Historic photo credit: Allen County Public Library
May 4, 1871 First Professional Baseball Game
When he came back from the war he said the three things he missed most were his family, sugar cream pie, and baseball. He’d been a part of the Summit City Baseball Club founded in 1862 and although a bullet took away his playing days, the love of baseball remains. He rests against a bleacher on a dreary day in the newly built Grand Dutchess Stadium and watches the warm up intently. He feels the ball stinging his bare hand, the crack of the bat through his arms and running the rutted field. The Fort Wayne team, now re-formed into the Kekiongas, are playing the Cleveland City Forces. It’s the first game of the newly formed National Association of Professional Ballplayers. For a $10 entry fee 9 teams had formed the league and due to a rainout the game was being played in Fort Wayne. A young pitcher named Bobby Matthews who had come from Baltimore and was attributed to inventing the curveball, would end up pitching a winning game of 2 to 0. No errors were committed by Cleveland, 3 by Fort Wayne and it was one of the lowest scoring games in professional baseball. Rain will end the game early and the Kekongias will disband after 3 months with most players eventually becoming part of the Brooklyn Dodgers, but today the old soldier and the entire town cheer for Fort Wayne and the first professional baseball game.
June 3, 1883 First Night Game
They climbed over the fence. After all, with 2,000 spectators who would notice a couple of deadbeat boys. They almost got caught though examining one of the 17 massive lights with 4,000 candle power each installed by Jenny Electric. This was to be the first nighttime baseball game! The game was between the local M E College Nine and Quincy, IL Professionals. Some of the lights were aimed at the outfield to illuminate the sky scraping fly balls and others focused on the infield. The boys stared with fascination into what was later described as “a charmed enclosure where the sun had focused its rays while the rest of the world lays in darkness.” Excitement did not follow into game play however, as the lights cast shadows so players had difficulty seeing the ball, often having to shade their eyes and there was an “alarming number of strikes”. Even though a record number of telegrams were sent and the event was slated as a success, the first pro night baseball game would not be held for another 50 years until 1930. But for a group of boys taking the field in a back alley the next day the magic of playing ball under the stars remained.
May 6, 1927 Lincoln Lifers vs. Babe Ruth
It was a Friday and an unprecedented number of children were skipping school. Who would want to miss the lifetime experience of watching the Sultan of Swat … the great George “Babe” Ruth playing ball in Fort Wayne! The Yankees had stopped in Fort Wayne on a barnstorming tour and were playing the Lincoln Lifers. A crowd of 3,000 fans mobbed League Park hoping to see, touch, or get the autograph of the Great Bambino.
The Lincoln Lifers were a semi pro team formed in 1919 and lasted until 1929. They played with success in various leagues and hosted exhibition games against pro teams. A year earlier while traveling through Fort Wayne, Ruth had put on a show by joining the Lifers in a game against the Kips, bringing the team to a win of 11 - 1, but today he was on the other side of the field. The children cheered with the crowd of 3,000 fans as the regulation 9 innings were played. The game was tied 3 - 3 in the 10th inning and a hush fell when Ruth came up to the plate. He hit two strikes and then as legend has it, hit the ball over the left-centerfield fence landing the ball into a freight car passing by the park to beat the Lifers 4 - 3. Even though their home team lost, the crowd swarmed the field in celebration. Although discrepancy remained as to the actual resting place of the ball, Babe Ruth always touted that he hit the hardest ball of his career at League Park in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Historic photo credit: Allen County Public Library
1908- 1951 Colored Giants
The teams came through town on the railroad. Pittsburg, Chicago, Indianapolis, Detroit…Fort Wayne was the place to play ball and the Negro League was welcome. The crowds came to greet them. Black baseball had existed in Fort Wayne since 1906 when employees from the Wayne Hotel formed teams. Teams became more organized including the Colored Giants who were mostly Fort Wayne players and the Colored Pirates whose players came to Fort Wayne to play. The Negro League would stop by to play the 4th World Series game held in Fort Wayne in 1932. Although teams were mostly segregated, the crowds were not. Games drew 2,500 to 3,000 fans a weekend. They were fast, aggressive, and full of contagious energy. Fans were entertained with vaudeville performers and bands between innings.
Historic photo credit: Allen County Public Library
1943-1954 Daisies
Leaning back with the evening breeze in the bleachers at Memorial Park the girl knew there was nowhere else she would rather be than watching girls play baseball, professional baseball! Her team! Her heroes! The Fort Wayne Daisies. With the advent of WW2 and decline of available male players, George Wrigley, owner of the Chicago Cubs developed the All American Girls Professional Baseball League. The league consisted of 10 teams in the Midwest and when Minneapolis, MN did not respond well to the opportunity, Fort Wayne was quick to pick up the team. Due to the teams being owned by a local non-profit corporation and Fort Wayne’s enthusiasm for sports, from 1943 to 1954 the Daisies drew in 110,000 fans a year over their 56 home games. Due to their drive to play, excellent managers, and talented players, the team made it to the playoffs every year from 1947 to 1954.
The girl is awed with not only their showmanship and ability but also their looks (the three components in choosing a player). Uniforms consisted of short skirts and requirements include always wearing make-up but never pants in public, limited dating, and having a chaperone watch over their virtue. But they earned $50 to $100 dollars a week, stayed in the best hotels, and had the opportunity to play fast, hard ball. She thinks of her grandmother listening to Susan B. Anthony when the suffragette came to town and that there are yet no girl’s sports teams at her high school. The Daisies are up to bat and the girl sits up, cheers louder, and with the crack of the bat feels her limits of being a girl vanish like the ball into the outfield.
During the 1920’s to late 40's, Fort Wayne was a part of various semi professional leagues through teams brought to town or sometimes sponsored by local businesses. Fort Wayne gained a reputation for competent play as evidenced by the GE Voltman’s winning 3 consecutive championships. These teams sent many players to the major league. From the late 1950’s through 1990 the sport was represented by The Fort Wayne Federation and other industrial leagues who often played for city championships,
April 10, 1993 Wizards
It had been 30 years since professional baseball was part of Fort Wayne. But now it was back! In the early 1990’s Kenosha, WI was struggling to maintain its farm team for the Minnesota Twins. Just as Fort Wayne had eagerly welcomed a floundering team to form the Daisies, the city formed committees, raised sponsors, built a new Memorial Stadium and after a city wide contest of 20,000 entries renamed the team, The Wizards.
Opening night was windy and damp. The family had been anticipating this night since the announcement of the team. The father had waited all night in line to get tickets for opening night, which was a smart move as they sold out in 15 minutes. Opening night was windy and damp. 6,111 fans filled the stands. The family entered the new stadium, parents looking around while the children ran to get hotdogs and meet Wayne the Wizard. Three skydivers descended into the stadium. The 4th skydiver, who carried the game ball, was blown off course. A new ball was found, a lucky boy threw out the first pitch and the game began with the Wizards beating the Peoria Chiefs 7-2. Amazing baseball!
April 16, 2009 TinCaps
There is another opening night. This time in a new stadium with a new name: Fort Wayne TinCaps at Parkview Field. Fort Wayne baseball is now a High A Affiliate of the San Diego Padres. The TinCaps won the Midwest League title in 2009 and 235 players have advanced out of Fort Wayne to the Major League. The games are not just a sporting event but an adventure for the whole family. Children’s activities, between inning shows, the best hot dogs, a picture with Johnny TinCap, fireworks, theme nights, and the unbridled excitement of a game which has imbedded itself through history. Come be the fans and make history with our Fort Wayne team.
