man at Basic Inc.; and Ed Burns is a father of a pitcher , Dick Burns, a Tiffin Elk hurler who played briefly in the Indian's chain a couple of years ago.

Was Home Coach Starrett, who was more commonly known as "Rabbit", coached the fine Junior Home Athletic Teams; Kramer later guided Calvert High School athletic fortunes and is now Common Pleas court baliff; and Rohrbach is a veteran city council member.

Of these men, the Burns brothers are probably the best remembered of the oldtimers. "Pepper", who is still playing Slo-Pitch ball, and his older brother Alva, nicknamed "Ironman", were both noted for their strong throwing arms. Many first basemen complained about "Pepper's" rifle-like shots from third and hitter moaned about "Ironman's" balzing fastball. Alva, incidentally, received his nickname because of his ability to pitch two games in a single day.

The Burns boys and the other players who performed in the 1920 to 1935 era played on both the city team and in the Twilight league which included teams sponsored by American Standard, Webster, National Machinery, Dolomite (Basic), Eagles, Ballreich brothers, Kinsey-France, Swope and Crist, Starretts, American Restaurant, Zirger-Ball, Merchants, Bair Brothers, and the Junior Home. Ernest Hasemyer served as the first city league president.

League Park Born
Then, in the early 1930's, in the midst of the Great Depression, city league president Dr. Edwin Gilcher and Carl Ballreich, LeCrone, Frank Ward and Huffman purchased the lot at the corner of Charlotte and Fourth streets and set about the task of building League Park.

A large wooden grandstand was first erected and the structure remained there until the property was turned over to the Calvert Athletic Boosters in the early 1960's. The Calvert group tore down the stands and erected a concrete fieldhouse , metal backstop and other modern facilities. The playing turf remains as one of the finest in this sector of state even today, however.

League Park, minus the later built wooden fence that encircled the field and was plastered with advertising, was the first dedicated in 1934 and the team that played there that spring day was the forerunner of Tiffin's first professional baseball team.

Staring out on a semi-pro level, the Tiffin Mudhens played four games a week. A short while later they entered the Class D professional Ohio State league which included such rivals as Lima, Zanesville, Marion, ect.

Mike Made Money
It was during this era that a young attorney named Michael DiSalle purchased the Lima ball club and took over the complete operation of the team. With some shrewd trading, DiSalle, who later became an Ohio Governor, brought the Lima team along and sold it at the season's end for a $10,000 profit.

"Mike was the only smart one of the lot," Huffman, who , like LeCrone, became close friends with DiSalle during this period, said recently. "He made $10,000 in one season and we all stayed in the game and lost our shirts."

Despite its short lived run, the professional Mudhens provided one of the most colorful eras in Tiffin baseball lore. Some of the more noted players were Harry "The Hat" Walker, former National league batting champion who now manages the Pittsburgh Pirates; Emil Verban, who later played with the Philadelphia Nationals; and Rogala, who later played the Elmira, N.Y. team. Others were first basemen Urbanski, Jack Suydam, Bill Speas, and pitcher Chuck Cronin, who now lives in Port Clinton ad scouts for the major leagues.

Walker Had Surgery
Walker began his professional baseball career here but lost his appendix in the process. The club was preparing to go to spring training in 1937 when Harry was rushed to Mercy Hospital and operated on for appendicitis. His older brother, Dixie, who later starred for the old Brooklyn Dodgers, was with the Chicago White Sox at the time and he came here to see his brother. Thus, Mudhen business manager LeCrone and his family and Dixie left for Florida together while Harry was recovering from his operation.

Huffman recalls that when Rogala was leaving for Elmira, he came to him to see if he had a jacket he could borrow. Huffman gave the slick-fielding infielder his baseball jacket. When Tony returned the next fall, he was wearing a beautiful jacket with a big "E" on the chest and admitted that he had lost Huffman's jacket in Elmira. Huffman hasn't let Tony forget the incident to this day.

Suydam was an outfielder from Alabama. He was patrolling the pasture one day when wind currents eddied up. Dropping his glove where he stood, Suydam rushed off the field dove into the dugout for protection, apparently believing that a tornado was about to strike. Many minutes passed before the players convinced him that it was safe to return to the outfield.

Not A Bunter
Cronin was probably the most colorful of all the professional players to perform here during the late 1930's and early 1940's. He played at Mansfield with Gene Woodling before coming to Tiffin and later racked up such an amazing pitching record in the Army that the "Saturday Evening Post" did a feature on him which showed him sitting on a white horse and labeled him the "Paul Revere of Baseball."

Cronin returned to Tiffin after World War II and started playing with the Mudhens again. A large turnout of fad showed up at League Park to see him in his return and Cronin lived up to his press clippings. Huffman recalls that it was in this game that he signaled the weak hitting Cronin to bunt.

"Chuck looked down the line at me and then looked up into the stands as only he could," He recalls. "Two pitches later, he went down swinging. When I asked him why he didn't bunt, he replied: "Jocko, my fans didn't come out here to see me bunt."

Start of World War II drained the supply of available baseball talents and brought an end to Tiffin's professional team. Both the cit semi-pro team and the Twilight clubs continued to operate, though, so baseball interest was maintained.

Thus, among the players to play here form 1940 thru 1950 were Bob Huffman, John Maiberger, Urban Huffman, Gene Foster, Otto Welty, John Sidora, Fred McDaniel, Al Berry, JoeGriebel, Max Chilcote, Bob Kotnik, Ralph Knaup, Jr., Al and Bill Wilson, Franklin Snyder, Jr., Vic Wurm, Charles Clady, Vint Robenalt and Polo DeRose.

Sponsors Recalled
Later, from 1950 to 1960, still active players from this era were joined by players like Tom and Ron Company, brothers Owen, Clyde and Carl Burks, Merle Barth, Richard Butdorf, John McKenna, Bob Gucker, Walt Hill , Bob Harmon, Phil Dunn and many others. Of these men, both Ron Company and Barth played briefly in the Cleveland Indian's chain and Harmon was in the New York Giants' system before coming to Tiffin as the Advertiser Tribune's sports editor.

Most of these men played for both Huffman's Tiffin team in the Northern Ohio league and in the Twilight baseball circuit which in the mid-1950's also played on the league park field. Some of the sponsors during this era were Martinis Candies, Cooper Jarrett, Basic, and Tiffin Merchants.

Then after lights were erected on the Vic Wurm field in Hedges-Boyer Park, both the Tiffin club and Twilight teams moved to this field located behind the public swimming pool.

Success followed the Tiffin team to Hedges-Boyer Park, but the days of the Twilight league were numbered. Scheduling difficulties, resulting from the increasing number of teen-age teams, and conflicting outside interests put the independent teams behind the eight ball, so the circuit finally dissolved in the early 1960's.

Huffman's Tiffin team, which could only play Sunday afternoons at League Park, began playing on Friday and Saturday nights on the Vic Wurm field and found fan interest increasing. The team, now sponsored by the Tiffin Elks, rewarded its fans with the championship, the last title won by a Tiffin semi-pro team.

The Tiffin Team has been in the Ohio State league ever since, with Huffman serving as league president and Harmon as secretary. The circuit now includes such teams as Mansfield Peterson Tires, Mansfield Farmers Bank, Galion, New Washington and Wooster and formerly had clubs like Fremont Whites, Sandusky Soldiers & Sailors Home, Castalia, Sandusky Gundlachs, Sandusky Daggs, Huron, Port Clinton, Findlay, Bellevue and Willard.

Little League Arrives
A new look occurred in Tiffin baseball in the early 1950's when Little League baseball was sweeping the country. Prior to the organization of the Little Leauge program here under the city recreation program (First established by Mayor Benneyhoff) young players learned their trade in unorganized sand lot games.

The Little League, for players ages eight to 12, was an instant success but the Recreation department , under director Eugene Foster , realized that a much-fuller program was needed. Thus, Foster, a Mansfield native who attended Heidelberg College and taught at Republic High School before becoming assistant principal and athletic director at Columbian here, and Huffman, along with such men as LeCrone, Ed Cline, Daryl Orwig, Harmon, Herman Sayger and others, organized the Tiffin Baseball Federation, a non-profit organization which was developed to help broaden the city summer baseball program.

One of the Federation's first steps was to join the National Babe Ruth program which took care of boys from 13 to 15 years of age. This project was climaxed with the winning of back-to-back Babe Ruth state championships by Tiffin teams.

Increasing expense in sending teams to state and other tournaments and rules on the number of players and teams in franchised circuits created a difficult situation, however, and the city finally dropped both the Little League and Babe Ruth programs.

Provided more baseball for more boys, the Federation, with the cooperation of the recreation department, established its own program Which consisted of five classes - E for players 8 to 10 years of age, D for 11 and 12 year olds, C for 13 and 14 year olds, B for 15 and 16 year olds, and A for High School players and older.

Then, a few seasons ago, another group of men, headed by Ralph Travis, organized another league and obtained a Babe Ruth Franchise. This circuit now includes several area teams, with the city entries playing on the Sterling field on the city's north end.

Today baseball games are also played on the Oakley Park field, the Clinton Boosters field located on Center road just east of the State Hospital grounds, the Calvert Boosters field, and of course, on three diamonds in Hedges-Boyer Park.

Another important addition to the City's baseball program was the National machinery Youngsters league, a circuit for national employee's sons who play on the plant's well groomed diamond on Greenfield Street.

Softball, a sport that became popular here after World War II, is also played on at least two fields and Slo-Pitch, a slowed down softball game for older men, has come into its own at Hedge-Boyer Park. Paul Miletti is now the city Recreation Director.

Richard Routh, who was once active in baseball, played one of the key roles in softball's rise here and his Packer teams were among the finest in the state. Who, for example, can forget the fine pitching duels waged by Routh's Gilbert "Gib" Smith and Gibsonburg's Wayne "Rip" Riley here?

The diamond sport, in one from or another, has played a major role in Tiffin's development over the past 60 years and will probably hold its own over the next 60.

One thing is certain, however, Today's players will get bigger, better, and faster and there averages fatter as the years pass. That is the way it has always been in baseball and probably the way it will always be.

From The Advertiser-Tribune newspaper
Saturday, June 17, 1967